The Wallis Presents Seth Parker Woods in Program of Timeless and Contemporary Works at Wallis Annenberg Center for The Performing Arts

Grammy-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods, a fierce advocate for contemporary music who has collaborated with a wide array of artists in genres ranging from classical and rock music to the visual arts, makes his Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts debut, accompanied by Andrew Rosenblum on piano, with a program that spans the cello repertoire on Thursday, March 9, 2023, 7:30 pm, at the Bram Goldsmith Theater. Hailed as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink” (The Guardian), Woods is the recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America’s prestigious Michael Jaffee Visionary Award. The program includes Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson’s moving “Calvary Ostinato” from Lamentations: Black Folk Song Suite; Rachmaninov’s deeply expressive Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 19; and Jeffrey Mumford’s four dances for Boris, composed in 2004. Also featured are Schumann’s vivid Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, originally written for clarinet and piano and later arranged for cello and piano; and Sonata for Cello and Piano, composed in 1957 by George Walker, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music, which Woods says, “is the epitome of a composition that just feels great to play.” Classical California KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen will host a pre-concert talk with the Woods at 6:30 pm.

Woods is noted for projects that delve deep into the cultural fabric, reimagining traditional works and commissioning new ones to propel classical music into the future. In addition to solo performances, he has appeared with ensembles and symphonies around the globe, among them the Ictus Ensemble (Brussels, BE), Ensemble L’Arsenale (IT), zone Experimental (CH), Basel Sinfonietta (CH), Ensemble LPR, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Atlanta and Seattle symphonies. He has also collaborated and worked with a wide range of artists, including Louis Andriessen, Elliott Carter, Heinz Holliger, Peter Eötvos, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Lou Reed, Dame Shirley Bassey, and Rachael Yamagata and such visual artists as Ron Athey, Vanessa Beecroft, Jack Early, Adam Pendleton, and Aldo Tambellini. Woods recently joined the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at The University of Southern California as Assistant Professor of Practice - Cello and Chamber Music. 

Rosenblum is passionate about exploring great pieces of music from across every period of composition. As a harpsichordist, he won second prize in both the 2018 Leipzig International Bach Competition and the 2017 Prague Spring International Music Competition. An experienced collaborator, Rosenblum has been on the staff of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Northwestern University, and has performed with the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Collegium 1704, Music of the Baroque Orchestra, Haymarket Opera, Third Coast Baroque, and Three Notch'd Road. He is a member of the Harpsichord and Piano Faculty of the Heifetz International Music Institute.