Jennifer Goodenberger

Jennifer Goodenberger is a pianist, composer, visual artist and poet. Known for the elegance of her playing and her sensitive and expressive performances, Jennifer has an active performing career. She enjoys creating concerts to fit specific concepts, including: Classical Music at the Movies, The Piano at the Movie, Bird Notes: Classical, Film and Traditional Music About Our Feathered Friends, Music on the Titanic, and Music and Jane Austen.  An engaging speaker, she shares insightful thoughts on many aspects of music including: music history, composers, women in music, and the compositional process, and the healing power of music and the arts. 

Jennifer has been performing for almost 40 years. During this time she has worked as a concert pianist, musical director for theater, radio programmer, college teacher, and private piano instructor. She is author of the book Subject Guide to Classical Instrumental Music published by Scarecrow Press. 

After receiving a master’s degree from Northwestern University in music composition in 1989, Jennifer began to formulate a feminine aesthetic in music. She created a performance piece, Composing Women: Unveiling the Feminine in Music, and also a concert which examined the life and music of Clara Schumann, a 19th century pianist and composer, which she toured with for 7 years. Jennifer re-released her 1995 recording on CD, Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann, on Clara's 195th birthday (9/13/2014). 

Jennifer believes in the healing power of music and the arts. Her compositions are a mesmerizing fusion of classical, improvisational and contemporary styles. The music is transcendent, meditative, moving, and deeply peaceful. Because of these qualities, her music is often used in the healing arts, especially massage and yoga, as ambient music for creativity and relaxation, and in birthing and hospice. It has also been used for film soundtracks. She has 4 CDs of original solo piano music, Return (1999), Mystical (2002), Breathe Peace (2009), and Sonnet (2013); plus Simple Gifts: American Folk Songs (2006), Christmas Reflections (2007) and Lark in the Clear Air: Contemplative Melodies from Ireland (2011). 

In Jennifer’s words, “The arts are a universal source of health, healing and holiness. They are the very fabric of my life. I interweave them to create healing, inspiration, and joy.”