Teacher Profile: Ebony Woods

About Ebony Woods

Ebony P. Woods has performed in numerous opera houses throughout Europe, including Teatro di San Carlo, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Komische Oper Berlin, Teatro Massimo Bellini, Semperoper Dresden, Opéra de Massy, National Theatre Mannheim, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Neues Musiktheater. Within the United States, she has appeared with the Alabama Symphony, Opera Louisiane, Mobile Opera, Opera Memphis, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Pensacola Opera, and San Francisco Opera Theater.

As a versatile musician, Ebony successfully transitions between the genres of Classical and Jazz. She was the featured vocalist in the Ibague International Jazz Festival in Colombia, South America and guest artist of multi-genre concerts in Brazil’s International Trancoso Music Festival. Ebony was also the vocalist in the World Premiere of “Quiet Pride” by Rufus Reid, internationally renowned bassist and composer.

Her love of music began at an early age, and Ebony took Flute and Piano lessons from primary school through her sophomore year of college. During her Bachelor’s degree, she studied Voice with German-trained mezzo-soprano, Dr. Pamela Gaston at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in Tennessee. Ebony earned her Master’s of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at Louisiana State University’s School of Music, studying Voice with soprano Particia O’Neil, vocal technician Dr. Loraine Sims, and voice coach John Keene, chorus director of San Francisco Opera. A portion of her training occurred in Austria upon winning a competition that enabled her to continue her studies there.

She is a District Winner and a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, National Finalist in the Rose Palmai-Tenser Vocal Competition and Grand Prize-Winner of both the Opera Birmingham and the National Orpheus Competitions.

Ebony began teaching private voice lessons in her Bachelor’s Degree and was a voice instructor in Music Academies in Tennessee and Louisiana, teaching various genres, including Classical, Jazz, and Music Theater. Her students have ranged in age from six to six-seven years’ young. Upon completion of her Doctorate, Ebony briefly held a professorship post for a year before moving to England.

In her free time, Ebony enjoys Sci Fi and Fantasy programs and films such as: Star Trek (especially TNG and Deep Space 9), Star Wars (Grogu in particular), Firefly, Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. She also likes watching funny animal videos, reading, listening to audio books, and traveling abroad.