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Q&A | 20 Questions for Stewart Goodyear

By Michael Vincent on November 28, 2014

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Every so often, MT poses 60 questions to a local or visiting artist in Toronto who has made our classical music community that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A kind of Rorschach personality test, if you will.

Just mentioning the name, Stewart Goodyear and people perk-up. To call him a pianist really doesn’t cut it. He’s more of a one-man phenomenon — a piano superhero of sorts.

Goodyear began his training at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, and has become a go-to soloist for orchestras including Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra (just to name a few).

In the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Goodyear cemented his name in Toronto’s classical music lore when he successfully performed all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in one day and lived to tell the tale. His went on to record of the complete Beethoven sonatas which garnered him a Juno nomination for Best Classical Solo Recording.

He has also recently put out two new CD’s Tchaikovsky & Grieg: Piano Concertos and Beethoven: Diabelli Variations. Both are highly recommended.

Q&A:

Name the musical equivalent to junk food:

Any “Hooked on Classics” album.

The different career path that you could have gone on?

Film director.

Name your favourite concert hall/venue in Toronto.

Koerner Hall.

Name your favourite concert hall/venue anywhere.

There are three so far: Koerner Hall in Toronto, Symphony Hall in Chicago, and the Berlin Philharmonie.

Your role model?

Nelson Mandela.

Your favourite sound?

Silence.

Your favourite smell?

Rose tea.

The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair?

Comb it.

What are the three things you would like to change about Toronto?

1. Not.

2. A.

3. Thing.

First thing that comes to your mind when you think about Toronto?

Family.

Your first three record purchases?

1: A box set of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas.

2. A box set of Beethoven’s complete symphonies

3. A box of Tchaikovsky’s complete symphonies.

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?

Bora Bora.

The strangest place you’ve ever been to?

Las Vegas.

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure?

Tokyo, Japan.

Your favourite curse word?

The curse words that never cease to make me smile are those that combine a part of the anatomy to a kitchen item.

The one place that you have the least interest in visiting?

Ferguson, Missouri.

The best way to die?

Spiritually fulfilled.

The character flaw in others that you can’t abide?

Envy.

The cliche that you overuse?

Stay tuned.

Three things of no monetary value that you own and will keep dearly until you die?

Faith, confidence, and a fighting spirit.

Michael Vincent
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