Educated in New York, Paris, and Vienna, Craig Goodman began his career at age 16 performing as soloist at the Wiener Konzerthaus.

He studied theory, analysis and composition with Allen Forte, Eugene Kurtz, and Narcis Bonet; and the flute with Marcel Moyse and Thomas Nyfenger. But he has also been deeply influenced and inspired by the poetry of Mark Strand, Erik Hawkins’ modern dance in New York, and France’s particular cultural identity.

After completing his studies at Yale University, he was engaged as solo flutist with the Philadelphia Opera Orchestra under Julius Rudel. Shortly thereafter, he moved to New York where, having succeeded in the traditional way (radio and television broadcasts, solo competition prizes, solo and chamber music concerts, orchestral positions …), he chose rather to develop a more multi-faceted career, one that has sought to join performing and composing, reflecting and teaching.

Craig Goodman has performed solo and chamber music concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, and in Copenhagen, Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Moscow … performing together with Paavo Järvi, Leon Pommers, Laurent Cabasso, Daniel Blumenthal, Mate Szücs, Emil Naoumoff and collaborating actively with contemporary composers (Christopher Hasty, Mogens Christensen, Jean Yves Bosseur, Hans Abrahamsen, Mark André …).

Craig Goodman’s own compositions are decidedly lyrical, and always written with particular people and places in mind. Most recently, he composed a work to celebrate the opening of Denmark’s first national park, Nationalparken, together with the poet and novelist Knud Sorensen, and Eli’s Brother, commissioned by the city of Lodz (Poland) for commemorative ceremonies.

His predilection for chamber music, and especially for the Viennese classics, along with his obstinate idealism led him to found an internationally acclaimed festival, The Thy Chamber Music Festival, in Thisted, Denmark, birthplace of JP Jacobsen. Musicians from around the world come together each year to perform known and lesser known masterworks of the repertoire.

Craig Goodman has won numerous prizes, honors and awards : Unesco, Paderewski Prize of New York, Anne Marie Carl Nielsen Foundation, Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, Who’s Who in Music, …

As a teacher and seasoned coach, he helps many musicians and creative artists find their own voice without being ignorant of styles and traditions from the past. Professor at the National Conservatory in Strasbourg, he also gives masterclasses regulary in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, including institutions such as La Schola Cantorum in Paris, the Moscow Conservatory, or the Chopin Academy in Warsaw where he was recently invited as an Erasmus professor.