James Strecker: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?
Stewart Goodyear: This year has been very enriching for me as a composer. My projects have included four commissions…a suite for piano and orchestra, an overture, a piano quartet, and a solo piece for piano commemorating Canada’s 150th Anniversary. It is very difficult to say what it is about each project that the audience responds to…all I can say is that every project I have done has been received very positively. It is my responsibility as an artist to communicate my love for the music I create as a composer, and the music I interpret as a pianist, from the heart.
JS: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?
SG: A concert pianist begins his/her preparation by being a messenger of the composer’s deepest feelings and thoughts. He/she takes on each composer’s work, researches it to the point that he/she knows it inside out, prepares it to the point that the work is coming out of his/her pores, and swallows every information like it were a capsule. Once the work is completely prepared, the focus is on the audience alone…the interpretation is therefore very personal because the pianist is now in tune to the audience’s deepest feelings and thoughts.
JS: What important beliefs do you express in your work?
SG: “A true disciple knows another’s woes as his own.” I must add joys, sufferings and triumphs as well.
JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.
SG: I admire Harry Belafonte who has been an ambassador for human rights all his life. His achievements, and who he is as a human being, constantly inspire me. The other person who inspires me, and who is no longer with us, is Nelson Mandela, for the same reason.
JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?
SG: I have grown older and way less patient with negative people.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
SG: Exercising delay!…Biggest challenge ever.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.
SG: The one major turning point in my life was recording the complete Beethoven sonatas. To me, that was the beginning of finally taking charge of my life as a musician, and doing projects that are very meaningful to me.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?
SG: I guess the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is how my life as a musician consumes me. When I am walking outside, practicing at home, or meditating, musical thoughts and ideas are always in my head. For that reason, I need to have many moments of solitude to gather all these thoughts and ideas.
JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?
SG: Until I was 7 years old, I was a painfully shy kid. Even though I was not very social, I wanted to connect with people in some way. My love for music started when I was 3 years old, and playing the piano was my way of socializing and telling people I liked them. Since then, performing in front of audiences feels like profoundly social occasions for me. Doing creative work gives me breath, and feels incredibly rewarding since the life of a musician is another way of expressing love to the world.
JS: What haven’t you done as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?
SG: Many projects to go!…What they are, and why, will be announced soon!
JS: What are your favorite achievements?
SG: All of my achievements have meant a great deal to me…Each represents a different chapter in my life.
JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?
SG: Whenever someone tells you that this project, or this musical path, will not work, you are on the right track. Always trust your instincts and your heart.
JS: Of what value are critics?
SG: Critics are very important because they provide information and feedback to the creative artist and the audience, helping both, as well as the medium itself, achieve self-awareness and growth.
JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world?
SG: If there was a world that was not governed by insecurity, tyranny, fear, judgement, and hatred, the inhabitants would finally evolve. It is up to all of us to love, listen and learn from each other. “A true disciple knows another’s woes as his own. He bows to all and despises none.”