Paul Goodwin (conductor)

Paul Goodwin (born 2 September 1956) is an English conductor and former oboist.

Oboist

Goodwin was born in Warwick, England. He studied oboe with Janet Craxton. Following his graduation from the University of Nottingham with a degree in composition, he specialized in contemporary oboe techniques and the baroque oboe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He later continued his studies in Vienna with Jurg Schäftlein.

Goodwin was recognized as one of the world's foremost early oboe specialists, playing all periods of music on historical oboes. He was the principal oboist of the English Concert and the London Classical Players and has made more than 20 solo and concerto records.

Conductor

In 1996, Goodwin gave up his oboe career to dedicate himself solely to conducting. He subsequently studied conducting in Helsinki with Jorma Panula, and took up posts with The Academy of Ancient Music as an associate conductor, and the English Chamber Orchestra as the principal guest conductor. Goodwin has since been considered one of Britain's most versatile conductors by some, for his interpretations of baroque, classical and romantic music.

He was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival in California (2010–2021), Principal Guest Conductor of Capella Aquileia in Germany and Director of the Historical Performance Programme at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid.

For 11 years, Goodwin was the Associate Conductor of the Academy of Ancient Music, touring extensively and making recordings of Heinrich Schütz' choral music, Mozart's singspiel Zaide, and two discs of music by Sir John Tavener that Goodwin commissioned for the AAM. Three of these CDs have been nominated for Grammy (US) and Gramophone Awards (UK). Subsequent AAM commissions were on pieces by David Bedford, John Woolrich and Thea Musgrave.

Goodwin was one of the principal guest conductors with the Kammerorchester Basel, which he performed both on modern and period instruments on a wide range of repertoire from J. S. Bach to Mark Anthony Turnage. Goodwin was the Principal Guest Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra for six years, collaborating with artists such as Kiri Te Kanawa, Joshua Bell, Maria João Pires, Mstislav Rostropovich and Magdalena Kožená. Goodwin has also recorded CDs of Amy Beach and a highly acclaimed CD of Elgar's Nursery Suite for Harmonia Mundi, France.

Goodwin has a wide symphonic repertoire, conducting orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

On educational projects, Goodwin has worked with the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the New World Symphony in the USA, and with the orchestras of the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Goodwin was for nine years conductor of the Queen Elisabeth Competition Brussels. He has recorded Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Chappell's Paddington Bear with the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Goodwin was awarded the Handel Prize of the City of Halle (Saale) in 2007 in recognition of his services to performances of works by George Frideric Handel.

Discography

As a conductor, Goodwin has recorded CDs of Handel's operas Lotario and Riccardo Primo, his oratorio Athalia, discs of Schutz, Britten, Elgar, John Tavener, Richard Strauss, Mozart, J. S. Bach, Kozeluch and Amadeus Hartmann.