Pianist opens symphony season with Rachmaninoff piece
By Joanne Foxjfox@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Friday, October 10, 2008
Stewart Goodyear will open the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra's 2008-2009 season Saturday.
Like a publicized celebrity, the Sioux City Symphony is promoting the performer who opens its season with the phrase, "Back by popular demand."
"Oh, I don't know about that," said pianist Stewart Goodyear in a phone conversation from his home in New York. "But I do remember the audience and how wonderful it was and working with the orchestra and I'm really looking forward to returning."
Goodyear last took the Orpheum stage on Oct. 15, 2005, performing Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." For this return engagement, he will again embrace Rachmaninoff for "Piano Concerto No. 2." Goodyear was confident a number of audience members would recognize the concerto.
"This concerto was the entire soundtrack for the movie 'Brief Encounter,'" he said, referencing the 1945 film about a woman who is tempted to cheat on her husband. "That was a drama, but the concerto was also used humorously for 'The Seven Year Itch.'"
In that 1955 movie, the character of Tom Ewell (played by Richard Sherman) is torn with fantasies of seduction about The Girl (played by Marilyn Monroe), while playing a recording of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto.
"With those two movies, the concerto has become almost the symbol of romance and seduction," said Goodyear, "and then some."
Known for imagination, a graceful, elegant style, and exquisite technique, the 30-year-old Goodyear, is an accomplished young artist whose career is clearly on the rise. His debut was with the Cincinnati Pops in 1992 at the age of 14, performing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Since then, he has played in the U.S.. with the Phoenix Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center and internationally in Berlin and London.
Born and raised in Toronto with a Trinidad/English background, Goodyear said his family was supportive of music, but none were musicians.
"I started playing the piano when I was 3 or 4," he recalled. "I was self-taught until I found a teacher when I was about 7."
Goodyear said he began composing works when he was 8 year old.
"I really wanted to explore and interpret other composers with compositions of my own," he said. "I think the composing really came from God; it was like a spiritual force for me to compose."
But Goodyear pointed to the catalyst for his composing came during his education at a choir school in Toronto.
"It was a great educational system that included a choral period," he recalled. "We would sing hymns and I loved it. So, I began to compose hymns and motets of my own."
Goodyear {M3frequently performs his own works, including his solo piano work, "Variations on 'Eleanor Rigby," which premiered at Lincoln Center in New York in August 2000, and his Piano Sonata, both of which receive continual acclaim by critics and audiences.
"The piano was what I've always been drawn to," he said. "What I like about it is that it can imitate a violin, a flute, a voice or an entire orchestra."
Goodyear is one of the rare classical musicians to always improvise his cadenzas when performing concertos from the classical period. He has been repeatedly praised for both the inspiring individuality and appreciation of the composer’s own style that he clearly conveys in every performance. Goodyear said he made a conscious choice in performing over other disciplines.
"I love performing because it's a way of communicating with and audience," he explained. "And that gypsy lifestyle of a performer, it's not so bad.
I've really enjoyed every place I've ever been to," he added. "It's like a great adventure, exploring new cities and playing for new audiences."
Season opens
The Sioux City Symphony opens its season with pianist Stewart Goodyear at 8 p.m., Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets range from $14 to $36. Student pricing is available. Call 277-2111 for tickets or visit www.siouxcitysymphony.org.
"Oh, I don't know about that," said pianist Stewart Goodyear in a phone conversation from his home in New York. "But I do remember the audience and how wonderful it was and working with the orchestra and I'm really looking forward to returning."
Goodyear last took the Orpheum stage on Oct. 15, 2005, performing Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." For this return engagement, he will again embrace Rachmaninoff for "Piano Concerto No. 2." Goodyear was confident a number of audience members would recognize the concerto.
"This concerto was the entire soundtrack for the movie 'Brief Encounter,'" he said, referencing the 1945 film about a woman who is tempted to cheat on her husband. "That was a drama, but the concerto was also used humorously for 'The Seven Year Itch.'"
In that 1955 movie, the character of Tom Ewell (played by Richard Sherman) is torn with fantasies of seduction about The Girl (played by Marilyn Monroe), while playing a recording of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto.
"With those two movies, the concerto has become almost the symbol of romance and seduction," said Goodyear, "and then some."
Known for imagination, a graceful, elegant style, and exquisite technique, the 30-year-old Goodyear, is an accomplished young artist whose career is clearly on the rise. His debut was with the Cincinnati Pops in 1992 at the age of 14, performing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Since then, he has played in the U.S.. with the Phoenix Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center and internationally in Berlin and London.
Born and raised in Toronto with a Trinidad/English background, Goodyear said his family was supportive of music, but none were musicians.
"I started playing the piano when I was 3 or 4," he recalled. "I was self-taught until I found a teacher when I was about 7."
Goodyear said he began composing works when he was 8 year old.
"I really wanted to explore and interpret other composers with compositions of my own," he said. "I think the composing really came from God; it was like a spiritual force for me to compose."
But Goodyear pointed to the catalyst for his composing came during his education at a choir school in Toronto.
"It was a great educational system that included a choral period," he recalled. "We would sing hymns and I loved it. So, I began to compose hymns and motets of my own."
Goodyear {M3frequently performs his own works, including his solo piano work, "Variations on 'Eleanor Rigby," which premiered at Lincoln Center in New York in August 2000, and his Piano Sonata, both of which receive continual acclaim by critics and audiences.
"The piano was what I've always been drawn to," he said. "What I like about it is that it can imitate a violin, a flute, a voice or an entire orchestra."
Goodyear is one of the rare classical musicians to always improvise his cadenzas when performing concertos from the classical period. He has been repeatedly praised for both the inspiring individuality and appreciation of the composer’s own style that he clearly conveys in every performance. Goodyear said he made a conscious choice in performing over other disciplines.
"I love performing because it's a way of communicating with and audience," he explained. "And that gypsy lifestyle of a performer, it's not so bad.
I've really enjoyed every place I've ever been to," he added. "It's like a great adventure, exploring new cities and playing for new audiences."
Season opens
The Sioux City Symphony opens its season with pianist Stewart Goodyear at 8 p.m., Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets range from $14 to $36. Student pricing is available. Call 277-2111 for tickets or visit www.siouxcitysymphony.org.
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