Kenneth Woods

Kenneth Woods is an American conductor and cellist. He is widely recognized for his interpretations of the works of Mahler, Haydn, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Bruckner and Hans Gál, and is acknowledged as an expert orchestra builder and conducting teacher.

Woods pursued his advanced conducting studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and also studied at leading summer institutes and workshops around the world. He studied conducting with Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Jorma Panula, Murry Sidlin, Robert Spano, and Gerhard Samuel.

Hailed (presumably in print on a specific date) by the Washington Post as an “up-and-coming conductor” and a “true star” of the podium, Woods is Music Director and Conductor of the Oregon East Symphony and Chorale. He also serves as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Rose City Chamber Orchestra and Music Director of Surrey Mozart Players. Woods has previously been an assistant conductor at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops.

He has worked with many orchestras of international distinction including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, and the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra. Work at music festivals has included Aspen, Lucerne, Round Top and Scotia. His work on the concert platform and in the recording studio has led to numerous broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio, and CBC Radio 2.

In the spring of 2001, Woods was selected by Leonard Slatkin as one of four participants in the Kennedy Center National Conducting Institute. At the completion of the Institute, he led the National Symphony Orchestra in a debut concert, drawing a return invitation from the NSO. In the spring of 2000, David Zinman selected Woods from a pool of over 200 applicants to be a fellow in the inaugural class of the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. Toronto Symphony Music Director Peter Oundjian has praised Woods as “a conductor with true vision and purpose. He has a most fluid and clear style and an excellent command on the podium… a most complete musician.”

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Wikipedia