What follows is an essay about my new Performing Version of Mahler’s arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden String Quartet, premiered at Colorado MahlerFest in 2024. Schubert, Franz arr. Mahler/Woods – String Quartet in D minor (Der Tod und das Mädchen/Death and the Maiden), New Critical Performing Version Franz Schubert may have had an even more powerful influence on Mahler’s creative personality than Beethoven, one which is perhaps most easily seen in Mahler’s earliest and latest works. Mahler’s first fully-formed masterpiece, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer ..read more

I had the pleasure this week of reading a recent essay by the cultural historian Joseph Horowitz called “Three Who Quit,” a moving meditation on the later-life silences of Elgar, Ives and Sibelius. Joe and I will be recording a podcast on the topic later this week, so watch this space for further discussions. Joe’s essay examines the complex mix of reasons that might have contributed to each of the three composers’ retirement from major compositional efforts. These include things like failing health, grief over the loss of a muse/spouse, feeling alienated by modernist trends in music and the a ..read more

What follows is a Twitter thread I wrote in response to some excellent recent essays on UK arts funding. I’ve been thinking about a very important and balanced essay from Richard Bratby on the promise and perils of private arts funding in the UK. His description of the plight of Mid Wales Opera, where many of my friends and colleagues play and sing, is heart-wrenching and painfully familiar. Will Wigmore Hall’s new private funding model convince Britain’s wealthy elite to rethink how we should subsidise the arts?Wigmore Hall has announced that it will move to an entirely self-sufficient fun ..read more

Thought for the day. A colleague I admire was talking today about how one might make the lists of orchestral audition excerpts more diverse. I take a different view. The professional orchestra audition process, especially in America, has got to be one of the hardest things any musician ever has to go through. The toll it takes on musicians’ self-image and emotional well-being is beyond enormous, and the process is hugely expensive and time consuming, and success is not, by any means, guaranteed. With that in mind, I think we have a duty of care to make the process as humane as possible an ..read more

I am excited, grateful and relieved to be able to say that the English Symphony Orchestra have received a generous grant in support of our Autumn 2023 season from Arts Council England.Words can’t fully express my gratitude to everyone who wrote in support of our work. After the failure of our last application in the spring, it was entirely possible that, given the 14 week waiting time on application decisions, we might not be able to resume regular work until 2024. I’m incredibly grateful to our colleagues at ACE Midlands who allowed us to make a Time Sensitive Application. My friend and ..read more

It was heartbreaking to learn of the death of Christopher Gunning, although I’d been aware he had been unwell for some time. Chris was the sort of person one felt lucky to know. He could be incredibly funny, even wicked. His vault of amazing and amusing anecdotes was second to none. As a composer for film, television and commercials, he was an incredible craftsman who took the work incredibly seriously. Likewise, his hugely wide-ranging work as an arranger for all kinds of pop stars and showbiz legends. So much so, that his doctors told him that he had to leave that world or face serious cardi ..read more

Among Wayne Shorter’s many huge musical accomplishments, one can’t help but be awed by his ability to establish a completely distinct artistic space for himself as a tenor and soprano saxophonist when the shadow of John Coltrane’s enormous musical personality was so pervasive. Where almost every other post-Trane sax player for the next 30 years would wrestle with the enormity of his influence, Wayne made finding his own voice seem effortless. And that makes all the more remarkable this concert. I had this on CD and must have listened 100+ times. To see it on video after all these years is a g ..read more

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Overture – “The Hebrides” (“Fingal’s Cave”), opus 26 Symphony no. 3 in A minor, “Scottish”, opus 56 HEAR IT LIVE ESTHER ABRAMI @ THE MOUNT WITHOUT 9TH MARCH 2023 at 7:30 PM THE MOUNT WITHOUT, UPPER CHURCH LANE, BRISTOL BS2 8FN MUSIC @ OXFORD Friday March 10th at 7:30 PM Sheldonian Theatre Oxford PROGRAMME ​Mendelssohn The Hebrides, op.26 (Fingal’s Cave) (10′) Bruch Scottish Fantasy, op.46 (30′) INTERVAL (20′) Mendelssohn Symphony No.3, op.56, A minor (Scottish) (40′) ARTISTS English Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Kenneth Woods S ..read more

Well, that didn’t go to plan. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, it was often said that no sector was hit harder than music. Concert halls were silenced, recordings postponed, musicians furloughed. Musicians and music lovers fought back. Where there was goodwill and hard work, much was achieved. In my home city, thanks to an outpouring of local generosity and a hard working board of directors, the Madison Symphony managed to pay their musicians (none of whom are salaried) for every cancelled rehearsal and concert. Orchestras went online. Here at the ESO, we premiered over 40 new compositions an ..read more

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Symphony no. 45 in F-sharp minor, HOB I:45 “Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”) HEAR IT LIVE 7.30PM 23RD NOVEMBER 2022 GREAT MALVERN PRIORY, CHURCH ST, MALVERN WR14 2AY PROGRAMME Haydn – Farewell Symphony David Matthews – Le Lac Barber – Knoxville Summer of 1915 Mozart – Symphony No. 36 ‘Linz’ ARTISTS English Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Kenneth Woods Soloists: April Frederick (Soprano) The Journey Home Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Symphony no. 45 in F-sharp minor, HOB I:45 “Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”) Imagine for a moment that you’re hearing this work ..read more