Alexander Woods

Alexander Woods is a pianist and music teacher living in the Twin Cities, MN. A versatile and collaborative musician, his passions include art song, instrumental & chamber works, choral music, contemporary piano repertoire, and a variety of jazz and popular styles. He strives to maintain an innovative perspective in his performances, seeking out new and old works from diverse genres and composers.

Woods is a lecturer of music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he has taught applied piano lessons, class piano, and an honors colloquium exploring music and gender. He also holds positions at Central Presbyterian Church (St. Paul) and Voices of Hope Prison Music Initiative, and has been involved with institutions and ensembles including St. Olaf College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Source Song Festival, the International Cello Institute, St. Croix Valley Opera, Borromeo Music Festival, MPLS (imPulse), Minneapolis Choir Collective, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and the NATS, Schubert Club, and Thursday Musical competitions.

Recent and upcoming performances include the Schubert Club's Courtroom Concerts, Mozart's D-minor piano concerto with Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra, Kjell Habbestad's dramatic song cycle The Temptations of Veslemøy, UW-Eau Claire's First Fridays series, and Minneapolis Song Slam with composer Abbie Betinis and mezzo-soprano Christine Amon (second prize). As a tango pianist with Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet, Orquesta Típica Kingfield, and Latin Grammy nominees Los Tangueros del Oeste, Woods's performances include Bach Society of MN's Outside the Box series, Minnesota Tango Music Festival, Northfield Jazz Festival, Bridge Chamber Music Festival, Gustavus Artist Series, Berlin music lounge, Metronome Brewery, Tango for Musicians Workshop at Reed College (Portland, OR), Red Poppy Art House (San Francisco, CA), and the Sessions at McPike Park (Madison, WI).

As a recording artist, Woods's projects include Carol Barnett’s Epigrams, Epitaphs with Border CrosSing, two CDs with flutist Tim Lane (Paper Route Press, Skyline Publications), an album of piano works by Ivar Lunde Jr, John Russo, and Martin Stepper (CRS, Inc.), and the Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet's The Conservatory and Dead Stars, which were featured on Minnesota Public Radio.

Woods holds a master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Minnesota, where he earned the Rydell Fellowship in Accompanying & Coaching. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in music and religious studies from Pomona College, where he earned the McCord Memorial Grant to fund piano study at several summer music festivals. His primary teachers include Timothy Lovelace, Lydia Artymiw, Genevieve Lee, and Ming Tsu. www.alexanderwoodspiano.com