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Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” three-time GRAMMY®-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods has established his reputation as a versatile artist and innovator across multiple genres. Woods’ projects delve deep into our cultural fabric, reimagining traditional works and commissioning new ones to propel classical music into the future. As The New York Times wrote, “Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”





Following a notable 2024/25 season that included his debuts with both the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, Woods enters the 2025/26 season with several high-profile engagements. He joins longtime musical partner Hilary Hahn in the world premiere performances of Carlos Simon’s double concerto, appearing with the National Symphony under Gianandrea Noseda and with the St. Louis Symphony under Stéphane Denève. He also makes his solo debut at London’s Barbican Centre, returns to Brazil for the South American premiere of Nathalie Joachim’s cello concerto Had To Be with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, and performs with Ensemble Resonanz in his debut at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, featuring works by Jessie Montgomery, Chinary Ung, and Julius Eastman.

In January 2026, Woods premieres a new trio formation with soprano Julia Bullock and pianist Conor Hanick on a national tour that includes a world premiere by composer Tania León, with appearances at CAP UCLA, 92NY, Virginia Tech, Eastman School of Music and the University of Chicago.



A prominent champion of contemporary composers, Woods has premiered numerous concertos written specifically for him. These include 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.

His GRAMMY®-nominated, autobiographical tour-de-force Difficult Grace has been performed to critical acclaim at 92NY, the Harris Theater in Chicago, CAP UCLA, the San Diego Symphony, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Woods has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Konzerthaus Dortmund, and Harvard University, among many others. He has curated and performed in tributes to the music of Julius Eastman at Lincoln Center and to the chamber music of George Walker at The Phillips Collection.



Woods’s discography includes the GRAMMY-nominated Difficult Grace (Cedille Records, 2023); music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir with Claire Chase (New Focus); and multiple recordings as part of Wild Up’s 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 of Arc. His next solo recording, From Ordinary Things, will be released by Platoon in March 2026.

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 Pirastro Artist and endorses Pirastro Perpetual Strings worldwide. 








Photo Credits (Top to Bottom): Ben Gibbs, OnTheRadio, Chris Lee, Ben Gibbs

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