Faculty || Mary Beth Rhodes-Woodruff Violin & Viola
Mary Beth Woodruff, violin & viola
Ms. Rhodes-Woodruff grew up in Southern California and began studying the violin at the age of 7. At the age of 15 she was accepted at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan where she was co-concertmaster of the orchestra. Following graduation, Ms. Woodruff matriculated at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At M.I.T. she majored in both chemistry and music and was awarded an Advanced Music Performance Scholarship. She was honored with membership in the Burchard Scholars in the Arts at M.I.T. and received the Von Ness Scholarship for Best Performer in the Arts. While studying in Boston, she was member of the Boston
Philharmonic, Emmanuel Music, the MIT Chamber Music Society, and the New England Chamber Orchestra. She spent summers in Maine at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Rhodes-Woodruff attended Carnegie Mellon University for graduate school with a full scholarship to study with Andres Cardenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony. During this time period, she participated in the Jerusalem International Symphony Orchestra Winter Festival in Israel as co- concertmaster. Upon receiving her Master’s degree she began teaching at Biola University Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles where she taught violin, viola, music history, strings literature/repertoire, strings pedagogy, was Head of Chamber Music Studies and guest-conducted the orchestra on many occasions. During her 7 years at Biola, she led a group of students on a chamber music concert tour of mainland China and soloed with the Biola Symphony Orchestra on a concert tour of Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
Upon the birth of her first child Ms. Rhodes-Woodruff left Biola to focus on both performing and teaching in Santa Barbara County. From 2000 – 2008, she was the Director of Strings Programs for the Santa Barbara Symphony. In 2009, Ms. Woodruff expanded her work in training young musicians and founded Santa Barbara Strings where she is currently artistic director and conductor. The organization not only trains young musicians in orchestral and chamber music ensembles, but also in the composition of works written and performed by the players and Artistic Director. 80 young string players from 26 Santa Barbara County schools train in the string orchestra and chamber music repertoire under her direction. The organization is currently sponsoring the one-on-one lessons and orchestral ensemble membership of a growing number of young string players from socioeconomically under-privileged sectors of the Santa Barbara Community in their Early Strings Training Program. From 2016 – 2024 Ms. Woodruff taught and led the music program at the Ballard School in Solvang.
Ms. Rhodes-Woodruff has performed with the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, was concertmaster of the Santa Maria Philharmonic, was assistant concertmaster for the Opera Santa Barbara, was concertmaster of Wagner in Vermont and for the past 10 years, violinist with the Radian String Quartet. She is currently on the faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Ballard School. Her principal teachers have included Ronald Copes, James Buswell, Julia Bushkova, Andres Cardenes, and John Harbison for composition.