How Stewart Goodyear Balances a Career as Concert Pianist, Composer, Arranger — and the Royal Conservatory's First Artist in Residence
Stewart Goodyear.
Some classical musicians choose to follow a specific lane throughout their career, either as an orchestral musician, a chamber player, or a concert soloist. But Stewart Goodyear can't confine his career to one lane — he demands an entire highway.
As a concert pianist, composer, arranger, and improviser, Goodyear has built one of the most multifaceted careers of any musician today. His recitals thoughtfully place works of Debussy and Liszt next to his own compositions and new pieces from Jennifer Higdon and Anthony Davis. And his ever-expanding discography shows incredible depth — from the complete concertos of Beethoven to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Goodyear's transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.
This eclectic approach to music-making is the result of an artist who finds inspiration in everything life has to offer. "The more I'm not boxed in, the more there's room to create and think outside that box," Goodyear says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
In this conversation, we discuss the many exciting projects on the horizon this season — including his second year as the inaugural Artist in Residence at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, the world premiere of his Piano Concerto with the Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto premiere of Callaloo, Goodyear's suite for piano and orchestra that pays homage to his Trinidadian background.
Plus, he shares more about the ways positivity and optimism fuel his wellness routines, the similarities he sees between cooking and orchestration, and how finding a great restaurant in New York City can be as simple as "letting your feet take you where you want to go."
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