Paul Crawford

Paul Crawford

Paul (Duncan) Crawford. Composer, radio producer, organist, teacher, b Toronto 21 Aug 1947; LTCL 1967, B MUS (McGill) 1971. He studied piano with William Pengelly and attended St Michael's Cathedral Choir School, Toronto, receiving a Bachelor of Gregorian Chant in 1966. In Montreal he studied with Kenneth Meek (organ) and Harry Freedman and Bruce Mather (composition) at McGill University, and with Lubka Kolessa (piano) and Raymond Daveluy (organ) at the CMM. After attending St Augustine's Seminary in Toronto 1971-2 he joined the CBC, working as a radio music producer 1972-6 in Toronto and 1976-7 in Ottawa (on 'Arts National'). He also has been a church organist in Toronto, Montreal, and Hamilton. He resided 1977-90 in Nelson, BC, where he taught piano and composition privately and composed many teaching pieces for his young pupils. He moved to Victoria, BC in 1990, and began teaching at the Victoria Cons and at Camosun College in 1991. Though Crawford has often employed serial techniques in his compositions, he is not attracted to the avant-garde. The modality in much of his writing reflects his church background. His Féerie (1970) was premiered by ARRAY, La Nuit Étoilée (1972) by the Vághy String Quartet (which also recorded the work in 1976 on CBC SM-325), and 'O Quam Gloriosum Est' (1976) by the Festival Singers. In 1987 his Quintet for Brass (1975) was performed at San Diego (Cal) State U during a three-day conference and festival of Canadian music. Other works include a piano suite, a string trio, an étude for percussion, L'azur for orchestra (1971), and Lyric Piece for Orchestra (1978). I've Always Wanted to Ride a Streetcar (1986), a two-act musical comedy with book and lyrics by James Hoffman, was performed in Nelson in 1987, and Selkirk Music (1987) was commissioned by the Selkirk Chamber Orchestra. Crawford is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre.