by Kenneth Woods | Oct 6, 2010 | Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
“Playing Beethoven only gets more challenging” That statement and its many variants is one of those musical truisms one hears so often, one almost ceases to be aware of what it means. It’s not a statement I would make about every composer- demanding as it is, Richard...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 30, 2010 | cello, Performing Life
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a little bit about the challenges of getting to grips with an instrument other than one’s own. I’m now back in Philadelphia, playing again on that same “other” cello, and it’s fascinating how one development has changed my perspective on...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 23, 2010 | Performing Life
I had a nice moment in rehearsal tonight. I first met Mozart 34 in a pretty good chamber orchestra with a pretty bad conductor. It wasn’t an auspicious first date, but in spite of the noisy circumstances, we had chemistry. It probably helped that my stand partner for...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 1, 2009 | Mahler, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
It’s been a quiet couple of days here at Vftp- these silences are sometimes the result of not having anything to say and being wise enough to recognize it, sometimes the result of having something I need to say and not knowing how to say it or having too much to say...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 13, 2009 | Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
After a spring and early summer in which I felt every bit as much a cellist as a conductor (which was a nice feeling), my cello has been sitting in the case for an alarming number of weeks while we finished the summer run, took a vacation and I dealt with the...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 15, 2009 | Mahler, Music and Media, News and Reviews, Performing Life
Robin Rilette, Music Director of Northwest Public Radio, has been a very busy person this summer. One by one, she’s tracked down almost every conductor of every orchestra in the region, and has been getting to know them and their bands. Her series, “A Season of...
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