Violinist Randall Goosby Named as Cincinnati Symphony's 2025 MAC Music Innovator

Goosby will lead a residency with the orchestra in which he will perform, as well as teaching masterclasses

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) recently announced that violinist Randall Goosby will serve as its MAC Music Innovator for 2025. Now in its eighth year, the position is funded by the Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC) and is awarded each year to a Black leader in classical music who embodies artistic innovation and a passion for community engagement.

As part of the role, Goosby will curate and then take part in a residency with the orchestra. During the residency, he will give masterclasses to students from the CSO's Nouveau Program, as well as students from the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras.

He will also take part in a number of further educational and community engagement programs.

A specialist in the music of underrepresented composers, Goosby has released premiere recordings of works by composers including Florence Price, William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, and Xavier Foley.

In 2022 he was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Goosby has also received the Harmony for Change Award from Midori & Friends and was the inaugural Robey Artist for the Young Classical Artists Trust. In 2010, he was the First Prize winner at the Sphinx Concerto Competition.

"The MAC Music Innovator, in name and purpose, enacts a core mission of the CSO Multicultural Awareness Council, to showcase the diversity of performers within American classical music," said Dr Kori Hill, Chair of MAC. "This community-focused artist-in-residence program is an essential tool to connect with audiences and inspire the next generation of music lovers, supporters, and professional musicians in the Greater Cincinnati region. MAC is honored to showcase the immense talent of Randall Goosby as the 2025 MAC Music Innovator."

"It is a special honor to receive the 2025 MAC Innovator Award from my friends at the Cincinnati Symphony," Goosby said. "No matter where I go, or what I play, building community and sharing the transformative power of music with young people is at the center of what I do. I look forward to the exchange of ideas, perspectives, and experiences, which I hope will inspire and motivate students to embrace music for all its wonders!"