Difficult Grace Seth Parker Woods

• Fredrick Gifford: Difficult Grace:
• 1 Gifford: Difficult Grace 06:24
• Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932 - 2004): Lamentations "Black Folk Song Suite":
• 2 Perkinson: Lamentations "Black Folk Song Suite": III. Calvary Ostinato 03:27
• Monty Adkins (b. 1972): Winter Tendrils:
• 3 Adkins: Winter Tendrils 10:24
• Nathalie Joachim: The Race:
• 4 Joachim: The Race: 1915 07:08
• Alvin Singleton (b. 1940): Argoru II:
• 5 Singleton: Argoru II 12:16
• Nathalie Joachim: Dam mwen yo:
• 6 Joachim: Dam mwen yo 05:30
• Ted Hearne (b. 1982): Freefucked I:
• 7 Hearne: Freefucked I 01:45
• A Wedding, or What We Unlearned from Descartes:
• 8 Hearne: A Wedding, or What We Unlearned from Descartes 05:15
• Freefucked II:
• 9 Hearne: Freefucked II 03:00
• The Lion Tamer's Daughter Vs. the Ledge:
• 10 Hearne: The Lion Tamer's Daughter Vs. the Ledge 04:16
• After We Ruin:
• 11 Hearne: After We Ruin 02:17
• Total Runtime 01:01:42

Info for Difficult Grace

Difficult Grace, based on Grammy Award-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods’ multimedia concert tour de force, conceived by and featuring Woods in the triple role of cellist, narrator/guide, and movement artist, is Woods’ debut album for Cedille Records. Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” Woods has established a reputation as a versatile performer straddling several genres. He is the recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.

Difficult Grace is a semi-autobiographical exploration of identity; past/present histories and personal growth that draws inspiration from the Great Migration; the historic newspaper, The Chicago Defender; immigration; and poetry by Kemi Alabi and Dudley Randall. The album features music written for and with Woods including the world premiere recording of the title work, “Difficult Grace,” by Fredrick Gifford (b. 1972) that layers solo cello, electronics, and spoken text (delivered by Woods) derived from Dudley Randall’s poem, “Primitives.” Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s (1932–2004) “Calvary Ostinato,” the all-plucked third movement from Lamentations Black/Folk Song Suite, references traditional African American music.

Additional world premiere recordings include Monty Adkins’ (b. 1972) Winter Tendrils and Nathalie Joachim’s (b. 1983) The Race: 1915. Alvin Singleton’s (b. 1940) Argoru II and Joachim’s Dam Mwen Yo, featuring Joachim as vocalist, follow. The program ends with a final world premiere: Ted Hearne’s (b. 1982) multi-movement, Freefucked, a suite of songs set to poems by Kemi Alabi, featuring Hearne on vocals and electronics on the final track, “After We Ruin.”

In its review of the live performance of Difficult Grace, The New York Times described Woods as “a cellist of prodigious technical gifts and sharp intellect… Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”

I Care if You Listen wrote, “Difficult Grace posed the daunting task of intertwining a complex past with a developing present… With music at its core, each artistic medium on the program complements the others. The program’s intention to highlight underrepresented voices is in line with its central message of bringing perspectives together to explore the concept of identity.”

Difficult Grace is produced by Elaine Martone, Seth Parker Woods, and Ted Hearne (Freefucked), and engineered by Bill Maylone. It was recorded September 12–17, 2022 at Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL, and October 18–19 and November 14, 2022 at Unsettlement Studios in Los Angeles, CA (Freefucked vocals).

2024 Grammy nominee – Best Classical Instrumental Solo

Seth Parker Woods, violin

Seth Parker Woods
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, 92Y, 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.

This album contains no booklet.