Travelled Violinist

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31169, 20 September 1966, Page 16

Travelled Violinist

Many seemed amazed that a musician should have sufficient business acumen to arrange his own tours and be his own manager and agent, Mr Ronald Woodcock, a muchtravelled Australian violinist who is at present touring New Zealand, said in Christchurch last evening.

Mr Woodcock’s two main interests are music and travelling, annd he finds they go very well together. He usually arranges his tours in countries he wishes to visit. Since about 1953 he has spent a year on tour, then a year at his home in Sydney. In future he plans to tour for three or four months each year, spending the remaining months in Australia and on occasional short overseas tours.

Arranging his own tours and engagements means much extra work, but he enjoys being his own master. His

tours have taken him to more than 30 countries. On his travels Mr Woodcock is able to follow his in terests in politics. Emerging nations interest him most. Another of his interests is running. He trains at least once a week when possible. His reactions to a country are associated with music as well as with the people and the culture.

“It is fun playing for people who have not heard classical violin before. Emerging people have a spontaneous reaction and enjoy it, but in Asia countries there is less of a taste for Western music.”

By contrast, an inhibited reaction was found in some Western countries. Boys often seemed to think classical music was “cissy.” This was found mainly in such countries as New Zealand and Australia, where until comparatively recently the pioneering spirit had reigned. The attitude was changing as such countries became more mature. Audiences in Australia and New Zealand were generally responsive—more so in Australia, possibly

because Australians were more extroverted. Since 1953 Mr Woodcock has travelled everywhere with the one violin —an Eberle, made in 1770. “It must be very tough for it has withstood all climates.” Mr Woodcock, who is single, was born in Newcastle, Australia, in 1930, and from 1948 to 1950 studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium where he obtained his Teachers’ and Performers’ Diploma. He also studied in London with Jack Kessler, in Belgium with Arthur Grumiaux, and in Prades with Pablo Casals.

He has performed on radio and television in many countries and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Britain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries. He has previously visited the North Island, but this is his first visit to the South Island. Already Mr Woodcock has arranged much of his touring for next year, and among other countries he intends to visit Malaysia, India, Jordan, Israel, and nations in North Africa and West Africa.