Select Page

Conductor | Composer | Cellist | Author | Guitarist |

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.

KENNETH WOODS IS

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF

KENNETH’S BLOG:

A VIEW FROM THE PODIUM

Thought for the Day – Orchestral Audition Repertoire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

ESO Present A Portrait of Adrian Williams

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

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 and English Symphony Orchestra Continue “Elgar Reimagined” Project on 14 May

5th May 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:         eso@eso.co.uk   What:              ESO Digital Concert – Elgar String Quartet When:             7:30pm GMT Friday 14th May 2021 Where:            www.eso.co.uk/elgar-reimagined-2   English Symphony Orchestra...

Ken’s Spring 2023 Highlights

21 January 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Malvern Theatres
Respighi – Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3
Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in D minor
– Zoë Beyers, violin
Tchaikovsky – Souvenir de Florence

4 February 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
ESO Digital Online Concert
Steve Elcock – Violin Concerto
Zoë Beyers, violin

19 February 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Kings Place, London
Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings
William Grant Still arr. Noam Zur – Dismal Swamp
George Gershwin arr. Iain Farrington – Rhapsody in Blue
– Roman Kosyakov, piano
Aaron Copland – Quiet City
Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring, Complete Ballet Suite

24 February 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
ESO Digital Online Concert
Philip Sawyers – Viola Concerto
Philip Sawyers – Double Concerto

25 February 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Malvern Theatres
Antonin Dvorak – Cello Concerto
Antonin Dvorak – Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

10 March 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
Robert Saxton – Scenes from The Epic of Gilgamesh (part of the 21st C. Symphony Project) WORLD PREMIERE
Max Bruch – Scottish Fantasy
– Esther Abrami, violin
Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”

17-21 May 2023 
Artistic Director, Colorado MahlerFest

Wednesday, May 17, 7:30 PM
Wagner and Gál

Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place
GÁL Symphony 4 (Sinfonia Concertante for Flute, Clarinet, Violin and Cello)
WAGNER Die Walküre, Act One (arranged for chamber orchestra)
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Gustav Andreassen, Hunding
Brennen Guillory, Siegmund
Stacey Rishoi, Sieglinde
Hannah Porter Occeña, flute
Daniel Silver, clarinet
Zachary DePue, violin
Parry Karp, cello
MahlerFest Chamber Orchestra

Thursday, May 18, 3 PM
Chamber Music Concert: Solo Journeys

Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place
Unaccompanied works performed by Festival Artists

Friday, May 19, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music
Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place
BLOCH – Suite for Cello and Piano
KORNGOLD String Sextet in D Major, Op. 10

Saturday, May 20, 9 AM – 3 PM
Symposium
Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place
Dr. David Vernon, Author of “Beauty and Sadness: Mahler’s 11 Symphonies”
Renate Stark-Voit, International Gustav Mahler Society, Board member
Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director
Additional speakers TBA

Saturday, May 20, 7:30 PM
Mahler Liederabend (Evening of Song)

Re-creation of January 29, 1905 Concert in Vienna
Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant Street
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Der Schildwache Nachtlied
Revelge
Der Tamboursg’sell
Trost im Unglück
Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt
Rheinlegendchen
Lied des Verfolgten im Turm

Kindertotenlieder
Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n
Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen
Wenn dein Mütterlein
Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen
In diesem Wetter

Rückert-lieder
Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder
Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft!
Um Mitternacht
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Gustav Andreassen, bass
April Fredrick, soprano
Brennen Guillory, tenor
Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano
MahlerFest Orchestra

Sunday, May 21, 3:30 PM
Pre-concert talk at 2:30 PM
Mahler and Musgrave
Stan Ruttenberg Memorial Concert

Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant Street
Thea Musgrave – Phoenix Rising
Mahler – Symphony No. 2
Kenneth Woods, conductor
April Fredrick, soprano
Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano
Boulder Chorale
MahlerFest Orchestra

30 May – 4 June 2023
Artistic Director, The Elgar Festival
English Symphony Orchestra

30-31 May 2023
The Firs, Elgar’s Birthplace
Conducting Masterclasses with the English Symphony Orchestra

1 June 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Great Malvern Priory
Kenneth Woods and Stephen Shellard – conductors
Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir
Stephen Shellard – director
St Cecilia Choir
Jonathan Hope – Director
Ian Venables – Requiem 40’
William Grant Still – Summerland 3’
Edward Elgar – Mina 5’
Michael Berkeley – Visions of Piers Ploughman 12’
Elgar Selections from his music for King Arthur 20’

2 June 2023
English String Orchestra
Worcester Guildhall
Michael Tippett – Concerto for Double String Orchestra 23’
Elgar – Elegy 6’
Michael Berkeley – Meditations 10’
Lennox Berkeley – Antiphon 10’
Elgar – Sospiri 6’
Ruth Gipps – Cringlemire Garden 5’
Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge  25’

3 June 2023
English Symphony Orchestra
Worcester Cathedral
Elgar Festival Chorus
Stephen Shellard – chorus master
Winning pieces – Elgar Festival Fanfare Competition
Michael Berkeley – Secret Garden 14’
Edward Elgar – The Music Makers, op.69 <1912> 39′
Jennifer Johnston (TBC) – mezzo soprano
-Interval-
Edward Elgar – Symphony No.1, op.55, A-flat major <1907–1908> 50′

 

KEN’S RECENT RELEASES

Available to purchase from The Downbeat Store