Craig

Education & Accomplishments

• Received Grade 8 in Piano Royal Conservatory of Music
• Received Grade 8 in Trumpet Royal Conservatory of Music
• Music Studies at the University of Manitoba
• Composition Studies at The Berklee College of Music in Boston
• Co-Owner of Time Music Studios

Biography

Craig was born in Ottawa, Ontario to a musical father, the head arranger of the RCMP Musical Ride. His family then settled to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where Craig began what would turn out to be a lifelong pursuit of professionally performing and teaching music. At the age of eight, Craig started private lessons in both trumpet and piano from some of the top musicians of the time. Before turning his playing interests to jazz studies, he achieved his Grade 8 level through the Royal Conservatory of Music program, and went on to continue his studies at the University of Manitoba. He then advanced his musical skills in the studies of Jazz Arranging, Writing for Orchestra, and Woodwinds and Composing for Film & TV at The Berklee College of Music in Boston. To date, Craig has been teaching professionally as a clinician in the Calgary and Catholic Board of Education school music programs for 15 years. Some of Craig’s past performances include: The Chai Folk Ensemble (Winnipeg), University of Calgary Jazz Ensemble, The Prime Time Big Band, The Wednesday Night Big Band, and The Fox Big Band. For the past 12 years, Craig has been the Musical Director for the Calgary-based Razzama Jazz Big Band, a 19-piece big band that performs frequently around Calgary. He leads his own jazz trio; he also founded, directs and performs with his nine-piece R&B band, The Eleventh Hour. Some of Craig’s recent projects include composing and arranging music for performance by the aforementioned groups as well as local independent Calgary artists.