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ADAMS TOM WOODS |
The Chairman Dances Guest Conductor |
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TICKETS |
PRESENTING PARTNER
Born in Tanzania to Australian parents, Tom Woods grew up in Perth, Western Australia, where he learnt cello and piano and studied conducting with Richard Gill at the West Australian Conservatorium. In 1989, he received a Department of Foreign Affairs scholarship to enable studies in Moscow under Maestro Vladimir Ponkin.
Returning to Australia, Tom joined Opera Australia in 1993, becoming one of the youngest conductors in the company's history with his debut A Midsummer Night's Dream at age 23 to critical acclaim. Between 1993 and 1997, Tom was Assistant Conductor for over sixty operas; assisting such maestri as Richard Hickox, Simone Young, Christopher Hogwood, Sir Charles Mackerras, Richard Bonynge and Carlo Felice Cillario.
His ongoing relationship with Opera Australia has seen him conduct the world premiere of John Haddock’s Madeline Lee, the Australian premiere of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and works including La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Carmen, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Fille du Regiment, The Gondoliers and Patience. Tom has conducted for the State Opera of South Australia (Rigoletto, Il barbiere di Siviglia), West Australian Opera (La traviata) and Opera Queensland (The Mikado).
Tom has conducted all the major Australian symphony orchestras and was the Artistic Director of the Sydney Youth Orchestra between 1999 and 2005. He has conducted in Hong Kong and Bangkok and took the London Festival Orchestra on tour to Brunei, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, as well as touring the Sydney Youth Orchestra to Denmark and Sweden. In 2009, he conducted the Osaka Symphoniker in a New Year’s Eve Gala in Biwako Hall.
Tom has frequently conducted The Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet and Royal New Zealand Ballet in works such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Scheherazade, Don Quixote, Peer Gynt, Le Sacre du Printemps and many others. He has also conducted numerous world premieres including John Taverner’s Lament for Jerusalem and Matthew Hindson’s Symphony No. 1.
Since 2007, he has been a frequent visitor to New Zealand, where he is currently Chief Conductor of Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted seasons of The Magic Flute, Aida and Il trovatore for Southern Opera and appeared with the Auckland Philharmonia.
In 2010 and 2011, Tom Woods conducted Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Of Mice and Men for Opera Australia and Albert Herring for Victorian Opera. He returns to OA in 2012 for Madama Butterfly and will conduct concerts in Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney and Germany. Tom recently won the Green Room Award for Outstanding Conductor in Opera (Of Mice and Men).
© Patrick Togher Artists’ Management 2012
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