On March 7 and 8, 2026, the Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School will welcome a pianist whose career has unfolded on many of the world’s most respected stages. Stewart Goodyear, praised by the Los Angeles Times as “a phenomenon” and described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “one of the best pianists of his generation,” joins the orchestra under the baton of Stuart Malina for a program that spans continents and centuries.
Saturday’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday’s at 3:00 p.m. On the program: Chen Yi’s Shuo, Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major—the sunlit, rhythmically charged “Egyptian”—and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, a work of granite strength and hard-won triumph.
Goodyear arrives in Greenwich with a résumé that reads like a survey of the classical canon and beyond. He has performed with major orchestras across North America, Europe, and Asia, while also building a parallel life as a composer. His 2025–26 season includes recital debuts at the Fernando Laires Piano Series at Eastman, the Edmonton Chamber Music Society, and the Gilmore Piano Festival, along with return appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and the Grant Park Music Festival.
Listeners who follow recordings may already know his work. Goodyear has recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas and piano concertos, a formidable undertaking that places him in dialogue with one of music’s towering figures. His discography also includes concertos by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, and Rachmaninov; an album devoted to Ravel; and For Glenn Gould, which draws on repertoire from Gould’s American and Montreal debuts. His Rachmaninov recording earned a Juno nomination for Best Classical Album for Soloist and Large Ensemble Accompaniment. The New York Times selected his transcription of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet) as one of the best classical recordings of 2015.
Recent seasons have highlighted his voice as a composer. Orchid Classics released his suite for piano and orchestra, Callaloo, alongside his piano sonata. He has written for the Chineke! Orchestra, the Penderecki String Quartet, and the Honens Piano Competition. Violinist Miranda Cuckson recorded his solo violin suite, Solo, and cellist Inbal Segev recorded his work for cello and piano, The Kapak. In September 2024, he released Prokofiev’s Second and Third Piano Concertos with Andrew Litton and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, paired with the composer’s Seventh Sonata.
What distinguishes Goodyear in performance is a combination of structural clarity and kinetic energy. He approaches a score with the analytical mind of a scholar and the imagination of a creator. In Saint-Saëns’ “Egyptian” concerto, that dual sensibility finds fertile ground. The work draws inspiration from the composer’s travels along the Nile, weaving exotic color and rhythmic vitality into a virtuosic showpiece. Audiences can expect brilliance at the keyboard along with a keen ear for texture and nuance.
Chen Yi’s Shuo opens the program with sharp gestures and propulsive motion, a contemporary voice that expands the evening’s palette. Brahms’ First Symphony closes the concert with music of breadth and gravitas, shaped by years of labor and artistic conviction. Together, the three works offer contrast and cohesion, guided by Malina’s steady leadership and Goodyear’s dynamic presence.
For aspiring pianists in the audience, Goodyear’s appearance offers a living example of discipline meeting imagination. For longtime subscribers, it provides the pleasure of hearing masterworks interpreted by an artist who inhabits them fully. For newcomers, it presents an entry point into symphonic music through a program rich in melody and drama.
Tickets are available through the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra at https://www.greenwichsymphony.org/tickets
