Lawrence Craig
Internationally acclaimed baritone, Lawrence Craig, is known for his “Fine baritone” (New York Times) and “virtuosic talent” (Zürich Tages-Anzeiger) in opera, concert and recital. A student of the late internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, William Warfield, Mr. Craig was a winner of the Monastero Bel Canto International Opera Competition affording him study and performances in Italy under the tutelage and direction of Maestro Walter Baracchi, former principal coach and conductor at Teatro alla Scala di Milano. Mr. Craig has appeared most notably as Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Escamillo in Carmen, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Ford in Falstaff and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.
Not only was Mr. Craig triumphant in his directorial debut for the Albanian National Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess, he also appeared in the cast as Sportin’ Life (The premiere of Gershwin’s music in the country of Albania). Recently, Mr. Craig appeared as Slim in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, Germont in La Traviata with the Berkshire Theatre Festival at Tanglewood, Dancaïro in Carmen with Opera Tampa, Rev. Zeke in Tawawa House with Townsend Opera, Rev. White in the world premiere motion picture version of Wolfson’s Maya’s Ark with Family Opera Initiative, Tom in Blue Monday in joint production with On Site Opera and Harlem Opera Theater. Other appearances include Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess with the Virginia Opera, the Buckhill/Skytop Music Festival and Opera Colorado, Henry Davis in Weill’s Street Scene with L’Opéra de Toulon, Martin Luther King, Sr. in Baur’s The Promise with the U of M (First opera written on the life of MLK), baritone Gläubiger in the American premiere of Weill’s Die Bürgschaft with the Spoleto Festival USA (recorded for EMI Classics), Emuke in León’s The Scourge of Hyacinths with the Munich Biennale Opera Festival and as Cristobal in the first opera written for the Broadway theatre, Sierra’s Terra Incognita. Mr. Craig made his Broadway debut in Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème On Broadway.
Most recently with leadoff concert by operatic superstar Placido Domingo, Mr. Craig appeared with the Dame Alice S. Kandell Camerata in an operatic concert tour of Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing, China. Other season highlights include the premiere of his voice over appearance as The King of Day for the Emmy Award winning PBS KIDS television series Peg + Cat, Paul Robeson in Gonshor’s award winning new play When Blood Ran Red, Sportin’ Life for the NYC 75th Anniversary Concert to honor Porgy and Bess, bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Philharmonics of Rochester and Syracuse, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, K 339 at Lincoln Center, Ray’s Gospel Mass at Carnegie Hall, Opera and Jazz concerts for the Maputo International Music Festival of Mozambique, The Jimmy & Larry Show for the Buckhill/Skytop Music Festival, Escamillo in Carmen (concert) with the Latvian National Opera, Music Sharing from New York in a tour of Japan, Elijah with the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tributes with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra and city of Cincinnati, Ohio, Symphonic Orchestra of Chile for Copland’s Old American Songs, the George Enescu Bucharest Philharmonic and the Athens State Orchestra in Carmina Burana, Symphonic Orchestra of Argentina in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Romanian Broadcasting Corporation in J. S. Bach’s Die Weihnachts Oratorium, Cincinnati Pops as Walker in Gershwin’s Blue Monday and as Sportin’ Life in excerpts from Porgy and Bess (recorded for Telarc International), Austrian Broadcasting Corporation singing “Old Man River” for the motion picture Musik am Mississippi and the opportunity to sing as part of the New York concert to honor President Barak Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize.
