Roy Goodman (born 26 January 1951) is an English conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music. He became internationally famous as the 12-year-old boy treble soloist in the March 1963 recording of Allegri's Miserere with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, under David Willcocks.
Goodman was born in Guildford, studied at the Royal College of Music, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and Associate of the Royal College of Music. He has also served as Director of Music at the University of Kent in Canterbury and Director of Early music Studies at the Royal Academy of Music.
As a violinist and concertmaster, he played from 1975 to 1985 under the baton of Iván Fischer, John Eliot Gardiner, Charles Mackerras, Roger Norrington, and Simon Rattle (at Glyndebourne Opera). He was viola d'amore soloist with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has also played as soloist on baroque violin with Frans Brüggen, Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, René Jacobs, Trevor Pinnock and Ton Koopman.
In July 1999 Goodman conducted the premiere of Jonas Forssell's Trädgården (The Garden) at the Drottningholm theatre in Stockholm, the first new opera to be premiered there in modern times. [1]
As a conductor, Roy Goodman is known for his special expertise with early music, which he often directed from the violin, harpsichord or organ. He was conductor of Reading Youth Orchestra (1974–1976), [2] founder and director of the Brandenburg Consort (1975–2001), co-director of the Parley of Instruments (1979–1986), Principal Conductor of the Hanover Band (1986–1994) and Music Director of the European Union Baroque Orchestra (1989–2004). He is Principal Guest Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and Director Emeritus of the European Union Baroque Orchestra. He has served as Guest Conductor with over 100 other orchestras, ensembles, and opera companies. In 2006 he made his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and returned to San Francisco Opera to conduct a new production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro .
As a conductor Goodman has made over 120 recordings ranging from Monteverdi to Copland. [3] Goodman has also directed more than forty world premières of contemporary music.
In 2003, Goodman pleaded guilty to operating his 24 foot trailer-sailer yacht Royana while under the influence of alcohol. [4] Goodman ran this small yacht aground on Calshot Spit, near Southampton. [4]
Roy Goodman made his New Zealand debut in 2007, performing a series of Baroque concerts. Following the enthusiastic response of audiences and critics, he accepted the position of Principal Guest Conductor for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, which he held until 2011. In 2010, he made his debut at the Sydney Opera House with three concerts, and in 2011 he was affectionately named the "Rafa Nadal of conductors" by Radio New Zealand. He has three children and five grandchildren.
The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra specializes in 18th-century music and was created to perform Baroque Music. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationally, and holds the distinction of having the most extensive discography of any chamber orchestra and being the most well-traveled orchestra in the world; no other orchestra has played concerts (as of 2013, according to its own publicity) in as many countries as the English Chamber Orchestra.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras.
The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini; of the Philharmonia's younger conductors, the most important to its development was Herbert von Karajan who, though never formally chief conductor, was closely associated with the orchestra in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Philharmonia became widely regarded as the finest of London's five symphony orchestras in its first two decades.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Bach's church cantatas in liturgical order in churches all over Europe, and New York City, with the Monteverdi Choir, and recording them at the locations.
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 16. Initially, he studied the viola and conducting; then, following an audition, he won a place in the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
Sir Neville Marriner, was an English conductor and violinist. Described as "one of the world's greatest conductors", Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ranks Marriner #14 of the 18 "Greatest and Most Famous Conductors of All Time". He founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and his partnership with them is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor.
Peter Manning FRSA is a British conductor and violinist.
James Nicholas McGegan OBE is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert.
Jaap ter Linden is a Dutch cellist, viol player and conductor. He specialises in performance of baroque and classical music on authentic instruments.
Christoph Koncz is an Austrian-Hungarian conductor, performing internationally with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, hr‑Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Dmitry Yulianovich Sitkovetsky is a Soviet and American violinist, conductor, and arranger.
Stephanie Ann Chase is an American classical violinist.
Joji Hattori is a Japanese violinist and conductor.
Oscar Ravina, born in Warsaw, Poland, was a violinist, violin teacher and concertmaster based in New York, who has had a prolific career as a performer as well as being a current professor emeritus at Montclair State University, where a talent grant in his name is regularly given to outstanding full-time freshmen studying string instruments.
Mauri Arijoutsi Angervo is a Finnish classical violinist and conductor.
Henry Holst was a Danish violinist. In his early career he was leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. From the 1930s to the mid-1950s he was based in England, as a soloist and teacher. From 1940 until 1944 he was the leader of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He held professorships at the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Royal College of Music in London. After 1954 he was based in his native Denmark, where he was professor of violin at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
Benjamin Northey is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. He has been Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand since 2015. He is also the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor - Learning and Engagement of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra having previously been Principal Conductor in Residence from 2020-2023. He was previously the Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2010-2019. He is also the Artistic Director Designate of the Australian Conducting Academy, a national training program for Australian and New Zealand Conductors which he will commence in 2025.
Susanne Ingegerd Rydén is a Swedish soprano who has been called "Sweden's most renowned singer specialising in early and classical music". She has performed across Europe and abroad. She is currently the preses (chairman) of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Stanley Ritchie, an Australian violinist born in 1935, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. A noted specialist in historical performance, Ritchie is author of two relevant books, ‘Before the Chinrest - A Violinist’s Guide to the Mysteries of Pre-Chinrest Technique and Style’ (2012) and 'The Accompaniment in "Unaccompanied" Bach - Interpreting the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin' (2016), both published by Indiana University Press.
Patrick Hahn is an Austrian conductor, pianist and composer.