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. [5]
As a pianist Woodard has collaborated with numerous composers and choreographers, including Paula Matthusen, [8] Allen Otte, Ge Gan-ru, Huang Ruo, 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 repetiteur and ensemble pianist for Opera Vista and performed several premieres, including The Silent Prince by Somtow Sucharitkul. [11] Woodard has also composed numerous 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. [4] This entity is now an educational initiative promoting global piano music to students around the world through publications, classes and assessments. [17] A series of digital publications launched in 2015 has brought the piano music of Turkish composers to a broader audience. [18]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
