Kenneth Woods' indomitable spirit of discovery has resulted in numerous notable collaborations with living composers. His latest, with British composer Deborah Pritchard, is particularly inspirational. On 18 October 2014, Woods will conduct the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO), of which he was named Principal Conductor last year, in the premiere of Pritchard's Wall of Water, a violin concerto written in response to a new series of paintings by the celebrated contemporary artist Maggi Hambling. Wall of Water was commissioned by Woods and the ESO, and written for violinist Harriet Mackenzie. The premiere performance will mark the ESO's debut at LSO St. Luke's. A second performance will take place on 30 January 2015, at the National Gallery in London.

Pritchard, whose synaesthetic approach to composition results in many of her works being written in response to visual art, was inspired by the intense power, movement and depth of Hambling's paintings. In the concerto, "each wall of water is depicted musically as it transforms regarding architecture, energy and colour in an expressive dialogue between soloist and orchestra," explains the composer. The images in Hambling's Wall of Water series will be projected during the performance, presenting a special preview of these new works. The performance is supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation and Arts Council England.

Maggi Hambling CBE is one of Britain's most significant and controversial artists. Her Wall of Water paintings have their origins in the artist's experience of gigantic waves crashing onto the sea wall at Southwold in Suffolk. These expansive works, measuring over six by seven feet, will be displayed for the first time in a new exhibition at the National Gallery, London, from 26 November 2014 - 15 February 2015.

Coinciding with Hambling's National Gallery exhibition, Woods, the ESO, and Mackenzie will reprise Pritchard's Wall of Water on 30 January 2015, in the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing Theatre. The performance will be preceded by a discussion of the project by Hambling, Pritchard, Mackenzie and Woods, moderated by Colin Wiggins, special projects curator of the National Gallery.

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For any media enquiries, interview and image requests relating to Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra, please contact Melanne Mueller, melanne@musiccointernational.com, +44 (0) 20 8698 6933 or +1 917 907 2785

For any media enquiries, interview and image requests relating to Maggi Hambling, please contact Camilla Purdon, camilla.purdon@flint-pr.com, +44 (0) 20 3463 2086

For any media enquiries relating to the Wall of Water exhibition, please contact the National Gallery Press Office on +44 (0) 20 7747 2865 or press@ng-london.org.uk. Publicity images from the exhibition can be obtained from http://press.ng-london.org.uk

Follow the project on Twitter via #WoW

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Saturday, 18 October 2014 -7:30 pm (pre-concert talk at 6:45 pm)
LSO St. Luke's, Jerwood Hall, London
Deborah Pritchard Violin Concerto "Wall of Water" (World Premiere)
Also on the programme:
Thea Musgrave Green for String Orchestra
Emily Doolittle "falling still" for Violin and Strings (UK Premiere)
Kaija Saariaho Terra Memoria for String Orchestra (UK Premiere)
Tickets: £10, £14
http://lso.co.uk/145/English-String-Orchestra/1076

Friday, 30 January 2015 - 6:30 pm (discussion performance)
The National Gallery, Sainsbury Wing Theatre
Deborah Pritchard Violin Concerto "Wall of Water"
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Kenneth Woods
English Symphony Orchestra
Harriet Mackenzie violin

Notes to Editors
Hailed by the Washington Post as a "true star" of the podium, conductor, rock guitarist, author and cellist Kenneth Woods has worked with many orchestras of international distinction, and has appeared on the stages of some of the world's leading music festivals. His work on the concert platform and in the recording studio has led to numerous broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 2013, he was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Vernon Handley.

As Principal Guest Conductor of Stratford-upon-Avon-based Orchestra of the Swan (2010-2014), Woods has made numerous acclaimed recordings, including the first-ever cycle of the Symphonies of Hans Gál (AVIE).

Woods' unique gifts have been widely acknowledged by some of today's leading conductors. In 2001, he was selected by Leonard Slatkin to be one of four participants in the National Conducting Institute at the Kennedy Center, where he made his National Symphony debut. Toronto Symphony Music Director Peter Oundjian has praised Woods as "a conductor with true vision and purpose. He has a most fluid and clear style and an excellent command on the podium... a most complete musician."

A widely read writer and frequent broadcaster, Woods' blog, A View from the Podium, is one of the 25 most popular classical music blogs in the world. He has provided commentary for the BBC Proms, and has spoken on Mahler on NPR's All Things Considered and BBC Radio 4's Today Programme. http://kennethwoods.net

With the appointment of Kenneth Woods as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor in 2013, the English Symphony Orchestra entered a new era with a renewed artistic team and Board of Trustees. The organisation has expanded its concert and outreach activities aimed at delivering distinctive and engaging performances at the highest standards that attract new audiences; exposing listeners to unknown or little-known music, supporting the creation of new music, and inspiring young people to make music a part of their lives. The ESO's mottos are "Music for Everyone" and "Engage and Lift the Spirit." http://eso.co.uk

Described as "irrepressible in its vitality" by the Classical Source, Deborah Pritchard's work has been broadcast by BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, released by NMC Recordings and premiered by the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC Singers, Allegri String Quartet, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Orchestra of the Swan and Retorica. Having completed her MMus at the Royal Academy of Music with Simon Bainbridge, holding the Junior Manson Fellowship, she was awarded her DPhil from Oxford University under Robert Saxton, winning both the Orlando Composition Prize and the John Lowell Osgood Memorial Prize for composition.Deborah is currently composition tutor at the University of Oxford and has recently attended a residency at the Leighton Artists' Colony, Banff Centre, Canada.

Harriet Mackenzie is an internationally renowned concerto soloist and recitalist, and has performed across five continents. She is equally comfortable with classical masterpieces as she is improvising in world music styles with her trio Kosmos. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Harriet is delighted to work with Deborah Pritchard. She has previously collaborated with a number of composers, having had concertos written for her by Robert Fokkens (premiered at the Southbank Centre, London) and Graham Coatman, whose violin concerto 'Baklo Drom' she premiered at the Swaledale Festival. Harriet has recorded for the NMC and Dutton labels to critical acclaim and has received an 'Editor's Choice' from Gramophone Magazine, cited for her "superbly responsive playing .... faultless technique and unfailing insight". www.harrietmackenzie.com

Maggi Hambling is one of Britain's most distinguished contemporary artists. She was the first Artist in Residence at the National Gallery, London, 1980, and won the Jerwood Painting Prize (with Patrick Caulfield) in 1995. Public sculpture includes A Conversation with Oscar Wilde (1998), opposite Charing Cross Station London; Scallop (2003), on Aldeburgh beach, Suffolk, for the composer Benjamin Britten; and The Brixton Heron, unveiled in 2010. The Winchester Tapestries were installed at the Cathedral in 2013.

Hambling's celebrated and continuing series of North Sea paintings were exhibited at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in Maggi Hambling - the Wave (2010) and a new series at the Hermitage, St Petersburg in 2013. Her work is held in many public collections including, in the UK, the British Museum, Tate, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Maggi Hambling: Walls of Water will be on view at the National Gallery, London from 26 November 2014 - 15 February 2015. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Hambling lives and works in Suffolk and London.