ROGER WOODWARD

Roger Woodward was born in 1942 in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, the youngest of four children to Gladys and Frank Woodward. He studied church music with Kenneth Long in Sydney, and, at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, conducting with Sir Eugene Goossens, piano with Alexander Sverjensky and composition with Raymond Hanson. He won the piano section of the 1964 ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition, beating David Helfgott in the final.

In 1965 he continued his studies in Poland with Zbigniew Drzewiecki. He made his debut with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and later with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He rose to international prominence in a series of collaborations with Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Jean Barraqué, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Toru Takemitsu, Franco Donatoni, Luciano Berio, Leo Brouwer, Iannis Xenakis, Arvo Pärt,James Dillon and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Sviatoslav Richter invited him to appear at many European festivals; he has performed at over 100 festivals around the world, including nine appearances at the London Proms.

In late 1974/early 1975 Woodward rallied colleagues, within a 14-day period, to present a benefit concert at the Sydney Opera House for people made homeless by Cyclone Tracy in Darwin. He became strongly associated with the Solidarność movement in Poland. He was the Music Patron of the inaugural Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977, and a member of the jury for the 1981 competition.

In 1983 he performed the complete works of Frédéric Chopin for the Sydney Festival. In 1990 he founded the Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music and Visual Arts. He artistically directed the festival, held annually for twelve years, involving many world premiere performances. ABC Classic FM Radio recorded and broadcast all concerts. A number of these were released as CD recordings by Etcetera, the Netherlands, winning international awards. In 2002 he was appointed founding director of the School of Music and Dance at San Francisco State University (SFSU). He is a Professor for Classical Piano at the SFSU's School of Music. In 2014, Woodward published his autobiography, Beyond Black and White: My Life in Music.

Woodward's recording of J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier was Editor's Choice for The Gramophone's February 2010 issue, with German and UK critics describing this recording release as "setting a new standard after Gould and Barenboim". He was awarded the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his Celestial Harmonies recording of Bach C minor and E minor Partitas and is a recipient of the Goethe Prize and Diapasion d'or by the German and French critics for recordings of works dedicated to him by Morton Feldman. Current recordings for Celestial Harmonies of the Debussy Préludes and Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues were released to exceptionally high praise from critics worldwide (The Independent (UK).

Woodward has made close to 100 recordings and currently records for the American label, Celestial Harmonies (www.harmonies.com). As a chamber musician he worked with Ivry Gitlis, Philippe Hirschhorn, the Tokyo and Arditti String Quartets and is the frequent partner of the Alexander String Quartet in the U.S. Their recording of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet received high praise from European and American critics as did their recording for Celestial Harmonies of the Chopin F minor Concerto and the Beethoven C major Piano Quartet, WoO 36. At the invitation of Sviatoslav Richter, Woodward performed with the Arditti String Quartet at La Grange de Meslay, Tours, and he frequently performed at Le festival d'automne à Paris and BBC Promenade Concerts. His live recording of Xenakis's KEQROPS with Claudio Abbado for DGG, from the Wiener Konzerthaus, received very high praise.

ALBUMS

'Rachmaninov Preludes' 1970 HMV
'Roger Woodward Piano' 1972 HMV
' The London Music Digest From The Round House' 1973 EMI
' Roger Woodward Plays Chopin' 1973 HMV
'Beethoven Sonatas, Opus 111 in C Minor, Opus 57 in F Minor "Appassionata" 1974 RCA
' The 24 Preludes & Fugues' 1975 RCA
' Three Piano Sonatas' 1975 RCA
'Contemporary Australian Piano Music' 1975 RCA
'Landscapes, Piano Concerto No 3, Sinfonietta No 2' 1976 RCA
'Symphony No. 3 In E Flat - "Eroica" 1977 RCA
' Piano Concerto No.1' 1977 RCA
' Southern Cross / Ice Carvings' 1986 HMV
' Kraanerg' 1989 Etcetera
'Music Of The Night' 1990 J&B
'Triadic Memories' 1991 Etcetera
'Late Piano Works' 1991 Etcetera
' Works For Piano 1908 - 1938' 1991 Celestial Harmonies
' Diagonal Flying' 1992 Etcetera'The Music Of Frederic Chopin' 1992 Warner Music
'My Favourite Classics' 1995 Warner Music
'Etudes • Suite Bergamesque • Images (Oubliées)' 1997 ABC
'Roger Woodward Plays Chopin' 1998 Artworks
'Cinema Paradiso' 1998 Artworks

References

.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Woodward