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The KPAC Blog features classical music news, reviews, and analysis from South Texas and around the world.

Musician Mark Wood Breathes New Life Into Violins

courtesy Mark Wood
Mark Wood

Violinist Mark Wood has the classic music pedigree, but in his upcoming to the Alamo City, don't expect to see him in a tuxedo. 

"My three brothers and I were the first all-brother string quartet, so I grew up on classical music," he says.

Then his parents bought him the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers for Christmas.

"When I heard the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, that changed my entire life," Wood shares.

He then began experimenting, creating sounds people had never heard coming from a violin.  Wood pursued a life of touring, recording, creating his own line of electric violins and inspiring young people through music. Fast-forward a few decades and now he's being brought back to San Antonio for workshops and a performance by a curiously-titled group: The San Antonio Parents of Orchestras Who Rock"

"How do you like that title?! And their mission is to expose all genres of music and to learn technology, improvising, composition skills that help them become an independent musician," he says. 

Wood says their work reaches further than their students performing on stage with him. Two workshops the day before and day of the concert will set the stage for the concert.

"The concert is on May 20th at the Aztec Theatre at 7:30, and it features students from the Northside and North East school districts," Wood says. "So it's a workshop experience for the kids, but it's also performance-based. That's really, really important -- we don't like to be in a classroom too long."

He also says their objective is much broader than a single concert.  They're creating a city-wide rock orchestra that will include students from all over the San Antonio area.

Wood notes the importance of music education through performances.

"We do about 150 [performances] a year around the country if not around the world," he says. "Empowering music programs to integrate a 21st-century experience so that their music program is not antiquated."

Find more on Mark Wood here. You can catch him at the Aztec Saturday, May 20th. 

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii