Rex Woods
 Professor
Vice Director of the School of Music
College of Fine Arts
University of Arizona

Rex Woods, pianist, has performed in the United States, Canada,Mexico, France, China, and Australia, but is best known to regional audiences for his frequent artistic performances as both a soloist and chamber musician.  He has been heard in concerto performances with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Catalina ChamberOrchestra, the University of Arizona Symphony Orchestra, and the Sierra Vista Symphony. Recent performances include performances with Brian Luce, flutist, at universities in Tennessee, Texas, and Ohio.  He is a member of The Bruch Trio along with JerryKirkbride, clarinet, and Jessie Levine, viola. The trio may be heard in two recent recordings on the Summit label.

Mr. Woods received his musical education at Brigham Young University, the University of Arizona, the University of Southern California, and the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau. . He was awarded the Otto Guth Memorial Award from the San Francisco Opera Center for excellence in vocal coaching and was the recipient of the Premier Prix de Fontainebleau in chamber music. Mr. Woods holds the degree of Juris Doctor from Arizona State University. He has served on the faculties of the University of Texas at Austin and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Since 1988, he has taught at the University of Arizona.

Mary Woods, pianist and soprano:  As a child in Gimli, Manitoba, an Icelandic-Canadian fishing village, Mary gained a love for singing by listening to records of Jeannette McDonald and singing along to such classics as "Chiri Biri Bin" and "The Italian Street Song."  She studied at the university of Manitoba School of Music and won a position on "Hymn Sing", a national television program on the Canadian Broadcasting Company network.  After four years of television, competitions, operas, recitals and church soloist positions, she graduated with the Bachelor of Music Degree and won a Gold Medal on her exams for the Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto diploma. 

After a summer as a scholarship student at the Aspen School of Music, she came to Tucson to enter the University of Arizona where she earned a Masters Degree in vocal performance.  She enjoyed post-graduate studies in opera at the University of Toronto, piano pedagogy at the University of Texas, and conducting and music education at the University of Arizona.  Mary's career includes diverse theatrical and concert appearances and extensive work as a music educator.  She has taught on the faculties at the Interlochen Center For the Arts, the University of Arizona Preparatory Program, and the Tucson Hebrew Academy.

Alexander has loved the violin since the age of two.  His Arizona teachers included David Rife and Mark Rush.  By the age of sixteen, he had achieved local success by winning first prize in several competitions and becoming the youngest person ever to land a core position with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.  This achievement was noted on the Paul Harvey News Program.  In the summers he served as concertmaster under some of the world's greatest conductors at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at the Itzhak Perlman Music Program in the Hamptons.  He studied with Pinchas Zuckerman and Patinka Kopec at the Manhattan School of Music in New York for two years.  While there, he participated in several performances in Carnegie Hall including a performance with Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman and the Israel Philharmonic.  Alex enjoys making music with others including playing in various chamber ensembles, singing in choirs, and has recently discovered an interest in solo singing.  He majored in Music and French at the University of Arizona.  Currently he is pursuing his Masters in violin at Yale.  He is also singing with the Schola Cantorum, a professional choir in the Yale Divinity School Institute of Sacred Music.

Garrick Woods has studied music from his earliest years including the violin at age four and cello beginning at age five. Garrick begain his studies with Mary Beth Tyndall and continued to be instructed and influenced by Cassel Grubb, Pamela Frame, Zoran Stilin, Nelsimar Neves, Mark Votapek and Nancy Green.  In addition to Garrick's formal studies he has participated in workshops and master classes with some of the finest musicians alive including Janos Starker, Carter Brey, and Yo-Yo Ma.  In 2006 Garrick, with his group The Sonora String Quartet, was welcomed to San Francisco to participate in the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar.  During their stay the quartet performed on the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music concert series.  Garrick's orchestral experience includes the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra as well as semi-professional groups the Tucson Pops Orchestra and the Tucson Chamber Orchestra.  He has performed the Dvorak and Saint-Saens concerti with the Tucson Civic Orchestra and the Elgar concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Tucson.  Garrick's interest in music has led to other musical pursuits besides the cello, including trombone and trumpet.  Garrick has won various awards in local solo competitions and awards in both cello and composition from the Interlochen Arts Camp.  In 2001 he was the Emerson Scholarship winner for the state of Arizona at Interlochen.  Currently Garrick resides in Tucson, AZ, where he is pursuing a bachelor of music degree in cello performance.  Garrick is newly married to Anna Woods.

Charles Woods studied the piano for several years before discovering his love for percussion instruments.  As a child, he played in the Junior Band at the Interlochen Arts Camp and studied at home in Tucson under Homero Ceron of the Tucson Symphony who is still his percussion teacher.  Charles was a keen participant in his school band at Dodge Middle School, where he was also selected for the Honor Band.  He was active in the Catalina High School where he participated in fine arts and volleyball, playing in the marching band and the concert band.  He has won seats in both Regional and All-State Orchestras, demonstrating particular skill on the tympani.  Charles has been a percussionist with the Catalina Chamber Orchestra, plays drum set in a jazz band, and keyboard in his rock band.  Currently he is taking music classes at Pima College in Tucson.  Charlie is enthusiastic about composition and hopes to pursue this further. 

Anna Christina Woods is the newest member of the family. Last Thanksgiving, she and Garrick were married. Anna is a native of Tempe, and has sung and played music with her family her whole life. She studied cello with Zhigang Chen, and played with the Tempe Symphony Orchestra for 2 seasons during High School. Anna was also the Valedictorian of her class at Tempe High. After being named one of seven Arizona Baird Scholars by the prestigious Baird Foundation in 2006, she studies Mandarin Chinese at the University of Arizona, and also will be principal cellist with the U of A Philharmonic Orchestra in Spring. She enjoys spending time with her husband and his energetic family.