KENNETH
WOODS

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “a symphonic conductor of stature”, American conductor Kenneth Woods was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and has quickly built up an impressive and acclaimed body of work with them.

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KENNETH WOODS IS

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF

KENNETH’S BLOG:

A VIEW FROM THE PODIUM

From Wigmore to Mid Wales Opera, and from Oregon to Worcester

by Kenneth Woods | March 29, 2024 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

What follows is a Twitter thread I wrote in response to some excellent recent essays on UK arts funding. I've been thinking about a very important and balanced essay from Richard Bratby on the promise and perils of private arts funding in the UK. His description of...

Blubbing for Beck -Mark Knopfler Revives the All-Star Charity Song Idiom

by Kenneth Woods | March 23, 2024 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

Maybe it’s the curmudgeon in me, but I was never a fan of the all-star charity track. From “We Are the World” to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” I always found most of the songs saccharine and cloying, and the constant change of superstar vocalists off-putting. Perhaps...

Thought for the Day – Orchestral Audition Repertoire

by Kenneth Woods | October 25, 2023 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

Thought for the day. A colleague I admire was talking today about how one might make the lists of orchestral audition excerpts more diverse. I take a different view. The professional orchestra audition process, especially in America, has got to be one of the hardest...

A great night with the orchestra, a bleak morning after

by Kenneth Woods | June 18, 2023 | A view from the podium | 2 Comments

It's been an amazing weekend seeing Philip Sawyers' new oratorio Mayflower on the Sea of Time come to life. Huge congrats to Philip S and to librettist Philip Groom for a piece that blew the roof off Worcester Cathedral. The word I keep coming back to is 'thrilling'....

RIP Christopher Gunning

by Kenneth Woods | March 27, 2023 | A view from the podium | 2 Comments

It was heartbreaking to learn of the death of Christopher Gunning, although I'd been aware he had been unwell for some time. Chris was the sort of person one felt lucky to know. He could be incredibly funny, even wicked. His vault of amazing and amusing anecdotes was...

Wayne Shorter’s Coltrane Tribute

by Kenneth Woods | March 4, 2023 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

Among Wayne Shorter's many huge musical accomplishments, one can't help but be awed by his ability to establish a completely distinct artistic space for himself as a tenor and soprano saxophonist when the shadow of John Coltrane's enormous musical personality was so...

Explore the Score – Mendelssohn’s Scottish Masterpieces

by Kenneth Woods | March 1, 2023 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Overture - “The Hebrides” (“Fingal’s Cave”), opus 26 Symphony no. 3 in A minor, “Scottish”, opus 56 HEAR IT LIVE ESTHER ABRAMI @ THE MOUNT WITHOUT 9TH MARCH 2023 at 7:30 PM THE MOUNT WITHOUT, UPPER CHURCH LANE, BRISTOL BS2 8FN MUSIC @...

The Modern Violin Concerto

by Kenneth Woods | February 12, 2023 | A view from the podium | 3 Comments

There's an interesting piece in The Strad from Peter Quantrill on the state of the violin concerto. Of course, I remember well the lovely cover feature he mentions from 2017 which focused much well-earned attention on Deborah Pritchard's concerto Wall of Water,...

Goodbye 2022 – The Year Music Was Made Redundant

by Kenneth Woods | January 6, 2023 | A view from the podium | 0 Comments

Well, that didn’t go to plan. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, it was often said that no sector was hit harder than music. Concert halls were silenced, recordings postponed, musicians furloughed. Musicians and music lovers fought back. Where there was goodwill and...

The NPO Blues

by Kenneth Woods | November 5, 2022 | A view from the podium | 2 Comments

I would like to share a few thoughts about yesterday’s Arts Council England announcement of the results of their application process for the new National Portfolio, speaking purely for myself, and not on behalf of the English Symphony Orchestra or the Elgar Festival....

A true story

by Kenneth Woods | April 3, 2022 | A view from the podium | 1 Comment

The worst rental materials I've ever been sent where those the Krenek Double Concerto for Violin and Piano, part the Krenek Piano Concertos project that the English Symphony Orchestra did for Toccata Classics with the stupendous Mikhail Korzhev in 2016-17. They were...

Connections – An Unexpected Adventure

by Kenneth Woods | March 8, 2022 | A view from the podium | 0 Comments

Several years ago, I met a composer named Donald Fraser. Arranger Donald Fraser and conductor Kenneth Woods following the world premiere of the Piano Quintet, a 2015 Classical Music Magazine Premiere of the Year It turns out his wife Bridget was the executive...

Ken’s July Newsletter

by Kenneth Woods | July 9, 2021 | A view from the podium | 0 Comments

ESO Present A Portrait of Adrian Williams

by Kenneth Woods | June 8, 2021 | A view from the podium | 0 Comments

https://youtu.be/ny52GqdBkd0 4th June 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: eso@eso.co.uk What: ESO Digital Concert – Composer Portrait: Adrian Williams When: 7:30pm GMT Friday 11th June 2021 Where: ...

Ken in conversation with David Matthews: Composition, Elgar, Mahler and Arranging

by Kenneth Woods | May 10, 2021 | A view from the podium | 0 Comments

Ken speaks to the legendary David Matthews, ESO "John McCabe Composer-in-Association" 2017-9 about his orchestration of the Elgar String Quartet, the art of arranging and orchestration, Mahler and his own music. The performance of the Elgar premieres on the 14th of...

Ken’s Spring 2024 Highlights

10 March 2024
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Cadogan Hall, London
Christopher Gunning Remembered
Featuring
Christopher Gunning – Oboe Concerto
Christopher Gunning – Violin Concerto
Christopher Gunning – Symphony 10 (UK Premiere)
KW also appearing as guitarist with Dave Arch (Strictly Come Dancing MD), Steve Pearce (London session ace) and the RPO

11-13 March 2024
Recordings for Signum Records
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff
Christopher Gunning – Symphony No. 8
Christopher Gunning – Symphony No. 9
Christopher Gunning Violin Concerto No. 2

14 April 2024
English String Orchestra
Kings Place, London
Sibelius – Rakastava (The Lover) for Strings and Timpani Op.14
Philip Sawyers – Concerto for Trumpet, Strings and Timpani
Dvořák – Nocturne for Strings in B major
Peter Fribbins – Soliloquies for Trumpet and Strings
Elgar – Introduction & Allegro for Strings Op.47

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