Kenneth Woods’ imaginative approach to creating memorable concerts has led to a busy life off the podium as a programmer and artistic director.
As Artistic Director of the English Symphony Orchestra since 2015 (and Principal Conductor since 2013), Kenneth and the ESO have built a reputation for ground-breaking commissions, major musical rediscoveries and unique, immersive and revelatory programmes. Kenneth and the ESO were awarded Classical Music Magazine’s “Premiere of the Year” accolade in consecutive years in 2015-16. Under Kenneth’s leadership the ESO has also become recognised as a world leader in promoting the music of composers whose work was suppressed by the Nazis, including first recordings of major works by Hans Gál, Erwin Schulhoff, Ernst Krenek and Walter Arlen, among others. Also during his tenure, the ESO won the Association of British Orchestra’s Sirens Award in recognition of their support of neglected music by historical female composers.
A select list of past ESO programmes conceived and conducted by Kenneth Woods is available here.
In 2015, Kenneth was appointed the second Artistic Director of the Colorado MahlerFest, one of only two North American organisations to have been the Gold Medal of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna. Under Kenneth’s leadership, the festival has grown enormously in scope and ambition, expanded its repertoire and embraced performances of opera, Lieder, chamber music, jazz and rock. Colorado MahlerFest also features interdisciplinary events highlighting Mahler’s connections with visual artists, philosophers, directors and writers.
Click here to explore the MahlerFest archive, with past years’ program books and details.
In 2017, Kenneth Woods was invited to be the founding Artistic Director of The Elgar Festival in Worcester, the official annual celebration of the life and music of Britain’s greatest composer in the city of his birth. The inaugural Elgar Festival in 2018 was a “Critic’s Pick” in The Guardian, and since then the Elgar Festival has been routinely been singled out as one of the country’s most important festivals in the Telegraph and The Times. In 2022, the Guardian listed the Elgar Festival as one of the top 15 celebrations nationwide for the Royal Platinum Jubilee. The Festival combines world-class performances of the Elgarian canon with performances of lesser known composers, Elgar’s contemporaries, and leading composers of the day. Under Woods’ leadership, the Festival espouses an ethos of “Elgar for Everyone” with a busy calendar of free events, family events, concerts for people living with dementia and non-classical concerts.
Kenneth Woods’ approach to programming brings together his long experience as one of today’s busiest and most admired conductors with his many ‘off the podium’ interests and areas of expertise. As a busy chamber musician and cellist, Kenneth’s knowledge of chamber and recital repertoire is just as vast as that of the symphonic literature. As a guitarist, he carries with him a life-time’s love of, and engagement with, a broad spectrum of musical traditions including jazz, folk music, world music, rock n roll, funk and roots music. And his programming over the years shows the rich creative possibility of multi-disciplinary approaches.
Kenneth is often asked to consult with orchestras, festivals, conductors and concert presenters on programming and audience development. If you’d like to have a conversation, please email the office.
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