Marvin Goldstein is not your typical Mormon pianist.For one thing, he was raised Jewish. He's also had a lengthy international career, spanning five decades and three continents. He's recorded more than 40 CDs and has written 15 piano books."It's been a great blessing," Goldstein said. On June 6, Goldstein, friends and fellow artists will celebrate 50 years of music and performing with a gala concert at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah."My career continues to be richly rewarding as music is shared and feelings are felt," he said. "Artists around the world share their gifts to benefit others. In these curious times, people are turning to the arts for comfort and guidance. I appreciate all those that support the arts because they understand the necessity of music, art and dance."He'll also have a few youngsters on stage performing with him, something he's trying to make a consistent part of his concerts."My career is now completely dedicated to giving young performers opportunities to perform with me," Goldstein said. His other lifetime goal involves getting people to consciously use music more in their lives. "It's not the icing on the cake. It is the cake," he said. "Music is a unifier."Goldstein, who lives in Tallahassee, Fla., is almost a Utahn given the time he's spent in the Beehive State. On average, he performs in Utah three or four times a year.He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1985 when he was 35."I was married in 1973," Goldstein said. "My wife joined the church in 1981 and she coerced me to see her church. Her institute teacher Robert Millet spent a lot of time in Tallahassee and with me. I joined the church four years and about 40 sets of missionaries later!"It wasn't a spiritual problem (with the gospel) but a social and political problem (for me)."I discovered after joining the church why I had practiced the first half of my life. There is music in me that needed to be performed and people need to see Palestinians, Arabs, Jews and a Mormon all on the same stage."In 1989, he was given a blessing by Elder Marvin J. Ashton, who called him out of the crowd and told him the Lord wanted to call him to a lifetime of missionary work through music."I took that to be absolute pure truth and I include mentoring young people as part of that mandate," Goldstein said.He's thrilled to be celebrating 50 years but figures he can quite easily hit the 75- or 80-year mark, too. His health is good. He's happy to be busy and he feels he's on the Lord's errand.Goldstein recalls auditioning a 10-year-old boy in Shreveport, La., a boy who obviously didn't want to be at the audition and didn't believe he had any chance."He came with a saxophone into the Relief Society room. He finally played a B-flat scale. I played and he played and that night, he is the only one who got a standing ovation," Goldstein said. "That is a perfect example of what I'm supposed to do."He started his musical training at age 9 playing the accordion. When he was 18, he won a scholarship to the Tel Aviv University School of Music.He studied in Salzburg, Austria, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida State University.Goldstein recently finished a three-week tour in Israel, where he brought Arabic, Israeli and American jazz vocalists together for a night of peace through music.Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, describes Goldstein as "a great Floridian and an accomplished pianist" as well as "a man of faith."Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch said Goldstein is one of the most seasoned and accomplished pianists on the planet. "He is a world-class talent with a lot to spare," Hatch said."There is nothing like being on stage with Marvin Goldstein," said Kirby Heyborne, one of the performers who will join in the 50th anniversary celebration. "My heart races, my muscles ache and my mouth gets dry. He tells me that I get that way from being in his presence, not because he has me haul his piano on stage before the show."Other performers include Sam Payne, Steven Kapp Perry, Jason Hewlett, Heartbound, One Clear Voice, Kenneth Cope, Dan Beck, Jessie Clark Funk, Gabriela Quezada, Michael Dowdle, Meredith Campbell, John Canaan, Daron Bradford, Joy Gardner, Allyse Smith Taylor, Chenille Saunders, Karen Larsen, Sarah Morgann, Todd McCabe, April Moriarty, Joe Paur, Jonelle Goddard and Anna Manja Larcher.Goldstein is also releasing a book this year about faith, music and testimony, co-authored with Susan Easton Black, called "Where Words Fail, Music Speaks."
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