Stewart Goodyear (born February 1978) is a Canadian concert pianist and composer. He is best known for performing all 32

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

in a single day, a feat he has done at

Koerner Hall The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edwar ...

(Toronto),

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1963. A two-time Tony Award winner, the McCarter’s legacy traces back to ...

(Princeton), the

Mondavi Center The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located on the UC Davis campus in unincorporated Yolo County, California. It is named for arts patron and vineyard operator Robert Mondavi, who donated U ...

(Davis, California), the

AT&T Performing Arts Center The AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, preliminarily referred to as the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, is a $354-million multi-venue center in the Dallas Arts District, Dallas, Arts District for performances of opera, musical ...

(Dallas), and

Memorial Hall A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''. History of the Memorial Hall In the aft ...

(Cincinnati).

Early life and education

Goodyear was born and raised in Toronto to a Trinidadian mother and British father. He never knew his father, who died from cancer a month before Stewart was born. But Goodyear grew up with his father's LPs, which included

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

, and

and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

symphonies. He has said that hearing Beethoven is what compelled him to be a classical artist. Goodyear was aware of the piano at age three and by four was playing by ear on a toy piano. After his family bought a full-size instrument, he took lessons and learned general music as a student at the school for the choirboys of St Michael's Cathedral in Toronto (St Michael's Choir School). Goodyear graduated from the Glenn Gould School at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edwar ...

in Toronto at age 15. There he studied with James Anagnoson, who later became dean of the school. Goodyear attended the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

in Philadelphia where he studied with

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...

Gary Graffman Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator. Early life Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of ...

, and

Claude Frank Claude Frank (born Claus Johannes Frank; December 24, 1925 – December 27, 2014) was a German-born American pianist. Biography Of Jewish ancestry, Frank was born in Nuremberg, Germany. His father emigrated to Brussels after the advent of the ...

. He attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York, where he studied with

Oxana Yablonskaya Oxana Yablonskaya (; born December 6, 1938) is a Soviet, American, and Israeli pianist who has had an active international performance career since the early 1960s. She began her career in the USSR and, although winning several important compet ...

and earned a master's in piano performance.

Career

Goodyear has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and NHK Symphony Orchestra. He is a contemporary classical musician who improvises cadenzas when performing Classical concertos. Goodyear typically meditates for half an hour before performing. Other preconcert rituals include reading a pocket-sized biography of Beethoven and reviewing the cover of the Beatles’ album ''

With the Beatles ''With the Beatles'' is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band's debut album, '' Please Please Me''. P ...

'' before performing Gershwin. Goodyear has cited

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

as a particular influence, saying, "Bernstein is the classical musician of the 20th century I admire the most. He was inspired by all styles of music, and, just like Beethoven, he defied convention, created his own music, and communicated to audiences of all demographics." In 2020, Goodyear performed on the PBS television program ''Now Hear This'', where

Scott Yoo Scott Yoo (born April 25, 1971) is an American conducting, conductor and violinist. He was appointed chief conductor and artistic director of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016. He hosts the PBS TV series ''Now Hear This''. Early li ...

hosted a one-hour segment on Mozart.

Compositions

*Solo (A Suite for Solo Violin) * Baby Shark Fugue * Piano Quintet (Hommage a Beethoven) * Callaloo Suite (for piano and orchestra) * Cello Concerto * Count Up (fanfare) * Dogged by Hell Hounds * Go Down Death * Panorama * Piano Quartet * Sonata for Piano * Variations on Eleanor Rigby

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodyear, Stewart 1978 births Living people Canadian classical pianists Canadian composers