David Craighead (January 24, 1924 – March 26, 2012) was a noted American

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. Craighead was born in

Strasburg, Pennsylvania Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It developed as a linear village stretching approximately along the Great Conestoga Road, later known as the Strasburg Road.Susan M. Zacher, NRHP Nomination Form Stra ...

. He studied with Alexander McCurdy at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 1946. While at Curtis he met his future wife Marian Reiff, also a pupil of McCurdy. They married in 1948. From 1955 until his retirement in the summer of 1992 he was both Professor of Organ and Chair of the Organ Division of the Keyboard Department at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. Craighead was also organist of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester, a position he held for 48 years. In June 1968, Craighead received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from

Lebanon Valley College Lebanon Valley College (LVC, Lebanon Valley, or The Valley) is a private university in Annville, Pennsylvania. History Lebanon Valley College was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class grad ...

Annville, Pennsylvania Annville Township is a township and census-designated place in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,767 at the 2010 census. History Annville Township was divided into North Annville Township and South Annville ...

. He recorded works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, Pierre du Mage,

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

, Samuel Adler, Paul Cooper,

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

, William Albright,

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work ...

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid-20th century. His many s ...

Dudley Buck Dudley Buck (March 10, 1839October 6, 1909) was an American composer, organist, and writer on music. He published several books, most notably the ''Dictionary of Musical Terms'' and ''Influence of the Organ in History'', which was published in N ...

, and

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death. As a composer, much of his output was Organ (music), organ music, including six ...

. He was a featured performer at many national conventions and international congresses of the American Guild of Organists, and was voted the 1983 International Performer of the Year by the New York City chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He was the featured organist of the 1975 International Contemporary Organ Music Festival at the Hartt School of Music. He was also an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. Craighead was the first recipient of Eastman's Eisenhart Award for Teaching Excellence. In the fall of 2008, Eastman dedicated the Craighead-Saunders pipe organ at Christ Church in honor of him and his fellow Eastman organ professor, Russell Saunders. He died, aged 88, at his Valley Manor home in

, survived by his daughter, Betsy and his son, Jim.

References

External links

iographyhttp://www.esm.rochester.edu/about/portraits/craighead/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Craighead, David 1924 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Curtis Institute of Music alumni American classical organists Contemporary classical music performers Eastman School of Music faculty Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American organists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical musicians American male classical organists