Seth Parker Woods

On both occasions he is joined by his longtime collaborator Hilary Hahn for performances of Carlos Simon’s Double Concerto Suite, which they premiered in Spring 2026 with the Saint Louis Symphony. Simon’s work is the latest of a series of concertante works written for Woods by distinguished and emerging composer and premiere by major orchestras: Tyshawn Sorey’s For Roscoe Mitchell with the Seattle Symphony; Nathalie Joachim’s Had To Be at Spoleto Festival USA and with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), and Chautauqua Symphony; Julia Adolphe’s Chrysalis with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the American premiere of Rebecca Saunders’s Ire with the Seattle Symphony.
Further highlights this season include Woods’ concerto debut in Finland with the Tampere Philharmonic; a celebration of Julius Eastman at the LA Philharmonic’s Minimalist Icons festival; and recital and chamber music appearances at the Yale Schwarzman Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Washington Performing Arts, among others. He also returns to Brazil for the Ilumina Festival in São Paulo.

“Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”

The New York Times

“a cellist of power and grace…mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink”

The Guardian

Larsen Strings for Cello

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Released in March 2026, Woods’ first recording on Apple’s Platoon label, “From Ordinary Things,” earned critical acclaim and earned an “Editor’s Choice” nod by Gramophone. His discography also includes the GRAMMY-nomindated Difficult Grace (Cedille Records, 2023); music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir with Claire Chase (New Focus); and multiple recordings as part of WildUp’s Julius Eastman project, including the GRAMMY-nominated Eastman Vol. 4: The Holy Presence, which features Woods as soloist in Eastman’s The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc.

His GRAMMY®-nominated, autobiographical multimedia tour-de-force Difficult Grace has been performed to critical acclaim at 92NYC, the Harris Theater in Chicago, CAP UCLA, New Music Concerts in Toronto, the San Diego Symphony, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has curated and performed in tributes to the music of Julius Eastman at Lincoln Center, The Ojai Festival, The Kitchen, Redcat, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, The Ruhrtriennale, National Portrait Gallery and the Barbican and to the chamber music of George Walker at the Phillips Collection.

Since 2022, Woods has served on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and was appointed the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music in 2024. He has also taught at the Music Academy of the West and the Ilumina Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He holds degrees from Brooklyn College and the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, as well as a PhD from the University of Huddersfield. He has served as Artist in Residence with the Kaufman Music Center and the Seattle Symphony, was honored at the Seattle Symphony’s 25th Anniversary Silver Gala in 2023 and received the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.

Woods is also recognized for his distinctive personal style, having appeared on Best Dressed lists in Vanity Fair, Variety, Texas Monthly, and the OC Register.

Seth Parker Woods is a Larsen Performing Artist. He is performing with a combination of Sovereign and Il Cannone Direct & Focused.

Seth Parker Woods Performs “A Wedding, or What We Unlearned from Descartes” by Ted Hearne/Kemi Alabi