
| 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. |
| 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 |
| -Contact- info@kennethwoods.net |