Benjamin Goodson Benjamin Goodson

“Every note, every sound melts on the tongue and is shaped to perfection, inviting you to listen closely. Here the phrase ‘devotion to music’ truly applies.” – Haino Rindler, Choral Times magazine (UK)

“Lovers of Handel can indulge themselves, for under Benjamin Goodson’s direction this collaboration is exemplary. Tempo, rhythm, dynamics, lightness of sound and the balance between the parts: everything is just right, without a flaw.” – Olga de Kort, Paris Opera

Born in Hertfordshire, England, Benjamin Goodson studied music at Hertford College, Oxford, and studied conducting with Colin Davis, Paul Spicer, Peter Stark and Ulrich Windfuhr. Three years after graduating, Goodson was appointed Director of Music at Somerville College, Oxford, becoming the youngest director of music at the University of Oxford. He now teaches conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Benjamin Goodson is an outstanding choral and instrumental conductor. He works with some of the world’s leading choirs, with a repertoire spanning twentieth- and twenty-first-century a cappella music and Baroque and Classical oratorios. His conducting is recognized as energetic, bold and sincere, and he has conducted at major venues in Europe, the United States, China, Japan and Australia.

Since 2020 Benjamin Goodson has been Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir. His debut album, motets by Mendelssohn and Rheinberger released on Pentatone in 2023, was praised by the European press, received a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine and was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award.

Goodson has guest-conducted many renowned choirs, including the Rundfunkchor Berlin, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the BBC Singers, Collegium Vocale Gent, the MDR Rundfunkchor, the NDR Vokalensemble, Chamber Choir Ireland and the Hungarian National Choir.

Beyond traditional concerts, Goodson creates new choral experiences, exploring cross-genre collaborations and the use of video and multimedia. He performed Bach’s St Matthew Passion in collaboration with Tom Guthrie, appeared in the Rundfunkchor Berlin’s Human Requiem program, and was chorus master for Robert Wilson’s stage work Luther, based on four Bach motets. For the Netherlands Radio Choir he devised the multidisciplinary format The Living Room; its first edition premiered in 2021 as a ritualized presentation of Stravinsky’s choral works. Subsequent productions include Circus of Angels with Sven Ratzke and a new staged video production of Tarik O’Regan’s Mass Observation. Goodson firmly believes that these formats can build strong and profound connections between performers and audiences.