Isador Goodman

Isador Goodman AM (27 May 1909 – 2 December 1982) was a South African-Australian Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. He became a household name in Australia in the 1930s-1970s, taught at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music for 50 years, introduced many Australians to classical music, and contributed hugely to music making in his adopted country.

Moses Isidore Goodman was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1909 to musical parents of Jewish descent, who had immigrated from eastern Europe. He started studying music early, as well as composing. One of his compositions was performed professionally when he was only six. At age seven, Goodman played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. After his father died when he was 12, his mother took him to London for its musical opportunities.

Goodman studied piano at the Royal College of Music with Lloyd Powell, who had been a student of Ferruccio Busoni. He studied conducting with Constant Lambert. In 1924, at age 15, Goodman played Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat under Malcolm Sargent. This concerto was to become his "calling card".

His mother remarried, choosing an uncle of her first husband. They returned to South Africa and left the young Goodman in London because of its greater musical opportunities.

In 1929 at age 20, Goodman accepted an offer to teach at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia. Local musicians opposed the decision by the director W. Arundel Orchard to bring in a man from abroad for a coveted position. Goodman was to teach at "the Con", on and off, for 50 years. While Professor of Piano by day, he often played all night at jazz clubs in the company of 'hardened drinkers and SP bookies'.

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