26 Facts About Roger Woodward

Roger Woodward is widely regarded as a leading advocate of contemporary music.

Roger Woodward was born in Sydney where he received his first piano lessons from Winifred Pope.

Roger Woodward performed for the papal organist Fernando Germani and Sir Eugene Goossens, after which he entered the Sydney Conservatorium in the piano class of Alexander Sverjensky and the composition class of Raymond Hanson.

Roger Woodward began performing recitals at the Wigmore Hall and South Bank.

In 1971, Roger Woodward performed his first recital at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall with works by Richard Meale, Ross Edwards, Leo Brouwer, Takemitsu and Barraque, after which he was invited to co-found a series of new music concerts known as the London Music Digest at the Roundhouse.

In 1972, Roger Woodward made his American debuts with the brass players of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Olivier Messiaen and Zubin Mehta, with whom he subsequently performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, New York and Paris.

That year, Roger Woodward founded Music Rostrum Australia at the Sydney Opera House where he collaborated with Richard Meale, Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian, David Gulpilil and Yuji Takahashi.

Roger Woodward began performing with the Cleveland Orchestra directed by Lorin Maazel, and appeared regularly at the Festival d'automne a Paris, BBC Promenade Concerts, La Biennale di Venezia, the Warszawska Jesien, Festival Internacional Cervantino, Wien Modern at the invitation of Claudio Abbado, at the New York Piano Festival, Festival de la Roque d'Antheron and at the Ferme de Meslay, Touraine, at the invitation of its artistic director, Sviatoslav Richter.

In 1991, Roger Woodward was recipient of the Diapason d'or and Ritmo Prize and the following year became Companion of the Order of Australia.

Roger Woodward toured Italy, France and the UK with Alpha Centauri during which he premiered Donatoni's Sincronie.

Roger Woodward performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Gulbenkian Garden, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and in traditions pioneered by Nellie Melba and Percy Grainger, he performed throughout Central and Regional Australia.

Roger Woodward commissioned a series of piano concertos from Larry Sitsky, the first of which was premiered at the 1994 Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music and cited by the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers.

Roger Woodward was voted a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1997.

Roger Woodward completed the degree of Doctor of Music at the University of Sydney in 1999 and was recipient of four doctorates honoris causa from 1992 to 1998.

In 2001, Roger Woodward was awarded Australia's Centenary Medal; in 2004 the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Republic of France and in 2005, the Polish.

Roger Woodward performed at the Canberra International Festival in 2018, when he toured in Germany.

Roger Woodward is a pianist with a powerful virtuoso technique and his performances are renowned for their precision, insight, and depth of interpretation, although sometimes reviewed as unorthodox for their modernity.

Roger Woodward has received wide critical acclaim as a leading interpreter of avant-garde works of the second half of the 20th century, including those of: Boyd, Feldman, Gehlhaar, Masson, Takemitsu, Qu Xia-Song, Radulescu, Xenakis, and recordings with Boulez, Barraque, Stockhausen, Bussotti, Farinas, Brouwer, Conyngham, Edwards, Peter Michael Hamel, Lutyens, Rands and Cage.

Roger Woodward worked with the New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, brass players of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the five London orchestras, the Halle Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, London Brass, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, L'orchestre National de Paris, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, EEC Youth Orchestra and the Budapest and Prague Chamber Orchestras.

Roger Woodward performed with the Arditti, Tokyo, JACK and Alexander String Quartets, with the harpsichordist George Malcolm; jazz pianist Cecil Taylor in Lisbon, Paris, for the Patras Festival, and for extensive tours of the UK Contemporary Music Network from 1986 to 1994.

Roger Woodward is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a member of the Australian Republic Movement.

Roger Woodward believes that the creative artist is a bulwark for society on matters of cultural diversity, injustice and human rights.

Roger Woodward was acknowledged by the Scarman Report and the London Metropolitan Police after the 1981 Brixton riots and by the city of Darwin following Australia's Cyclone Tracy.

The Etcetera BV release of Xenakis' Kraanerg with the Alpha Centauri Ensemble directed by Roger Woodward was selected by the music critics of The Sunday Times, UK, as one of the most outstanding releases of that year.

In 1991, Roger Woodward shared the Diapason d'Or with fellow Australian and senior ABC recording producer Ralph Lane, for their recording of Morton Feldman's solo piano music.

In 1991, Roger Woodward shared the Diapason d'Or with fellow Australian and senior ABC recording producer Ralph Lane, for their recording of Morton Feldman's piano music.