by Kenneth Woods | Mar 11, 2008 | A view from the podium, Nuts and bolts
I can’t help but smile at the fact that less than 24 hours after finishing my concert with the Contemporary Music Ensemble of Wales, I was rehearsing Beethoven 5 and the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Surrey Mozart Players. Preparing the ultimate “warhorse” piece...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 6, 2008 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score, Nuts and bolts
I’ve been putting a lot of work in on Paul Mefano’s Intererences in the run up to this weekends sessions. Because of the open form techniques Gordon described in Part II of our interview, the notation is about as thorny as it gets. The challenge for the conductor is...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 22, 2008 | A future for music, A view from the podium, Nuts and bolts
This week, having Sibelius 2 and Schelomo on my desk at the same time has been a fascinating contrast. Although his music sounds like no one else’s, Sibelius’ technique is a logical outgrowth of the method of working with motivic cells perfected by Beethoven and...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 7, 2008 | A view from the podium, Favorite posts, Nuts and bolts
I’m a bit concerned that this sudden outpouring of advice is making me look even more like a pompous gasbag than I do simply by virtue of being a conductor (and worse yet, a conductor who writes), but then there was this…. In the comments on More Tips...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 30, 2007 | A view from the podium, Lists, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time, as I think it’s probably a useful thing (based on my experience of seeing some very gifted people shoot themselves in the foot) to go on record with some tips for soloists who want to have long and successful...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 17, 2007 | A view from the podium, Lists, Nuts and bolts
William from Phoenix emailed the following over the weekend- “Dear Maestro Woods- I’m a regular VftP reader and young conductor about to do my own first Messiah at my church this coming week. I read your posts about the piece, but was hoping you might write a...
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