Violinist Randall Goosby is quickly making a name for himself in classical music circles. He’s a genuine prodigy who picked up the violin at the age of 7 and made his professional debut with the Jacksonville Symphony at only 9 years old. Four years later, Goosby made his first appearance at Lincoln Center alongside the New York Philharmonic as part of their “Young People’s Concert” series.
A decorated artist, Goosby is a graduate of the Perlman Music Program where he first encountered the legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman. Goosby would continue his studies under Pearlman and Catherine Cho at The Juilliard School of Music, where he received a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree.
In 2020 the rising star signed an exclusive recording deal with the Decca Classics, and has since released 3 albums.
This Wednesday, Goosby will set foot on the Jackson Hall stage at the Mondavi Center for the first time alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He says “For me, personally, music has been a way to inspire others.”
This interview has been edited for clarity.
On what drew him to music
I was seven years old when I started and it was only because my mom wanted me and both my younger siblings to play an instrument.
So she was like,'hey, you guys are gonna play music you don't have a choice in that but you do have a choice in what instrument you play.’
So she asked us what we wanted to play and I just blurted out ‘violin’ out of the blue. I don't know why, I must have heard it on the radio or seen it on TV or something, but I say it worked out.”
On when he decided to become a professional
“I don't remember really considering it as a career path until I was probably [a] sophomore in high school; it wasn't until that point I started to ask myself the question, or rather my teacher asked me the question: ‘Do you really want to do this. Do you really want to play violin for the rest of your life? Do you want to do it as a career?’
At that point, my mom was flying me up to New York City once a month for lessons. (We lived in Memphis Tennessee at the time.) We'd fly up on a Saturday, I'd have a three-hour lesson straight through on Saturday afternoon. I'd go to sleep in the hotel, practice a little bit. We'd have a three-hour lesson again on Sunday and we'd go home.
You know, this was always something I did because I loved it. It was fun. And now I'm having to choose whether or not I want to do this as a career when I'm, you know, 13-14 years old. So I was like, ‘I have to think about it.’”
On studying with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program
“[The intensive] takes place on Long Island every summer; it's a seven week long program. So it really is intensive. They mean that and that was the real turning toint, the kind of light bulb moment for me. It wasn't just because of Mr. Pearlman, it was really more because of the fact that suddenly for the first time ever in my life, I found myself part of a community of people of young musicians my age, a little bit older or a little bit younger who were just as passionate and and just as in love with music as I was.
I didn't know kids my age were out here doing this and so that really inspired me and motivated me to kind of take it forward into the future and following that summer. I actually immediately began studying with Mr. Pearlman, who's been my long time mentor at the Juilliard pre-college program.”
On his family ties to the region, and his debut performance at Mondavi Center
“Yeah, my dad [is] an alumni of UC Davis. He studied I believe economics and Asian studies, which led him to move to Japan for three years following his graduation to teach English there in Osaka. So that's where he eventually met my mom and they eventually came back to the West Coast and settled down.
This will be my first time [playing at Mondavi]. My dad and all his friends have just been hyping it up to me for years. He grew up in the Sacramento area as well. So his whole network of buddies is all out there.”
On his hopes for the future of classical music
“It's a really exciting time I think in classical music because things are changing. You know, we're starting to kind of shed some of the layers of tradition that have kind of bogged down the art form and that have prevented new listeners from coming and joining in on what I think is the most magical form of human expression really. So the crux of what I do is really not on the stage.
My favorite part of the job is going around into parts of the community that don't have regular access to classical music. Usually that means schools, you know, kids from largely communities of color or communities that really are not…physically or financially able to really enjoy or access classical music at a high level. And I think hopefully that leads to soloists of the next generation looking out into the audience and seeing all different kinds of people, all different kinds of ages, all different kinds of backgrounds, walks of life, cultures, and I think that's that's already starting to be reflected in our programming on a very general level.
