by Kenneth Woods | Oct 3, 2017 | Bobby and Hans
It’s exactly 30 years today since the death of Hans Gál. In his early career, he was one of the compositional stars of his generation, his music heard in leading concert halls and opera houses across Europe. First banned by the Nazi’s in 1933, he escaped...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 2, 2017 | News and Reviews
Some very exciting news! I’m very pleased to report that I have signed with Andrew Strange for general management. Andrew has extensive experience in both artist management and orchestral touring, having spent ten years with IMG Artists Europe and subsequently...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 23, 2017 | Haydn
You can hear my colleagues in the English Symphony Orchestra and me perform this fantastic work on Hereford Shirehall on Sunday, the 1st October. Booking info here Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Symphony no.60 in C major “II Distratto” (The Distracted Gentleman) The...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 21, 2017 | Not quite the news
Respected composer Maynard Pitchworth is reported to be struggling to come up with an inspiration for his recently completed new orchestral work. Pitchworth’s output includes such popular works as the concert suite “Strips of Bacon” retroactively inspired by the...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 11, 2017 | News and Reviews
A fantastic review from BBC Music Magazine in their August 2017 issue for volume two of the Complete Piano Concertos of Ernst Krenek “All the soloists on this beautifully recorded disc deliver totally committed performances. Special praise, however, is due to...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 31, 2017 | A view from the podium
This is another real YouTube treasure. I’m conducting this mini-masterpiece tomorrow for the first time in about 20 years, but it’s a piece you hear (or least I hear) all the time, and there are many good performances out there under Bernstein’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 25, 2017 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
More international praise for John Joubert – Composer‘s magnificent Jane Eyre- An Opera in Two Acts on SOMM Recordings, this time from Classica in France. ‘The vocal distribution of this creatiòn in Birmingham is of astounding beauty. April Fredrick assumes from end...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 21, 2017 | A view from the podium
A little update on the Brahms Piano Quartet orchestration project, for those of you interested…. A quick summary of how we got to where we are! The arrangement had its genesis in 2008 in Ischia when the idea came to me. I spent a good chunk of that summer...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 11, 2017 | News and Reviews
We’re delighted to note a wonderful review of Philip Sawyers‘s Third Symphony and Songs of Loss and Regret as performed at St John’s Smith Square on 28 February in the new issue of Musical Opinion – Quarterly from Martin Anderson. Both works and the Fanfare also heard...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 29, 2017 | Not quite the news, Satire
In the spirit of fairness and balance and for the good of music in general, we’ve established a list of “top tips” for conductors offered by each section in the orchestra. Take them to heart and you’ll go far. Or maybe you won’t :) ...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 29, 2017 | News and Reviews, Satire
I recently attended a very enjoyable concert by a fine local student orchestra. When you think of many musical, technical and social skills one must acquire to play in orchestra, it seems implausible that it is actually possible that such a intricate and uncertain...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 11, 2017 | A view from the podium
I find myself thinking of Bartók today. For me, he seemed to rise to the musical challenges of the early 20th C with more vision and creativity than anyone else. In his music, we find blood and mathematics, folks songs and atonal cells, head and heart, earth and...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 11, 2017 | A view from the podium
Wonderful new FIVE STAR review in The Times for An Eventful Morning in East London: 21st C. Violin Concertos with Harriet Mackenzie; Get your copy: https://eso.co.uk/…/an-eventful-morning-in-east-london-21st…/ “Mackenzie’s playing is rivetingly incisive throughout,...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 2, 2017 | A view from the podium
This past Sunday afternoon, I conducted the ESO in a performance of Tchaikovksy’s String Serenade which marked the end of our main 2016-7 season. Between now and our return from the summer holidays, my colleagues are doing some fascinating chamber music concerts, the...
by Kenneth Woods | May 31, 2017 | Not quite the news, Satire
A new plugin for Sibelius and Finale music engraving software is taking the music world by storm. The new “Titleizer” plugin from Demisoft Technology systematically analyses a piece’s duration, instrumentation and pitch content and automatically generates a...
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