Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, Goldsmith is the son of Gunther Goldschmidt, a flutist from Oldenburg, Germany, and Rosemarie Gumpert Goldschmidt, a violist. After emigrating to the United States, his mother was for 21 years a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Goldsmith received a bachelor"s degree from Johns Hopkins. From 1971 to 1975 he was a radio host, musical producer, and writer at classical radio station WCLV in Cleveland, Ohio. He joined WETA-FM, Washington, District of Columbia, in 1975, serving as producer, announcer, music director and, eventually, program director
In 1987 he joined National Public Radio as a music producer for Performance Today.
From 1989 to 1999 he was on-air host for that program, becoming senior commentator in 1999. Subsequently moving to XM Satellite Radio, he now serves as director of classical music programming and is frequently heard on Sirius XM"s Symphony Hall channel.
Goldsmith has sung in the chorus of the Baltimore Opera Company and made a guest appearance with the Washington Opera. He has also acted in many roles in Washington-area theaters, including Arena Stage.
He plays the French horn.
His music reviews have appeared in the Washington Post.
