Stewart Goodyear performs Rachmaninoff piano masterpiece in concert with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The pianist was recently named Royal Conservatory of Music’s inaugural artist in residence
Stewart Goodyear started playing piano when he was three. Photo by Royal Conservatory of Music
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Rachmaninoff & Strauss featuring Stewart Goodyear at the Orpheum Theatre on November 5 and 6 at 8 pm.
WHEN JUNO-NOMINATED pianist Stewart Goodyear joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in concert this weekend, he will sit down to play a piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff, a leading figure of Russian music in the late Romantic era and one of the greatest piano players of all time. Some of composer’s masterpieces are fiendishly challenging, possibly owing to his unusually large hands. For Goodyear—who was recently appointed the Royal Conservatory of Music’s inaugural artist in residence—performing Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini transports him to his earliest years.
Goodyear was three years old when he played the piano for the first time. By then, he was already transcribing by ear everything he was hearing, experimenting with harmony, and trying to come up with melodies of his own.
“Music came into my life almost from the very beginning,” Goodyear tells Stir. “I was always surrounded by music, whether it was from hearing every member of my family sing their hearts out during the day, or from what I heard on television or on LP. I was always affected by what I heard and knew I wanted music to be a huge part of my life.
“Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody and Symphonic Dances [here led by VSO music director Otto Tausk] were the two works that introduced me to this composer,” he adds. “I was struck by his harmonic, lyrical, and rhythmic language, and how Rachmaninoff manages to balance the sensual, the macabre, and the romance all in one piece. I was very excited to be invited by the VSO to perform the Paganini Rhapsody, and having both works on the same program brings me back to my childhood.”
Here’s how he will prepare for the concert: “By immersing myself in Rachmaninoff's language 24 hours a day, and absorbing every single aspect of the piece”.
Called “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “a phenomenon” by the LA Times, Goodyear studied at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, earned his Bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and completed his Master’s at the Juilliard School of Music.
During his new three-year term at the Royal Conservatory of Music, he will perform; conduct masterclasses at the RCM’s professional training schools ( the Glenn Gould School and the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists); and deliver content for the RCM Certificate Program. He will also be involved with the Oscar Peterson Program at the newly renamed Oscar Peterson School of Music (formerly the Royal Conservatory School), a scholarship program offering tuition-free music instruction to underserved youth.
A composer and improviser, Goodyear recently released an album called Phoenix, which consists of works by several artists, each one inspired by Liszt. On it are two new pieces he wrote that pay tribute to his Trinidadian roots.
Goodyear’s expansive discography also consists of major works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel, to name but a few. His Rachmaninoff recording received a Juno nomination—one of three to his name—for Best Classical Album for Soloist and Large Ensemble Accompaniment.
Stewart Goodyear. Photo by Stewart Lowe/RCM
Currently splitting his time between Philadelphia and Toronto, he will perform the world premiere of his new Piano Quintet with the Penderecki String Quartet at Koerner Hall later this month. Other dates he has lined up for the 2021-22 season include his Boston debut at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; return engagements at the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others; and his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.
Throughout the pandemic, Goodyear turned to what he knows best for comfort.
“The majority of my time was spent in Toronto during the pandemic,” Goodyear says. “It was wonderful to be with my family, but very challenging to keep high spirits and optimism at a time when no one knew when this dark tunnel would end and a glimmer of light would shine. I found solace through learning different repertoire. I feel like I became a better pianist and musician after this trying time.
“For me, the love of performing has never died,” he says. “I love communicating my love of music to different audiences, and sharing myself through my piano playing.”
/For more information, see Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
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