A Conversation with Jonathan Goldsmith

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST COLLABORATION WITH ART OF TIME?

I believe it was an arrangement that I wrote of My Funny Valentine.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED?

I came to know Andrew when he was initially formulating his ideas for Art of Time. I was one of the original Board members and have been happily writing arrangements and compositions for the ensemble ever since.

WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE BEEN WITH ART OF TIME, AND WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO KEEP COLLABORATING WITH THE COMPANY?

I love working with and writing for Art of Time - the extraordinarily high level of musicianship and general artistic sensitivity, the intrepid cross-pollination and hybridizing of traditionally disparate styles and influences always offers a challenging and inspiring compositional environment, and boundless scope for unfettered creative exploration.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE ARTISTS WHO'VE HAD A GREAT INFLUENCE ON YOU?

Bill Evans, Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, Takemitsu, Steve Reich, John Adams, The Band, Leon Russell, The Beatles, Chet Baker, Radiohead, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, Nabokov, Joseph Beuys, Bernard Herrmann...

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GUILTY PLEASURES?

A relentless quotidian campaign to crush and humiliate the chess program on my iPhone.

IF YOU WEREN'T WORKING IN YOUR PRIMARY MEDIUM, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?

I shudder to think.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Just finished book 5 of Karl Ove Knausgaard's "My Struggle" and Julian Barnes' "The Noise of Time", and am currently embarking upon Don DeLillo's "Zero K".

WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE YOU'D LOVE TO COLLABORATE WITH IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE

hmmmm...

WHAT'S ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES YOU'VE EXPERIENCED RECENTLY?

The recent TSO/Mendelssohn Choir performance of the complete ballet score of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe. Quite stunning.