by Kenneth Woods | Feb 18, 2008 | A view from the podium
It is a grey, February afternoon in 1986. A blast of arctic air has settled across the Midwest that promises to chill the bones for several days to come. In this climate the cozy college town looked rather austere and foreboding. Your author had grown up on a Big-Ten...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 13, 2008 | A view from the podium
Many years ago, when I was beginning to get very serious about conducting, I used to take every possible opportunity to talk to other conductors about the intricacies of the craft. One established maestro who was very generous with his time was Oakland East Bay...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 11, 2008 | A view from the podium
I can scarcely imagine a more irrelevant institution than the Grammys. I suppose the classical version of the awards, which seems to exist solely in a parallel universe entirely free of television cameras is quite useful and harmless as these things go- at least it...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 9, 2008 | A view from the podium
I’m spending the first of three weekends this month in one of my favorite cities, Glasgow. I fell in love with the town last year when I was here conducting the Kelvin Ensemble, and I probably would have come back just to see the city again even if I loathed the band...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 8, 2008 | A view from the podium
From my friend Michael Steinberg, eminent musicologist, after his first night out with the Oregon East Symphony (if you know Michael’s inimitable way of speaking, it is even funnier)… “This orchestra drinks like…. a German...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 7, 2008 | A view from the podium
When it works best, the interaction between a conductor and soloist is a true collaboration, but it takes great trust and a real feeling of being on the same wavelength for both parties to work at their best together. I don’t think it’s any surprise that some of my...
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