Craig H. Russell (born April 3, 1951) is an American composer of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. Russell was educated at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

and then the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, and began a career both as a classical guitarist and as a composer of classical music, in which he follows in the stylistic footsteps of

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

. He has also been associated with the vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, as well as holding a professorship at

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

. Russell composed ''Middle Earth'', a suite after

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'' and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', for the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony. Commissioned in 1995, a recording was released on disk in 2000 by the San Luis Obispo Symphony, together with his ''Rhapsody for Horn and Orchestra'', and the second movement of his Symphony No. 2 ("American Scenes"). He also arranged three compositions for the 2006 film ''

Nacho Libre ''Nacho Libre'' is a 2006 sports comedy family film written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, and Mike White, and directed by Jared Hess. It stars Jack Black as Ignacio, a Catholic friar and secret lucha libre fan who moonlights as a luchador to ...

'', which were performed by Chanticleer.

Discography

*Russell, Craig. ''Rhapsody for Horn and Orchestra; Middle Earth; Gate City—A Methodist Hymn''. Richard Todd, horn; San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra. Michael Nowak, cond. Naxos American Classics CD 8.559168.

References

1951 births Living people 20th-century American classical composers American male classical composers 21st-century American classical composers Musicians from New Mexico California Polytechnic State University faculty 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub