MCS has a new director of music

Springtime is a time for new beginnings, and this is true for a local school of performing arts.

The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint recently announced Dr. Matt Goodrich as its new director of music and part of the MCS piano department. Goodrich replaces former director John Fitzgerald, who is studying for his doctoral degree.

"I am honored to be taking over the music director post at our remarkable conservatory," Goodrich said. "The community has welcomed me with open arms, and I am so excited to add to our teachers' tool boxes myriad advanced performance skills that will keep our students healthy and give them a competitive advantage wherever their music making leads them."

MCS officials said Goodrich brings a wealth of experience and energy to MCS.

A graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory, he earned his doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Washington under the direction of Robin McCabe. An active chamber music and theatrical performer, Goodrich has enjoyed long associations with acclaimed performing groups such as Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

With the Harrington-Goodrich Piano Duo, he performs Parisian fin-de-siècle repertoire

for two pianos throughout the western United States. He holds faculty positions at Southern Oregon University and the Music Conservatories of Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene.

Goodrich is in demand throughout the Pacific Northwest division of Music Teachers National Association for his expertise in training teachers and performers to approach their art in a holistic, healthy, and persuasive way, having refined these skills for several decades through more than 2,000 performances approached in such a manner, MCS officials said.

He holds Alexander Technique International Teaching Certification and is editor for the biannual journal ExChange, as well as a founding member of Integrative Alexander Technique Circle.