Kathryn Woodard Explained

Kathryn Woodard
Birth Date:1969
Birth Place:Dallas, Texas
Education:University of Music and Performing Arts, Munich
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Occupation:Musician, Educator

Kathryn Woodard (born 1969) is an American pianist, scholar, composer, and educator born in Dallas, Texas. She is recognized as an interpreter of music by composers from Turkey and East Asia.[1] [2] [3] [4] Her work as an educator has addressed issues surrounding musicians' health, specifically prevention and relief from injuries and an awareness of the complexity of musicians' movement.[5] [6] [7]

Career

After initial studies in Dallas with Betty Thomas and noted new music pianist, Jo Boatright, Woodard moved to Munich, Germany where she continued studies with Yasuko Matsuda and later with Gitti Pirner at the University of Music and Performing Arts (Hochschule für Musik) in Munich. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Frank Weinstock and began a focus on piano music by composers outside of the Western tradition. At the same time she began to learn the Alexander Technique to overcome physical limitations in her playing, studying primarily with Barbara Conable.

As a pianist Woodard has collaborated with numerous composers and choreographers, including Paula Matthusen,[8] Allen Otte, Huang Ruo, Christopher Caines, Carolyn Lord, Bryan Hayes and Beth Soll.[9] [10] In 2001 Woodard served as a consultant for Turkish music with the Silk Road Project to help identify composers for the Silk Road Ensemble to commission. From 2000 to 2004 she was adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College, and in 2004 she accepted a position at Texas A&M University in its fledgling music program. From 2010 to 2012 she worked as repititeur and ensemble pianist for Opera Vista and performed several premieres, including The Silent Prince by Somtow Sucharitkul.[11] Woodard has also written several piano pieces for a variety of levels, works for small chamber ensemble and for wind ensemble.[12]

Woodard's scholarly research has focused on timbral experiments in piano music and on the works of Turkish composers such as Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907-1991).[13] [14] More recent presentations have focused on the perception of rhythm and the process of learning rhythms.[15] [16] In addition to recordings on the New Albion and Albany record labels, she has released two recordings on her own label Sonic Crossroads. This entity is now an educational initiative promoting global piano music to students around the world through publications, classes and assessments. A series of digital publications launched in 2015 has brought the piano music of Turkish composers to a broader audience.[17]

Discography

Piano Music, Albany Records 1168 (2010). (Solo recording)

Compositions

Notes and References

  1. News: Brookes . Stephen . Kathryn Woodard . The Washington Post . October 3, 2008.
  2. News: Chism . Olin . Pianist Kathryn Woodard Crafts Exotic Program at the Crow Collection . Dallas Morning News . April 5, 2004.
  3. News: Smith . Steve . Youth and Beauty, and Wails, Whispers and Growls . The New York Times . September 16, 2007.
  4. Bedetti . Andrea . Review of Journeys and Silhouettes CDs . CD Classico (Italy) . November 2013.
  5. Woodard . Kathryn . Recovering Disembodied Spirits: Teaching Movement to Musicians . British Journal of Music Education . 2009 . 26 . 2. 153–172 . 10.1017/S0265051709008419 .
  6. Woodard . Kathryn . Understanding and Accessing the Body Map When Training Movement . Art in Motion 2018: Training for Creative Excellence . June 2018 . Symposium Program . 60–61.
  7. Web site: BMM24 Tagungsband . 2024-04-29 . Österreichische Gesellschaft für Musik und Medizin . de-DE.
  8. News: Smith . Steve . 2009-06-14 . Varied Sounds With a Whiff of Sulfur . 2024-02-22 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  9. Web site: 2022-03-29 . Beth Soll: Earthly Dances in Troubled Times . 2024-02-22 . Westbeth . en-US.
  10. Web site: Beth Soll & Company: Four Dancers, One Choreographer and One Musician . 2024-02-22 . Westbeth . en-US.
  11. Web site: 2016-02-16 . SILENT PRINCE . 2024-01-23 . S.P. Somtow • Somtow Sucharitkul . en-US.
  12. Web site: Music by Kathryn Woodard - YouTube . 2024-02-22 . www.youtube.com.
  13. 2010 . Interview: Kathryn Woodard Discusses the Music of Ahmed Adnan Saygun . Fanfare Magazine . 33 . 6.
  14. Woodard . Kathryn . 2007 . Music Mediating Politics in Turkey: The Case of Ahmed Adnan Saygun . . 27 . 3 . 552–562 . 10.1215/1089201x-2007-032. 143740608 .
  15. Woodard, Kathryn. "Traversing the 'Devil's Staircase': Perception and Notation of Folk Rhythms in Piano Music from the Balkans (and Beyond)," presented at the IMS Regional Meeting for the Balkans, Bucharest, Romania, September 2–6, 2019.
  16. Web site: Woodard . Kathryn . 2021 . Syncopation, Cross-Rhythm and Aksak Meter: A Workshop in Pedagogical Approaches . Art in Motion Symposium: RHYTHM!.
  17. Web site: Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Volume I - YouTube . 2024-02-22 . www.youtube.com.

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