Corazón John-Henry Crawford

• Leo Brouwer (b. 1939): Canción de cuna (Arr. for Cello & Guitar):
• 1 Brouwer: Canción de cuna (Arr. for Cello & Guitar) 03:10
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959): O canto do cisne negro, W122:
• 2 Villa-Lobos: O canto do cisne negro, W122 02:46
• Carlos Guastavino (1912 - 2000): Pampamapa (Arr. for Cello & Piano):
• 3 Guastavino: Pampamapa (Arr. for Cello & Piano) 01:46
• Manuel Ponce (1882 - 1948): 5 Canciones mexicanas:
• 4 Ponce: 5 Canciones mexicanas: No. 5, Por tí mi corazón (Arr. for Cello & Piano) 03:24
• Egberto Gismonti (b. 1947): Água e vinho (Arr. J.H. Crawford for Cello & Guitar):
• 5 Gismonti: Água e vinho (Arr. J.H. Crawford for Cello & Guitar) 03:31
• Manuel Ponce: 2 Canciones mexicanas:
• 6 Ponce: 2 Canciones mexicanas: No. 2, Estrellita (Arr. Jiji & J. Heifetz for Cello & Guitar) 02:47
• Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992): Le grand tango:
• 7 Piazzolla: Le grand tango 11:01
• Heitor Villa-Lobos: Pequena suíte, W064:
• 8 Villa-Lobos: Pequena suíte, W064: V. Melodia 02:34
• Ondulando, Op. 31, W082 (Arr. J.H. Crawford for Cello & Piano):
• 9 Villa-Lobos: Ondulando, Op. 31, W082 (Arr. J.H. Crawford for Cello & Piano) 04:00
• Manuel Ponce: Cello Sonata in G Minor:
• 10 Ponce: Cello Sonata in G Minor: I. Allegro selvaggio 08:16
• 11 Ponce: Cello Sonata in G Minor: II. Allegro 05:17
• 12 Ponce: Cello Sonata in G Minor: III. Arietta 04:21
• 13 Ponce: Cello Sonata in G Minor: IV. Allegro burlesco 06:03
• Astor Piazzolla: Oblivion (Arr. J.H. Crawford for 14 Cellos):
• 14 Piazzolla: Oblivion (Arr. J.H. Crawford for 14 Cellos) 03:39
• Total Runtime 01:02:35

Info for Corazón

John-Henry Crawford schreibt: "Im Sommer 2019 reiste ich nach Mexiko, um am IX. Internationalen Carlos-Prieto-Cello-Wettbewerb teilzunehmen, und ich ahnte nicht, dass diese Reise mein musikalisches Leben verändern würde. Zu dieser Zeit war ich mit lateinamerikanischer Musik sehr gut vertraut, aber nachdem ich das große Glück hatte, den ersten Preis zu gewinnen und mehrmals für Aufführungen nach Mexiko zurückzukehren, verliebte ich mich in die Musik Lateinamerikas, die Kultur, die Geschichte und die spanische Sprache. Dieses Album nimmt den Hörer mit auf eine musikalische Reise durch Argentinien, Brasilien, Kuba und Mexiko. Im Mittelpunkt des Programms steht die Sonate in g-Moll von Manuel Ponce, der in der klassischen Welt vor allem durch sein von Jascha Heifetz populär gemachtes Lied Estrellita bekannt ist. Ponce war es ein Anliegen, die Konzertwelt wieder mit mexikanischer Folklore und traditionellen Liedern zu vereinen, wie man in dem romantischen, sehnsuchtsvollen Titelstück Por ti mi corazon hören kann. Dieses Album umspannt über 140 Jahre lateinamerikanischer Musikkultur und führt uns von Ponces einzigartiger traditioneller Stimme und Villa-Lobos' chopineskem Stil zur Musik des noch lebenden kubanischen Gitarristen Leo Brouwer - seinem unschuldigen Wiegenlied Cancion de Cuna. Weitere Höhepunkte sind Astor Piazzollas zeitloses Oblivion und Le Grand Tango sowie Egberto Gismontis Agua e Vinho. Wie der Titel schon sagt, geht diese Musik ans Herz und strahlt Romantik und Leidenschaft aus."

John-Henry Crawford, Cello
Victor Santiago Asuncion, Klavier

John-Henry Crawford
Born in the small Louisiana city of Shreveport, cellist John-Henry Crawford has been lauded for his “polished charisma” and “singing sound” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and in 2019 was First Prize Winner of the IX International Carlos Prieto Cello Competition and named Young Artist of the Year by the Classical Recording Foundation.

At age 15, Crawford was accepted into the legendary Curtis Institute of Music to study with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey and went on to complete an Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music with Philippe Muller, a Master of Music at The Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick, and pursue further study in Chicago with Hans Jørgen Jensen. He has given concerts in 25 states as well as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland at venues such as The International Concert Series of the Louvre in Paris, Volkswagen’s Die Gläsern Manufaktur in Dresden, and the inaugural season of the Tippet Rise Arts Center in Montana. Crawford gave his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as First Prize Winner of the orchestra’s Greenfield Competition and has performed Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Memphis Symphony, Dvorak and Gulda Cello Concertos with the Shreveport Symphony, and Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Highland Park Strings.

While in Chicago, Crawford appeared on WFMT’s Impromptu series and toured extensively with Steinway artist and pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion. He has appeared twice with Christopher O’Riley on National Public Radio’s From the Top. An advocate for the importance of social media, Crawford commands a strong Instagram presence, attracting tens of thousands of viewers to his project #The1000DayJourney, where he films artistic cinematic videos daily from his practice and performances for over 55,000 followers (@cellocrawford) to give a glimpse into the working process of a musician, recently passing the 1000-day mark.

Crawford’s numerous competition prizes also include Grand Prize and First Prize Cellist at the 2015 American String Teachers National Solo Competition, the Lynn Harrell Competition of the Dallas Symphony, the Hudson Valley Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition. He has competed in the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth competitions and was accepted at the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland for study under the tutelage of Ralph Kirshbaum and Torleif Thedeen.

Crawford has been a fellow at Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, the National Arts Centre’s Zukerman Young Artist Program in Canada, The Fontainebleau School in France, and the Perlman Chamber Music Program. He was invited to perform at Boston’s French Cultural Museum in a chamber music concert with Boston Symphony concertmaster Malcolm Lowe, Curtis President Roberto Diaz, and members of the Borromeo Quartet, and was the only student performer on a tour series to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Brazil, collaborating with artists Soovin Kim, Roberto Diaz, and Jason Vieaux as part of Curtis on Tour. While a student at Curtis, Crawford’s recital performances were broadcast on WHYY public television in Philadelphia. He was interviewed for the recently released documentary Maestro about conductor Paavo Järvi, and is also interviewed and quoted in Dan Coyle’s The Talent Code by Dan Coyle, a best-selling book about the science and neurology behind skill development.

Crawford is from a musical family and performs on a rare 200-year old European cello smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather, Dr. Robert Popper, who evaded Kristallnacht in 1938. He also performs on a fine French bow by the revolutionary bowmaker Tourte “L’Ainé” from 1790. Before attending Curtis, Crawford studied with concert cellist Andres Diaz of Southern Methodist University. In addition to music, he enjoys reading about astrophysics, running, performing magic tricks, and photography.

Booklet for Corazón