The Phoenix Concerts

PROGRAM NOTE

Over the years I have been writing music for the piano — five volumes representing over five hours of music. Tonight I will be performing a selection of compositions representing this body of work as well as two new works: Secret Spaces and Venetian Snowfall. My composition is inspired by nature and what I believe to be the healing quality of my connection with nature. I often find my inspiration from the rhythms of nature, from the magnitude of natural wonders and from the gentle sounds of nature, be it a flowing stream or the quiet that comes with a snowfall in Venice. The program begins with a celebration of springtime and ends with a thoughtful walk in a stream. As we move through the program I hope that the many individual journeys will inspire you to a sense of inner thought and reflection. As an academically trained composer I journeyed away from the rigorous atonality that was considered the norm at the time of my studies and have come to write very tonal, melodic and some have said “beautiful” music — all reflections of the forces of nature that inspire my muse. — Craig Urquhart

BIOGRAPHY

Each album from composer/pianist Craig Urquhart (pronounced "irk-hart") is a continuing meditation on beauty and the healing power of music. Urquhart creates rich melodic landscapes that blossom into dramatic journeys from the heart. Expressing his passion for the natural world and drawing upon the influences of such iconic keyboard composers as Chopin, Debussy, Satie, and Copland, Craig has become one of modern acoustic piano’s most singular voices. As a contemporary impressionist however, his creative muses extend well beyond the more traditional keyboard canon to pop/rock musicians such as Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, and Brian Eno. His timeless sound and compositional focus has gradually shifted from academic classical music to a more lyrical personal voice, which is both a reflection of our time and a commentary on humanity's need for refuge. Reviewer Kathy Parsons, who included Craig’s 2004 release Streamwalker in Solo Piano Publications Top Ten of 2004, stated: “The grace and depth of emotion conveyed in Urquhart’s music is a reminder of how profound and colorful the piano can be in all its glory as a solo instrument.”

In April 2006 Avie Records will release Secret and Divine Signs: The Music of Craig Urquhart, a collection of art songs. The new CD features songs and solo piano music by Urquhart and features the American tenor Michael Slattery singing texts of poetry by Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, D. H. Lawrence, and others, with the composer as pianist. Craig and Michael premiered several of these compositions in July 2005 at the Clayton Opera House in Clayton, New York. The duo repeated the program in Paris in December 2005. To cap a busy April, Craig will make his inaugural visit to Japan as a performer, giving a total of five solo piano recitals in Tokyo, Kobe, and Kawaguchiko, April 4–9.

His previous five piano albums are conceived as separate journeys, exploring the nexus between nature and music. His last recording, Streamwalker, was honored in the Contemporary Instrumental Top Twenty of 2004 by Michael Debbage of Wind and Wire. Craig’s five original solo piano CDs include: Streamwalker (2004); Evocation (2000); Songs Without Words (1990); The Dream of the Ancient Ones (1993); and Epitaphs and Portraits (1994). His career has taken him around the world; he has been presented by the Indiana University Foundation, has performed in Berlin, Germany, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, with other Whisperings Artists in York, Pennsylvania, and repeat performances at the Klavierhaus House in New York City.

Urquhart is also a well-known composer of art songs, including musical settings of poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. His songs have been performed and recorded by Thomas Hampson, Michael Slattery, Lauren Wagner, and other artists. In early 2006 Urquhart was named The New Jersey Music Teachers Association (MTA) Commissioned Composer for 2006. Prior to receiving this honor in New Jersey, Craig was chosen as a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) in Amherst, Virginia in October 2005. He is a member of ASCAP, serves on the Board of Directors of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, is a Whisperings Artist, is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys), and is the Vice President of Public Relations and Promotion for The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.

Craig has spoken extensively about his music, and been featured on ASCAP's Audio Portraits, National Public Radio, and two BBC Radio 3 programs, Drive Time and Music Matters. He has also been interviewed for Solo Piano Publications, the Baldwin/Gibson Magazine, and NAR. The magazine Piano Today has twice featured compositions by Craig. More information about Craig and his work may be found at www.craigurquhart.com.

Urquhart's love of the piano began at age six, when he began taking piano lessons as a child growing up in East Lansing, Michigan. Moving to New York City after receiving his Master’s in Composition from the University of Michigan, Urquhart found the spirit to leave some of his music with Leonard Bernstein's Manhattan doorman; the Maestro called Urquhart back, and the two became acquainted. In 1985 Urquhart was hired as Bernstein’s musical assistant, and worked for Bernstein until the composer’s death in 1990. He also served for many years as a member of the music faculty at the Harlem School of the Arts, and was actor Tom Hulce's (Mozart) musical coach for the Academy Award-winning film, Amadeus.

Craig has been actively involved in a wide array of social and environmental causes over the years, performing at the United Nations for National AIDS Awareness Day and Earth Day, as well as at benefit concerts for such organizations as the Tidewater AIDS Taskforce of Norfolk, Virginia, Momentum AIDS Project in New York, and Bread & Roses AIDS hospice in Connecticut. The Turtle’s Dance Company, for a memorial concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, choreographed his “The Wonder of Miracles.”

As Leonard Bernstein wrote: “Craig Urquhart is a truly gifted composer ... his tonal approach is ... genuinely moving, with a private beauty of its own.”