Biography

Composer and Jazz Guy

"I used to wear two hats, "Gordon Goodwin" for my classical work and "Dick Goodwin" for the after-hours jazz character." Over the years (under one hat or the other), Goodwin has written hundreds of works, from jingle to opera, jazz band to symphony orchestra.

"I grew up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and El Paso, Texas and had decided at a very early age that music would be my life's work. What attracted me was orchestration, composition and recording. As I was graduating in music theory and composition from the University of Texas, the faculty encouraged me to finish the doctorate and take a teaching position there. I found that I loved teaching and I have had a successful run of it. But I now have the time (and still have the energy) to concentrate full-time on my first love - composing, arranging, producing, and performing.

Gordon (Dick) Goodwin (The Composer) is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina where he still teaches a handful of doctoral students. He was a recipient of USC's prestigious Educational Foundation Award, is the 2001 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Individual Artist winner (the highest honor awarded in the arts by the State of South Carolina.) And he has received a number of writer awards from ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers.)

Prior to coming to the University of South Carolina he taught composition and theory and ran the jazz program (which he initiated) at the University of Texas. Before that he spent four long years as a band director in the US Coast Guard.

"Dick Goodwin" (The Jazz Guy) is a composer / arranger / performer / studio producer. He leads the Dick Goodwin Quintet and Dick Goodwin Big Band, and is a Yamaha Artist.

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