Kenneth Woods is an American conductor and cellist. He is widely recognised for his interpretations of the works of Mahler, Haydn, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Bruckner and Hans Gál, as well as being acknowledged as an expert orchestra builder, conducting teacher and mentor.
Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity Michaelhas also been the Music Director of Charities Philharmonia, London Youth Opera, Little Operations and founding conductor of the Vanbrugh Ensemble. Michael has won several prizes at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition and the Ninth International Pedrotti Conducting Competition.
Since her solo debut aged eleven with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, she has performed with many distinguished conductors throughout Europe and Africa. Recent highlights include Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ A Spell for Green Corn and the Britten concerto with the BSO under Michael Seal.
April is a soprano with a passion for nuance and text, which gets to the heart of both music and character. Equally at home on the opera stage, concert hall and recording studio, April has recently premiered the title role of John Joubert’s opera Jane Eyre in a live concert recording (due for release on SOMM Recordings in March 2017).
Philip Sawyers’ works have been performed and broadcast in many countries worldwide including USA, Canada, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, France and UK. Music-web International described the Nimbus Alliance CD of Sawyers’s orchestral work as “music of instant appeal and enduring quality”.
