“The driving force throughout my career is to return to people through music that which was gifted to me”: Dr. Scott Woodard
“The entire universe is musical by nature. I want to make a unique and defined contribution through my talents which makes the world more artistic for its inhabitants. I want to make music visible in my hands, causing others to feel the same passion and drive for music that I feel with each breath. I want to influence all generations to be an active part of the music that is constantly around them. With each new musical experience, whether it be the study of a score or the conducting of a symphony, I evolve,” says Dr. Scott E. Woodard, the world-renowned conductor and the music director of the West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly known as the Charleston Chamber Orchestra) and the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Scott Woodard is a conductor with a strong vision which breathes life into the score. He encourages the players to open up and play with each other.” – Christian Fatu, Concertmaster, Charleston Chamber Orchestra
“Dr. Woodard’s fine conducting technique and intelligent approach to the score brings the best out of musicians, whether they are students or professionals. His passion for music and his decisiveness as a leader are very noteworthy qualities I, as a concertmaster, value greatly.” – Anton Shelepov, D.M.A. Concertmaster, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Woodard’s study and pursuit of conducting has taken him all over the world.
Dr. Woodard’s primary teachers were Dr. Leonid Korchmar of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Music and the Mariinsky Theatre and Dr. Oleg Proskurnya. with whom he studied the methods of the Leningrad School of Conducting developed and taught from 1932-1999 by Maestro Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory.
In 2005 and 2011, Woodard conducted orchestras of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society and the Mariinsky Theatre in concerts throughout the former Russian capitol.
Past podiums also include: guest conductor of the Macon Symphony Orchestra (2006), associate conductor (2016-17) and cover conductor (2013-16) of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, finalist in the Pittsburgh Philharmonic Orchestra conductor search (2019), guest conducting with the Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra (2021). In the 2022-2023 season, Dr. Scott Woodard was a finalist for the position of Music Director with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Woodard was named First Prize winner of the International Conductor’s Workshop Competition (2006) and First Prize at the International Academy of Advanced Conducting in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is now a full faculty member of the Academy. Celebrated guest artists with whom Dr. Woodard has worked include Victoria Fatu, Romanian violinist Gabriel Croitoru, Israeli tenor Michael Riskin, Yip Wai Chow, and Cristian Fatu.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Conductor’s Guild and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity.
Scott Woodard was born in Huntington, West Virginia, grew up and was educated in Huntington and, while he has travelled the globe to study conducting and practice his trade, West Virginia is where he has always returned. “For a native, there is something about these hills and hollers that never allows one to truly leave. As they say, home is where the heart is,” he says.
When asked what excites him most about moving to Charleston, he answers, “Music has given me a passport to travel the world. But I have lived in the Greater Charleston for most of my adult life, and West Virginia has been my home since day one! I cannot express the admiration I have (and have always harbored) for the arts scene in Charleston. Given the size of our Capitol City, I am always in awe of the artistic offerings which we experience daily. I have been in larger cities which do not create the flourishing artistic environment we foster here in Kanawha Valley.”
Scott Woodard says he is one of the fortunate few who knew from an early age exactly how he wanted to invest his life. “I know without a doubt that my first music teachers created experiences for me which caused me to feel and understand the power of music and what a life dedicated to it was all about. They were inspiring individuals who saw in me more than I saw in myself! These were patient and caring people who put up with my annoying requests to direct the band or the orchestra and gave me far more opportunities to develop as a young conductor than I am sure I deserved. They were role models who I adopted as family members. In fact, my earliest band director still plays for me in the West Virginia States and Butler Philharmonic Orchestras! I am reminded at each rehearsal and concert, just how he, and others, invested in me. It has been the driving force throughout my career to return to others, through music that which was gifted to me.”
Aside from his family and orchestral music he is passionate about education. He believes it to be the responsibility of society to hand down its culture from generation to generation. “Educating young people in the beauty and power of music is a privilege we must never set aside. Culture is our legacy to the world of tomorrow, and we must cherish it as such. There is something to be learned in every performance, in every symphony, tone poem or concerto, that will make tomorrow better. As musicians, ours is the task of enlightening and ennobling the listeners to find it.”
Dr. Woodard says he has been asked many times who his favorite composer is and he always answers in the same manner. “My favorite composer is the composer whose music I am studying at any given moment. When I prepare to conduct a symphonic work, an overture or a concerto, I immense myself in that composer, becoming best friends during our journey together. That composer becomes my favorite composer. Now, that being said, my experiences in Russia caused me to absolutely fall in love with the music of Tchaikovsky. His sense of melodic line is, at once, uplifting and heart-breaking. And his ability to dramatize and bring to life scenes so lavish (as in many of the ballet scores) is mind-boggling! I could conduct the Fifth symphony every day and never tire of it!”
His dream piece of music is the Sixth Symphony of Tchaikovsky. “I feel such a close connection to Tchaikovsky, and, believe it or not, I have never conducted his Sixth Symphony, the Pathetique! Someday, though!!”
His favorite genres of music besides classical are jazz and 70’s/80’s Yacht Rock. “As a trumpet player, every day is a good day to hear Clifford Brown or Lee Morgan. As for the other, I am sure there have been noise complaint filed against me as I drive around with my windows open belting out, “We Are the Champions” with Freddie Mercury.”
He says that If he could pick a theme song to play any time he enters a room, he would choose Louis Armstrong’s iconic version of “What a Wonderful World”. No matter how challenging the last few years have been, he still believes that we live in a wonderful world, which is for him, made even better by the love of his family and the privilege of making music.
In the 2022-2023 season, Dr. Scott Woodard was a finalist for the position of Music Director with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He says that as a native West Virginian he has watched as the Charleston Symphony Orchestra became the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. “I was along for the ride as it transformed itself to the crown jewel of artistic entities in my home state, and as my career and abilities have progressed I have yearned for a way to return to West Virginia a portion of the gifts she has bestowed upon me. Serving as Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra would give me a vehicle to use the skills built over a lifetime in music to say thank you to the people of West Virginia in the most meaningful way I know,” he answered when he was asked what drew him to apply to be the next Music Director of WVSO.
“A great deal of my time is invested in career and family. As I am sure it is with most everyone in today’s fast-paced world.”
Life has generously endowed Scott Woodard with talents, and the main one of them is his kind generous heart. Life gave him the opportunity to become a champion of the arts of the hills and valleys of West Virginia, which he cherishes so much.
Dr. Scott Woodard is happy to convey through the language of music his love for people and he strives to change the world towards harmony through humanistic culture.
By Gilbert Castro | ENC News
