Critiqued as “a cellist of power and grace” (The Guardian) and possessing
“mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” Seth Parker Woods has
established a reputation as a versatile artist straddling several genres. Outside
of solo performances, he has performed with the Chineke! Orchestra (UK),
Ictus Ensemble (Brussels, BE), Ensemble L’Arsenal (IT), zone Experimental
(CH) Basel Sinfonietta (CH), New York City Ballet, Ensemble LPR and
Orchestra of St. Luke's (US). A fierce advocate for contemporary arts, he has
collaborated and worked with a wide range of artists ranging from the likes
of Louis Andriessen, Elliott Carter, Heinz Holliger, Helmut Lachenmann,
and Liza Lim to Peter Gabriel, Sting, Lou Reed, Dame Shirley
Bassey, Rachael Yamagata, as well as visual artists Vanessa Beecroft, Aldo
Tambellini, Jack Early and Adam Pendleton.
Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Huddersfield, his principal teachers
were Thomas Demenga, Lucas Fels, Frederik Zlotkin, and Daniel
Morganstern. In recent years he has given talks, workshops and
performances at Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms), Musée d’art Moderne et
Contemporain (FR), Le Poisson Rouge and the Bohemian National Hall
(USA), Cafe OTO (London, UK), Huddersfield Contemporary Music
Festival (UK), Klang Festival (Durham, UK), INTER/ actions Symposium
(Wales), ICMC-SMS Conference (Athens, GR), NIME Conference
(London), Sound and Body Festival (Lille, Brussels), Instalakcje Festival (PL),
Virginia Tech, La Salle College (Singapore), and FINDARS (Malaysia)
amongst others. Recent awards and acknowledgements include Artist of the
Month for Musical America, an Earle Brown/ Morton Feldman Foundation
Grant (USA), McGill University- CIRMMT/IDMIL Visiting Researcher
Residency (CA), Centre Intermondes Artist Residency (FR), Francis Chagrin
Award (UK) , Concours [Re]connaissance- Premiere Prix (FR) and the Paul
Sacher Stiftung Research Scholarship (CH).