[citation needed] His father, a school teacher, was a fan of classical music and collector of opera gramophone records.
[1] Following a suggestion by his piano teacher that he study voice in Russia, Goodwin left Australia for Europe in 1999.
[citation needed] Goodwin's operatic debut was as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff for Opera Australia in January 2006.
Later that year he performed Lensky in a new Production of Eugene Onegin by Dmitry Chernyakov at the Bolshoi Theatre, Russia, a rare achievement by a foreigner.
He is also now a regular soloist with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and a cultural ambassador for Australia on the world stage.