Ken's long-awaited debut with the Madison Symphony Orchestra was a joyful occasion, including memorable performances of Haydn's Symphony No. 96 "The Mircale" and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, as well as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with rising star violinist, Blake Pouliot.
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My wife not only liked it, she said it was one of the best performances she ever heard, would be willing to go right back in the auditorium to hear it again and raved about it most of the way home. Several other patrons we spoke to on the way out of the concert hall expressed similar opinions. The guest conductor for the weekend concerts was Kenneth Woods, artistic director and principal conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, who took easy command of the Madison Symphony and seemed to have direct nonverbal communication with each player, all of which also contributed to a satisfying evening of music.
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– Bill Wineke, Channel 3000
“A towering figure at the podium, Woods skilfully handled the full force of the MSO, most notably in the final work of the evening, where his animated gestures seemed to draw out the MSO’s full spectrum of sound.”
– Matt Ambrosio, The Cap Times
“A Healthy Orchestra in Strong Hands — Kenneth Woods takes the podium of the Madison Symphony, and unleashes all its gifts... Through it all, Woods, now baton firmly in hand, unleashed all the power of the mighty score without crossing into bombast. It made perfect sense that a conductor with so much experience in Mahler symphonies would feel at home in Strauss’s world (they were after all writing for the same size of orchestra in a similar style)... and it was wonderful to hear the vibrancy and joy on full display under Woods’s leadership. Bravi, one and all. You can ride the rollercoaster Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.”
– Greg Hettmansberger
