empty

empty

PAUL WOODIEL,
Violin, Hardanger Fiddle, Scottish Fiddle, Classical Violin

Paul will join the festival faculty for several days during the teaching week as a “casual” instructor sharing his tips experiences as a working Broadway and commercial musician in New York City over the last 20 years as well as leading some mini workshops on his instruments. His insights into the world of professional music and the Broadway scene in New York are a must for any young musician headed for a career in the city or abroad. His fiddling skills in Jazz, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian, and American traditional music make him one of the most invaluable and flexible musicians within the film and television recording industry today. He will also be a part of the festival concerts, sharing his classical violin skills as well as pieces on the traditional Norwegian violin, known as the Hardanger Fiddle.

Leonard Bernstein described Paul Woodiel as “a first-class performer – one who combines spirituality with intellect”. A busy New York-based purveyor of a broad range of violin and fiddle styles, he has been a featured recitalist at the 92nd St. Y, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, The Caramoor International Festival, and the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared as soloist at music festivals from Bard College in New York to the red rocks of Moab, Utah.

A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion, he is a widely celebrated exponent of traditional fiddle styles, and has taught traditional fiddle at Wesleyan University and elsewhere. Also in the traditional vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero.

Other collaborations include tours, performances and recordings with Steve Reich and Musicians, piano wizard Dick Hyman, Marin Alsop’s Concordia, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Grammy Awards Orchestra. As a studio player, his fiddling appears in myriad contexts including Woody Allen films, Dixie Chicks releases, and advertisements for controversial weight-loss medications. An unabashed theater musician, he is a veteran of Broadway orchestra pits, and was the assistant concertmaster for the recent Broadway production of “West Side Story”.