Will Crutchfield
Encyclopedia
Will Crutchfield is a noted American conductor
, musicologist, and vocal coach. He is currently the Director of Opera
at the Caramoor International Music Festival
and a frequent guest conductor at the Polish National Opera. A specialist in the bel canto
repertoire, he prepared the first performing edition of Donizetti
's Élisabeth ou la fille de l'exilé
and conducted its world premiere at the Caramoor Festival on July 17, 2003.
In addition to his scholarly work on vocal style, Crutchfield was the youngest music critic in the history of The New York Times
, where he was a regular contributor from 1983 to 1989. He has also authored numerous reviews and articles for Opera News
, including his "Crutchfield at large" series.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, musicologist, and vocal coach. He is currently the Director of Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
at the Caramoor International Music Festival
Caramoor International Music Festival
The Caramoor International Music Festival is a summer music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Inc., which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Katonah, New York.The Caramoor...
and a frequent guest conductor at the Polish National Opera. A specialist in the bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
repertoire, he prepared the first performing edition of Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Élisabeth ou la fille de l'exilé
Otto mesi in due ore
Otto mesi in due ore ossia Gli esiliati in Siberia is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni....
and conducted its world premiere at the Caramoor Festival on July 17, 2003.
In addition to his scholarly work on vocal style, Crutchfield was the youngest music critic in the history of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, where he was a regular contributor from 1983 to 1989. He has also authored numerous reviews and articles for Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
, including his "Crutchfield at large" series.
Selected bibliography
- Will Crutchfield (1983), 'Vocal Ornamentation in Verdi: The Phonographic Evidence', 19th-Century Music, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Summer, 1983), pp. 3-54.
- Will Crutchfield (1989), 'The Prosodic Appoggiatura in the Music of Mozart and His Contemporaries', Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Summer, 1989), pp. 229-274.
- Will Crutchfield (1988) 'Fashion, Conviction and Performance Style in an Age of Revivals' in N. Kenyon (ed.), Authenticity and Early Music: A Symposium, Oxford University Press. ISBN:0198161530