Original Member Of Trans-Siberian Orchestra In Tulsa To Teach Next Generation Of Musicians

An original member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is teaching a new generation of musicians in Green Country.

Mark Wood held a workshop with students from the Tulsa area Monday afternoon at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

This is the first of many stops to schools in the area and in his workshops, Wood hopes to teach students not just how to be better musicians, but to become better, more empathetic people.

"The most important part about being musicians is to teach other," Wood said.

Wood's energy lights up a room, and his music lights up the hearts and minds of young students like Rebekah McCarty.

"I'm just freaking out practically the entire time, like wait. This guy wants me to do what?" McCarty said.

Wood said sometimes symphonies can feel a little stiff, so he's taking the week before his upcoming performance in Bartlesville to liven things up a bit for local orchestras. He plans on holding workshops in Tulsa, Jenks, and Bartlesville.

"If you're not captivated by what I do, I'm losing out on the most important part of the experience, which is making you feel something from my music," Wood said.

It seems to have worked for McCarty.

"I was like grinning the whole time, I loved it," McCarty said.

That's the point - Wood isn't just teaching the next generation of musicians to move, he's teaching them to feel.

"The most important subject I think, of the world right now, I think is our emotions, how do we express ourselves," Wood said.

Wood hopes the echoes of that lesson and of the emotions will be heard for a long time as the students take to the stage in their future concerts.

Wood has a concert coming up. He'll be playing with the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra on October 9 at 7:30 p.m.