Craig
Thomas Naylor is an active composer with numerous commissions whose
compositions have been played worldwide by ensembles ranging from
elementary school band to the orchestral soundtrack for the IMAX film
"To The Limit." His commissions include the Los Angeles Concert
Orchestra, the Los Angeles Moravian Trombone Choir, the Music
Association of California Community Colleges, The "President's Own"
Marine Band Tuba-Euphonium Quartet, the Gee-Mackey duo, the Wind
Ensembles of the
Universities of Georgia, Idaho, California at Los Angeles, and Mary
Washington, and numerous
community college, high, middle and elementary school choirs, bands,
and orchestras. His fanfare, On The Head of a Pin, opened the
Dallas Wind Symphony's Feb. 2006 concert. He has received two
Continental Harmony commission/residencies from the American Composers
Forum.Craig earned his Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Composition from the University of Southern California where he studied with Stephen Hartke, Morten Lauridsen, Frederick Lesemann, Robert Linn, and Buddy Baker. He has been a fellow at the Aspen Music School. An active educator, Craig has taught in four states, all ages kindergarten through university graduate, and holds teaching certificates in California and Montana, where he was awarded an Individual Fellowship, the state Arts Council’s recognition of high achievement. He is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he conducts the Wind and Percussion Ensemble, teaches music theory, composition, orchestration, and coordinates the Electronic Music Studio. In 2006, he was recognized with the UMW Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award and also received a Presidential Recognition award for Native Voices, two concerts (chamber music and a second with the full ensemble) of music by American Indian composers. These concerts were performed at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
