Roy Goodman

Roy Goodman has earned recognition for his expertise in early music and his advocacy of performances on period instruments. Although he has typically maintained multiple conducting positions at once, he has appeared as guest conductor in a remarkable number of concerts, leading more than 100 ensembles worldwide. His path stands out for its transformations, beginning as a boy-treble at eight before he established himself first as an orchestral violinist and later emerged as a renowned conductor. His programs center on Baroque mainstays, above all J.S. Bach and Handel, yet also encompass Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, and Glass. He has appeared regularly in opera houses, where he has become especially noted for his work with Handel and Mozart. Recording activity has likewise occupied him extensively, resulting in more than 120 releases that continue to accumulate. Among the labels on which he has worked are Hyperion, Nimbus, Cala, RCA, Channel Classics, Meridian, Decca, and Naxos.

Born in Guildford, England, on January 26, 1951, Goodman sang as a child with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where he took part in his first recording in 1959. He gained international attention through a 1963 Decca recording of Allegri's Miserere.

He attended the Royal College of Music in London, studying violin and organ. Between 1974 and 1976 he served as conductor of the Reading Youth Orchestra. In 1975 he established the Brandenburg Consort and acted as its director until the ensemble disbanded in 2001. From 1977 to 1985 he performed as a violinist with various European orchestras, most often as concertmaster and frequently as soloist.

Between 1979 and 1986 he shared the direction of the Parley of Instruments. His schedule grew still more demanding when he became principal conductor of the Hanover Band from 1986 to 1994, a collaboration that produced numerous acclaimed recordings, among them the first period-instrument cycles of the Beethoven and Schubert symphonies. From 1989 to 2003 he also held the post of music director of the European Union Baroque Orchestra.

Since 2003 he has served as director emeritus of the EUBO. Additional appointments in the new century have included the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in Canada (1999–2005) and Holland Symfonia (2003–2006). In later years he has acted as principal guest conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra.