|
The English counter-tenor, harpist, teacher, lecturer and conductor, Patrick Craig, began singing as a chorister in Lichfield Cathedral, and went on to become Organ Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he not only accompanied the choir but also directed them. He then studied as a counter-tenor with Ashley Stafford for two years (1992-1994) at the Royal College of Music RCM) in London, where he sang lead roles in two George Frideric Handel operas..
Since 1995, Patrick Craig sings at St Paul's Cathedral in London. In 1997, he joined the renowned Renaissance sacred music consort, The Tallis Scholars (Director: Peter Phillips), sharing the alto part with Caroline Trevor for all this time. with over seven hundred concerts. With The Tallis Scholars, he has done almost a thousand concerts. Singing with The Tallis Scholars has taken him all over the world, and led to him teaching and conducting on Tallis Scholars Summer Schools in Oakham, Seattle and Sydney. He is also a member of The Cardinall's Musick, which he has guest directed at the Aldeburgh, Brighton and Brinkburn Festivals. He was proud to feature in the group's project to record the entire Latin Sacred Music of William Byrd, the final volume of which won the Gramophone Record of the Year award in 2010. Between 1992 and 1995, he was also a member of the Cambridge Singers (Director: John Rutter).
Patrick Craig enjoys various solo opportunities which have recently included: Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah and W.A. Mozart's Requiem in Newbury, Monteverdi's Vespers in Douai Abbey, J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) and G.F. Handel's Messiah in Hereford Cathedral, Benjamin Britten's Journey of the Magi in Aldeburgh, Orff's Carmina Burana in Uxbridge, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245) in St Paul’s, B. Britten's Abraham and Isaac at the Presteigne Festival. and G.F. Handel's Saul in Chelmsford, in which he both sang the role of David and played David's harp solo.
Patrick Craig began conducting as Organ Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge,. He is the director and founder of this country’s premiere all-female professional choir, Aurora Nova, who have sung Sunday services in St Paul’s Cathedral for over eighteen years. He led them on their first tour of USA, and also conducted the City of London Sinfonia in a series of Orchestral Masses at St Paul's. Other conducting opportunities followed including guest conducting The Cardinall's Musick at the Brinkburn, Brighton and Aldeburgh Festivals. He is also Guest Conductor of the Cecilia Consort in Newbury where he has led performances of Francis Poulenc's Gloria, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G minor., as well ass works by John Rutter, Francis Poulenc, Arvo Pärt and Carissimi. In September 2017, he will begin work as the new Director of the Tenemos Chamber Choir in Sevenoaks.
Patrick Craig has taught and directed for ten years on Tallis Scholars Summer Schools in UK, USA and Australia, and was a guest tutor on the first Early Music Academy. He has also guest conducted the Chiara Choir and the Renaissance Singers, and led one day workshops for Brighton Consort and Border Marches Early Music Forum. He also leads Lacock Courses in Monteconero, Jimena, Venice and Trogir, combining exploration of 16th and 17th century sacred music with its historical and cultural contexts.
As well as directing Lacock courses in Monteconero, Jimena and Venice, Patrick Craig has also led workshops in Hereford, Beverley and Brighton. He has also lectured on Prayer and Music for the St Paul’s Cathedral Forum. He continues to champion new music, premiering new works by Phillip Cooke, Eugenio Fagiani and Paul Crabtree with Aurora Nova in St Paul’s. He also premiered Other Love, three solo settings by Paul Crabtree of poems by Wilfred Owen, for a special charity event in Shrewsbury raising funds for Combat Stress. 2013 was a busy year of 99 concerts with The Tallis Scholars for their 40th Anniversary, and in 2015 they releasedf a disc of Arvo Pärt in celebration of his 80th Birthday. The Cardinall’s Musick’s project to record Tallis’s complete sacred choral works will conclude in 2015 with a new recording of Spem in alium. He was proud to feature in the group’s project to record the entire Latin sacred music of William Byrd, the final volume of which won the 2010 Gramophone Record of the Year award, making them only the second Early Music ensemble to do so. In 2016, he left The Tallis Scholars. He currently lives in London, England.
Patrick Craig can be heard on the most recent recordings from The Cardinall’s Musick (Volume four of the complete Tallis on Hyperion), St Paul’s (Canticles on Hyperion) and the Tallis Scholars (Arvo Pärt soon to be released on Gimell). |
