Chad Goodman
(c) Jiyang Chen
News from Elgin, Illinois: Chad Goodman has been named music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Goodman was selected following a two-year international search that included a pool of nearly 100 applicants. He is the fifth music director for the orchestra, and will preside over the ESO’s 74th season, which opens Oct. 7.
Goodman most recently was the conducting fellow of the New World Symphony, a post he held from 2019-May 2023. Since 2018, he has served as an assistant conductor to the San Francisco Symphony, working with Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Simone Young, and James Gaffigan, among others. He has recently guest conducted the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and has previously served as conducting fellow of Festival Napa Valley and the Atlantic Music Festival. Chad holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from San Francisco State University. His mentors include Michael Tilson Thomas and Alasdair Neale.
