James Wood

James Wood

James Wood (b. 1953) is a composer and a conductor. He has also worked as a percussionist. He studied composition in Paris and organ in Cambridge. Later he pursued composing studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Wood formed the renowned New London Chamber Choir in 1981, and he conducted this choir until his move to Germany in 2007. He has also conducted the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers and a number of other well known choirs and ensembles.

Famous names, like Iannis Xenakis, Mauricio Kagel, Steve Reich og Karlheinz Stockhausen, are among the composers Wood has worked with. In his own composing, he has wirtten for the Arditti Quartet and the BBC Proms. Among the foremost works are Séance (1996) for soprano, choir, MIDI-vibraphone og electronics and Autumn Voices (2001) for violin og electronics.

Wood has also written an opera, Hildegard, by commission from Percussion Group de Hague, Champ d’Action and New London Chamber Choir. The opera is based on the life and visions of 10th Century author, composer and mystic Hildegard von Bingen.

Electronic music is a key element, and the spatial effect is underlined when the audience hears the music through a vast amount of speakers placed around them.