by Kenneth Woods | Aug 14, 2008 | A view from the podium
Hi everyone As you can see, we’re having some problems with corruption of this blog’s database. I’m sorry it is giving you all problems. Apparently this is a major bug affecting about 100,000 webpages hosted by Yahoo. They hope to have something...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 13, 2008 | A view from the podium, Haydn, Music and Media
In today’s New York Times Daniel Wakin weighs in on the Elgar-vibrato “kerfuffle” (by the way, I’m not English, I’m not a traditionalist, and I don’t object to Elgar being played without vibrato, I object to the claim that Elgar should be played without...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 13, 2008 | A view from the podium
Interesting discussion of the Elgar brouhaha brought to my attention at Okayplayer, including this…. Sure, we go back and forth on the merits of demerits of this or that producer, Nas’ terrible choice of beats or the question of novelty vs. talent…...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 9, 2008 | A view from the podium
On to happier thoughts. I thought it would either be rather interesting or completely, mind-crushingly dull to chart my preparation, in all it’s mundane quirkiness of a specific work or two this year. So, still moving a bit slow from the long trip to America, I’ve...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 8, 2008 | A view from the podium
I am feeling a bit weak today, because I begin this post today knowing that it means that I will have broken my “glass house” rule two days in a row. I’m sure the karmic gods will make me pay…. I’ve been listening to the now notorious performance of Elgar 1. Safely...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 6, 2008 | A view from the podium
The Oregon East Symphony has announced details of our 2008-9 Season, the orchestra’s 23rd, and is currently in the midst of a busy season ticket campaign. Highlights of the year to come include the return of cellist Parry Karp for a rare performance of Bloch’s epic...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 4, 2008 | A view from the podium
One thing I really liked about yesterday’s Oregonian article on the 2008 RCICW is the masterful way David Stabler captures the complex vibe of the workshop teaching sessions- the intersection of a students abilities and limitations with the instantaneous feedback of...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 3, 2008 | A view from the podium, Music and Media
Conducting schools are relatively scarce so four years ago, Kenneth Woods decided to start a workshop in Portland, where students could continue to acquire the technical and musical skill needed for a conducting career. Some aspects are easily learned, others not....
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 31, 2008 | A view from the podium
And so, the concert finished, we celebrated our accomplishments with a few rounds of drinks and called it a workshop. The only thing missing is a comment or two from the students- who I knew read this thing…. It’s probably a silly exercise to try and sum up such...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 30, 2008 | A view from the podium
The last day of the RCICW has a very different rhythm to the rest of the week. Gone are the regular conducting sessions with orchestra, and all the thrills and stress they bring. Instead, we spend the morning doing one-on-one coaching sessions with the students,...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 29, 2008 | A view from the podium
Our final full day of teaching at the 2008 RCICW was a rather epic one. We began the day with the Beethoven F minor Quartet, op 95 (the “Serioso”), with which we had started the workshop on Monday. I was altogether happier with the second session, mostly for two...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 26, 2008 | A view from the podium
Day 5 done, the hour is late….. Today was all conducting, no talking (no seminars, that is)- three sessions with the orchestra (four musicians played all three services!). I can’t remember any other day in the last four years here during which I thought I saw so many...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 25, 2008 | A view from the podium
I really like to blog about the conducting workshop, so the fact that I missed out yesterday is a good indication of this week’s feverish pace. Yesterday, Day 3, was all conducting- Stravinsky Octet in the morning with the Discover Program students, then the Dvorak...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 23, 2008 | A view from the podium
Day two of the RCICW- there is still so much I want to say about my week at Round Top and last week in Pendleton, but the hour is late and so I must limit myself to thoughts about today. We began today with the Discovery Program students conducting the 1st mvt of the...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 22, 2008 | A view from the podium
I’ve literally not had a second to sit down and do even the shortest blog post in some time, and don’t have any time now either. However, the beginning of the Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop each summer has become such an important moment in my year that...
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