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Critical Praise<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n “The true stars of the evening followed intermission. Kenneth Woods was Kenneth Woods was conductor of the fine musicians comprising the BBC <\/span><\/font>“American conductor Kenneth Woods certainly knows his way around the <\/span><\/font>“American rock and classical musician Kenneth Woods seemed a born <\/span><\/font>\u201cConductor Kenneth Woods had the toughest draw. Stravinsky\u2019s mercurial <\/span><\/font>In the Shostakovich, each instrument enters pianissimo, trembling like a new <\/span><\/font>“At 38, Woods looks like a younger, dark-haired William Hurt…he and <\/span><\/font>“The Nottingham Philharmonic have long been an orchestra to be reckoned <\/span><\/font>\u201cScotia Festival\u2019s young artists sank their teeth into Arnold Schoenberg\u2019s First <\/span><\/font>\u201cConductor Kenneth Woods was alert, efficient and confident, and stayed with <\/span><\/font>“A very fine… deeply felt, performance of Beethoven\u2019s powerful Leonore <\/span><\/font>“Mahler’s Second Symphony was a total triumph of sound and music… <\/span><\/font>“Conducted by Kenneth Woods, <\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Carmen<\/span><\/font><\/u><\/em><\/strong> inspires performers and audience.. . <\/span><\/font>\u201cDvorak\u2018s Symphony No.6 is a Woods favorite, and he promised in his <\/span><\/font>\u201cTchaikovsky, the Oregon East Symphony, Kenneth Woods and guest pianist <\/span><\/font>“A glorious concert…. Conductor Kenneth Woods opened with a lively <\/span><\/font>\u201cWoods\u2019 mastery of the material was evident in his command of the orchestra. <\/span><\/font>\u201c\u2026played with intense conviction\u201d <\/span><\/font>\u201cThe Oregon East Symphony has a new conductor, Kenneth Woods, a rising <\/span><\/font>\u201cBeethoven\u2019s 9th Symphony was the Oregon East Symphony\u2019s May 21 <\/span><\/font>“Kenneth Woods led a performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations with such <\/span><\/font>“Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” by Dvorak\u2026 was played with a lush, <\/span><\/font>\u201cFrom the first note of the concert, conductor, orchestra and audience seemed <\/span><\/font>\u201cA classic example of Charles Ives – his Symphony No 3 “The Camp Meeting”
\nconfident on the podium, clear and economical in his gestures and knew when
\nto actively lead and when to allow his players freedom to phrase. He delivered
\na Strauss “Till Eulenspiegel” brimming with personality, affection and freshly
\nimagined drama. Every moment was alive and engaging, and the riotous
\ncomplexity of the score was rendered with admirable coherence.” An \u201cup-and-
\ncoming conductor\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Washington Post, July 2 2001<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n
\nNational Orchestra of Wales. Solo woodwind fragments against bell-like high
\nstrings set the scene, depth of orchestral sound quality and refined brass pre-
\neminent as the performance progressed. These attributes were also evident in
\nKodaly’s Hungarian Dances of Galanta alongside subtle integral changes of
\ntempi and tonality, and solo clarinet episodes. In Copland’s Appalachian
\nSpring, idiomatic of the vast expanses of Pennsylvania, sparsely spaced
\nstrings gradually developed into a rich combination of exciting harmonies \u2026.
\nPatricia Rozario was the splendid soprano soloist in Canteloube’s Chants
\nd’Auvergne. These French songs were sung with immense beauty and given
\nsensitive accompaniments. \u201d
\n<\/em><\/strong>Malvern Gazette, Ledbury Reader, thisis.co.uk, July 2 2004<\/p>\n
\norchestra, in terms of cueing, balance and structure, as was evident
\nthroughout the culminating performance of Dvorak\u2019s Eighth Symphony\u2026 \u00a0a full-
\nbodied, rich performance of a high standard… \u00a0”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Herald, Glasgow, December 4, 2006<\/p>\n
\nconductor in his recent city debut. His second appearance with the
\nNottingham Philharmonic underlined that impression with performances
\ncombining excitement and integrity.”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Peter Palmer, Nottingham Evening Post, March 12, 2007<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDanses Concertantes\u201d rides on small strokes from individuals in this
\nreduced chamber orchestra\u2026 but the piece took on the playful brilliance of
\nthis underplayed gem.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Austin American Statesman, Wednesday June 23, 1999<\/p>\n
\ncrack on a frozen pond. The intensity builds by wonderful increments,
\nmarching to terrible peaks of passion before falling again under a growing
\nweight of discordant tones… a sensitive and impassioned performance … with
\nKenneth Woods\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Durango Herald, July 4, 2006<\/p>\n
\nPendleton’s unlikely symphony orchestra give Mahler the ride of his life”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>David Stabler, The Oregonian, Sunday, May 27, 2007<\/p>\n
\nwith, but on Saturday there were signs that American guest conductor
\nKenneth Woods could give a new dimension to their playing. \u00a0His combination
\nof vital detail with the broad view was impressive. Sibelius\u2019s masterpiece got a
\nworthy performance. A concert to stir and delight.” \u00a0
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Nottingham Evening Post, October 29, 2006<\/p>\n
\nChamber Symphony and bit hard. Conductor Ken Woods from the Cincinnati
\nConservatory marshaled the forces with admirable consistency, securely
\ninitiating tempos, shaping the endless flow of melody and instrumental
\nacrobatics and balancing the embarrassment of musical riches to clarify the
\nmain line. A brilliant job\u2026 played with the kind of ardency that goes with a
\npassionate commitment to a great work.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Halifax Mail-Star, June 7, 1997<\/p>\n
\nthe singers unflaggingly. The 13-piece orchestra created a sense of
\natmosphere between scene changes and punctuated the text colorfully.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 17, 1997 (CCM Opera Theatre’s award-winning
\nproduction of Britten\u2019s Albert Herring).<\/p>\n
\nOverture No. 3…The orchestra, too, responded splendidly to this demanding
\nscore, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no. 2…with a formidable technique, and … a
\nluscious, surging tone…The concert ended with a superb performance of
\nSchumann\u2019s Symphony no. 3\u2014 Its success was helped enormously by
\nKenneth Woods…an enthusiastic capacity audience \u00a0”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Surrey Advertiser, May 1, 2006<\/p>\n
\nintimate, moving and intense. The concert of concerts…. Woods casts a spell
\nover the audience.”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, April 25, 2006<\/p>\n
\nBizet’s opera shows depth, range of the OES!”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, April 29th 2004<\/p>\n
\nintroduction that its joy and radiance would come through. It did. The
\nmusicians performed all four movements with such energy they must have
\nbeen exhausted by the final note\u2026 \u00a0People were on their feet to show their
\nappreciation. The Rachmaninoff piano concerto (no. 3) brought international
\nprize-winner William Wolfram to the stage, and with the orchestra keeping
\nperfect pace, the sound couldn\u2019t have been richer with the New York
\nPhilharmonic. There was another standing ovation and everyone on stage
\ndeserved it.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, October 7, 2003<\/p>\n
\nDickran Atamian: WOW!\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, February 25, 2003<\/p>\n
\nperformance of Dvorak\u2019s Czech Suite. Here the dance rhythms received an
\nauthentic Czech flavour…. Dance rhythms also predominated in \u00a0Beethoven’s
\nSymphony No. 7, full of vitality and energy, but with enough pathos reserved to
\nmake the \u2018slow\u2019 movement utterly convincing.. a tour de force of virtuosity!
\nBrilliant and incomparable…”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Surrey Advertiser, April 7, 2006<\/p>\n
\nBoth works were conducted in a way that inspired each member of the
\norchestra to perform at his or her best. Both works were played to perfection.
\nThe string playing was particularly lush, complimenting the clean precision of
\nthe winds, brass and percussion\u2026 The orchestra accompanied with
\nexceptional grace and fine intonation.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, October 28, 2001<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Spokesman Review, Spokane, August 1994<\/p>\n
\nstar bringing \u201cgrade A\u201d talent to Pendleton in his trajectory.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, June 1, 2001<\/p>\n
\nconcert. Listening to this magnificent concert brought tears to my eyes more
\nthan once. At the end, I was exhausted because I was so full of music. I didn\u2019t
\nthink I had the capacity to hear one more note, and simultaneously, all I wanted
\nwas to continue to listen to more.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, Tuesday May 22, 2001<\/p>\n
\ncommitment and passion that one could not help but be stirred by the power of
\nit. Working without a score, he conducts with a fiery passion and a deep
\nrespect for the composer’s work.”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The Elgin Valley News, February 25, 2001<\/p>\n
\nfull sound of great beauty. The Overture to “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini \u00a0
\nmust be played with great precision and the orchestra did just that. Conductor
\nKenneth Woods pushed the orchestra to the next level. The orchestra received
\nand deserved standing ovations. \u00a0Profound insight . . . stunning refinement and
\nvirtuosity. Extraordinary concerts!”
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, November 29, 2001<\/p>\n
\nto breathe as one.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>The East Oregonian, January 27, 2004<\/p>\n
\n(1904) – deserved the attention Ken Woods gave to balance and ensemble
\ntuning, allowing all the snippets of melody to come out of the “organized
\nchaos” that Ives was a master of. Ken Woods’ interpretation of Barber’s
\nAdagio for Strings was powerful, almost aggressive. A far cry from the bland
\n“Classic FM” style that this piece so often attracts. The work was underpinned
\nby some perfect intonation in the ‘cellos and bass section…\u201d
\n<\/span><\/font><\/em><\/strong>Swann Reviews.co.uk, July 5, 2005
\n<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n