Kenneth Woods, conductor
“Playful brilliance...”
Austin American Statesman

“Brimming with personality, affection and freshly imagined
drama...”
Washington Post

“A conductor with true vision and purpose...”
Peter Oundjian, Music Director, Toronto Symphony
"Kenneth Woods
led a performance
of Elgar's Enigma
Variations with
such commitment
and passion that
one could not help
but be stirred by
the power of it."

Elgin Valley News
The Washington Post praises Kenneth Woods’ performances as
“alive and engaging,"  calling him a “true star” and an “up-and-
coming conductor.” The Cincinnati Post calls him "alert,
efficient and confident" and Leonard Slatkin chose Kenneth
Woods as one of only four young conductors to make their debuts
with the National Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2001
National Conducting Institute.
Kenneth Woods
has worked with

Music Director-
Oregon East Symphony and Chorale
Critics call it "now certainly the best
rural symphony orchestra in North
America"

Regular Guest Conductor
BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Principal guest Conductor-
Rose City Chamber Orchestra

Music Director-
Surrey Mozart Players
The very latest in the papers-


"Surrey Mozart Players' latest concert, at the Electric Theatre,
drew a capacity audience and proved a memorable conclusion
to this year's Guildford Spring Festival. The overture to
Schumann's opera Genoveva, with its richly varied moods,
showed the orchestra at its best and convinced us that the
piece deserves a more central place in the repertoire
The Surrey Advertiser, March 13, 2008

“Woods looks like a younger, dark-haired William Hurt...he and
... Pendleton's unlikely symphony orchestra give Mahler the
ride of his life"
David Stabler, The Oregonian, Sunday, May 27, 2007

“A remarkable finale to the evening: Shostakovich’s Chamber
Symphony op 73a. The Surrey Mozart Players produced a
very moving performance of this very difficult work. The
cataclysmic nature of the third movement certainly produced
an effect I think not experienced by the Electric Theatre ever
before. This performance was a triumph."
The Surrey Advertiser, July 3, 2007

"A very fine... deeply felt, performance of Beethoven’s
powerful Leonore Overture No. 3...The orchestra, too,
responded splendidly to this demanding score, Prokofiev's
Violin Concerto no. 2...with a formidable technique, and ... a
luscious, surging tone...The concert ended with a superb
performance of Schumann’s Symphony no. 3— Its success
with  an enthusiastic capacity audience was helped
enormously by Kenneth Woods... "
Surrey Advertiser, May 1, 2006

"American rock and classical musician Kenneth Woods
seemed a born conductor in his recent city debut.
His second appearance with the Nottingham Philharmonic
underlined that impression with performances combining
excitement and integrity."
Peter Palmer, Nottingham Evening Post, March 12, 2007

"American conductor Kenneth Woods certainly knows his
way around the orchestra, in terms of cueing, balance and
structure, as was evident throughout the culminating
performance of Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony…  a full-bodied,
rich performance of a … high standard...  "
Michael Tumelty, The Herald, Glasgow, December 6, 2006
More critical acclaim here


Upcoming Broadcast-

Saturday, April 19, 2008
10:30 PM GMT
BBC Radio 3
Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales
Ian Pace, piano soloist
Xenakis- Akrata
Brown- Novarra
Downie- forms 7 (non-mediated forms)
Mefano- Interferences
Broadcast information here
Program Notes


Upcoming Concerts-
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Lancashire Chamber Orchestra
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Evan Chambers- The Tall-Eared Fox and the Wild-Eyed Man
(UK Premiere)
Mozart- Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
Haydn- Symphony no. 86 in D major

Saturday, June 28, 2008
Surrey Mozart Players
Electric Theatre, Guildford
Piston- Sinfonietta
Mozart- Sinfonia Concertanted for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
Oliver Heath, violin, Gary Pomeroy, viola
Schumann- Symphony no. 2

Friday, July 4, 2008
Texas Festival Orchestra
International Festival Institute at Round Top
Barber- Adagio for Strings
Higdon- Soprano Saxophone Concerto
Timothy McAllister, saxophone
Copland- Appalachian Spring, Suite for 13 Instruments

Current Broadcasts

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

BBC Radio 3
Discovering Music Live
Haydn and Teleman- Trumpet Concerti
Philippe Schartz, trumpet
Stephen Johnson, presenter
Click here to listen

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC Radio 3
Discovering Music Live
Chopin- Piano Concerto no 1
Piers Lane, piano
Stephen Johnson, presenter
Click here to listen
Just in-

Kenneth Woods and "A view from the
podium"  subject of a full page
feature in January 2007
Gramophone Magazine.

Find out why the Oregon East
Symphony is the most talked-about
orchestra in the Northwest in this
multimedia feature from the
Oregonian,  here