Crawford Young is an American lutenist and musicologist residing in Basel, Switzerland.
He is the director of the Ferrara Ensemble, Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Shield of Harmony, and is a long time accompanist of Andreas Scholl
Robert Crawford Young graduated in 1976 from New England Conservatory in Boston, where he played classical guitar, lute and tenor banjo. At Stanford University, he came in 1977 into contact with Thomas Binkley (1932–1995) from 1978-1981 was active with Sequentia of Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton in Cologne as performer on the lute and gittern. Since 1982 Young has taught medieval lute and medieval music performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he also performs.
In 1982 Young was a founding member of Ensemble P.A.N. (Project Ars Nova), along with Laurie Monahan (mezzo-soprano), Michael Collver (countertenor and corno muto) and first performed in Paris in 1982. For their American debut in Boston in 1984, Shira Kammen (bowed strings) and John Fleagle (tenor and medieval harp) joined the group. The group ceased to perform in 1999, following the death from cancer of John Fleagle.
The Basel-based Ferrara Ensemble was founded almost simultaneously with Ensemble P.A.N., in 1983. Since the ensemble includes students at the Schola Cantorum, membership is fluid. Members have included: Randall Cook (viola d’arco, vielle), Lena Susanne Norin (contralto), Kathleen Dineen (soprano), Debra Gomez (harp), Stephen Grant (baritone), Norihisa Sugawara (lute), Marion Fourquier (harp), Miriam Andersen (mezzo-soprano, harp), Masako Art (harp), Raitis Grigalis (baritone), Els Janssens (mezzo-soprano), Eve Kopli (soprano), Jessica Marshall (viola d’arco), Eric Mentzel (tenor), Karl-Heinz Schickhaus (dulce melos).
Young is considered by many to be the premier interpreter of repertory for Medieval and Renaissance lute.
Read more about Crawford Young: Publications, Recordings
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