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PEOPLE
Chad Goodman
Artistic Director
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With a flair for inventive programming and a bold presence on stage and in the community, Chad Goodman has been praised for "bringing innovation to classical music" (Forbes).
The 2023/24 season marks Goodman’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Only the fifth Music Director in the orchestra’s 74-year history, he will lead the ESO in a variety of subscription, special event and community outreach concerts. From 2019 to 2023, Goodman served as the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony, where he led the orchestra in subscription, education, family and holiday programs. His program, “SPARK: How Composers Find Inspiration,” blended captivating light design and videography with engaging audience participation to explore how a composition is created and brought to life by an orchestra.
Since 2018, Goodman has served as an Assistant Conductor to the San Francisco Symphony, assisting Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Simone Young, and James Gaffigan among others. Goodman’s 2022-2023 Season included debut appearances with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and La Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Puebla (OSEP).
As Founder and Artistic Director of Elevate Ensemble, Goodman’s ambitious vision for concert programming resulted in the pairing of music from Bay Area composers with underappreciated gems of the 20th and 21st centuries. Under his leadership, Elevate Ensemble established a Composer-in-Residence program and commissioned fifteen works from Bay Area composers. Elevate collaborated with photographers, videographers, poets, and culinary artists, bringing new music and vibrant multi-genre experiences to unique venues such as yoga studios, historic Victorian homes, and art studio warehouses.
In addition to his performing career, Goodman leads workshops which teach young musicians the business and entrepreneurial skills needed to successfully navigate the music world. In 2022, he published a book on the subject titled “You Earned a Music Degree. Now What?” Goodman 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.
Antonio Urrutia Mendoza
Company Manager
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Antonio Urrutia Mendoza, oboe and English horn, is a Colombian-born, Miami-based musician. As an avid free-lancer, Urrutia holds the Principal Oboe Chair with the Florida Grand Opera and the Solo English Horn and 2nd Oboe positions with the Palm Beach Symphony. He also performs frequently with the Miami City Ballet, South Florida Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Americas, Serpahic Fire, Opera Naples, The New World Symphony and has been featured as a soloist with Orchestra Miami. Antonio received his Masters of Music in Orchestral Oboe at the McGill University Schulich School of Music, as well as his Graduate Diploma in Professional Performance, where he was a Graduate Teaching Assistant under the tutelage of former Montreal Symphony Principal Oboe, Theodore Baskin. During his time in Canada, he was a Fellow with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and also performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Classique de Montreal, Ensemble Obiora, Pronto Musica Chamber Orchestra, and made frequent appearances at the Brott Music Festival in Ontario. Urrutia has also been featured internationally, as he was Acting Associate Principal Oboe of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand and holds the Solo Oboe Chair at the St. Georges International Music Festival in Guadeloupe, France. During the summers, Urrutia is a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, where he continues his studies with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Principal Oboe, Elaine Douvas.
Amanda Crider
Founder
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American mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider founded IlluminArts in 2013 to present world class performacnes of classical music to Miami's vibrant audiences. Maintaining an active singing career, she has sung with numerous opera companies across the US including LA Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, The Castleton Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Boston, Opera Omaha, Des Moines Metro Opera, Anchorage Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, and Eugene Opera. Ms. Crider has been a prize winner and finalist in many competitions, including the José Iturbi International Voice Competition, Jensen Foundation Voice Competition, Joy in Singing Debut Artist Competition, Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition, and is a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. She is currently the General Manager of Grammy-winning vocal band Roomful of Teeth.