Donemus Webwinkel — Woodward, Kerry

Kerry Woodward was born in Barry, Wales, received his Bachelor and Master degrees in music from Cardiff and London Universities, studied conducting at the Guildhall School of Music, London and subsequently with Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Charles Mackerras and Kyril Kondrashin.
As a conductor, he occupied the position of conductor of the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, assistant to Pierre Boulez and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and was artistic director of the Nederlands Kamerkoor (1977-80), the Akron Symphony and Ohio Chamber Orchestra in the U.S.A. He has conducted most of the BBC orchestras, the English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Ballet and the London Sinfonietta and the chamber orchestras of the Royal Concertgebouw and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He discovered and made a performing edition from the manuscript of the opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann, written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, and conducted its world premiere in Amsterdam, and, subsequently, worldwide.
As a composer, he has written and arranged music for orchestra, band, ballet, chorus, chamber ensembles, videos, solo voice, theatre plays and three operas for family audiences. He has been commissioned to write for various organisations in differing styles, including the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers; the BRT radio chorus; the NOB radio chorus; the Leerorkest, Amsterdam; Glazen Ui opera; TransMusings; Altena Brass; Utrecht University Chorus; La Passione; Amnesty International; Lucis Trust, London; Findhorn Foundation, Scotland; ‘Animals Australia’ (Ascoltati Singers), Sydney, Australia; Malufi Singers, Belgium; Champéry Festival, Switzerland.
He has been a faculty member at the University of Akron, Ohio and at the Conservatories of Utrecht and Enschede where he taught orchestra conducting, choral conducting and composition.