CRAFTON BECK
Music Director
Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
Lima Symphony Orchestra, OH
Around the country critics and presenters alike have embraced Mr. Beck's versatile talents commenting on "his extraordinary variety of styles and moods", and being "unerringly sensitive", conducting with "fierce intensity" and demonstrating an "intimate understanding of the scores and their meaning beyond the notes". His seemingly limitless energy and rare skill with musicians and audiences alike prompted one critic to write, "his enthusiasm exploded propelling the orchestra to outdo their usual brilliant selves. The full house responded with wild applause and several standing ovations".
Currently serving as Music Director of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, he has also appeared as guest conductor with over thirty American orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the New World Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Sacramento Symphony, and the Florida Orchestra.
Mr. Beck received a Doctorate in Conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 1987. Previous studies were at the University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, and the Aspen School.
One of Mr. Beck's most notable assets is his versatility as a performer. In addition to his duties as Music Director, he has been recognized as a sensitive and powerful conductor of ballet, and he served as Music Director of Carnegie Opera Theater in Cincinnati in 1991. His educational concerts for young people have been called "dynamic and extraordinarily creative," and he has developed a national reputation as a conductor in the pops arena.
In the six year's Mr. Beck was affiliated with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, he arranged over fifty selections which have appeared on that orchestra's many recordings. Most of these appeared on the Billboard Classical/Crossover charts for best-selling albums, and two of those albums received Grammy Award nominations.
REVIEWS
Classical Subscription Concert with the Lima Symphony Orchestra
"It's been more than six years since I last reviewed the Lima Symphony Orchestra. And while I've heard them dozens of times since, Saturday was the first in quite some time I have really listened to the group as musicians. And the beginning of a new season seems the appropriate time to note that this group has improved immeasurably in the past few years. Largely thanks to Beck's direction, the problems of intonation, dragging tempos and the times when entire sections slogged behind the whole are past. This is now a group of really good musicians playing challenging music with skill and enthusiasm. It's a huge turnaround that has happened gradually over the past few years and it needs to be acknowledged. For years now, local boosters have always exlained that we have a "good little orchestra for a town this size." I really think we can drop the addendum now, because as the Lima Symphony Orchestra has repeatedly illustrated, we are home to a very good orchestra."
The Lima News
October 2004
Classical Subscription Concert with the Lima Symphony Orchestra
"I found my musical senses engaged in... [an] exhilarating dialogue with the orchestra, awakening in me many memories and emotions....Beck and the orchestra vividly touched our senses."
Joel West - The Lima News
April 14th, 2003
Classical Subscription Concert with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
"It was a hair-raising performance...The orchestra, guided by MSO conductor Crafton Beck, played with confidence and cohesiveness...It was a delight...."
Lori Herring - The Clarion Ledger
November, 2000
Family Concert with the Lima Symphony Orchestra
"How fortunate we are to have Crafton Beck involved with our community.....If you have never attended of these performances, you are missing out on....one of the things that makes this such a great place to live and raise children."
Wendy Overly - The Lima News
Performances with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (IL)
"Crafton excites with his enthusiasm. He obviously has a terrific time while conducting. His enthusiasm exploded, propelling the orchestra to outdo their usual brilliant selves. The full house responded with wild applause and strong ovations...Remember the name Crafton Beck: you'll hear it as the principal conductor of a major orchestra for sure."
Judy Reinert - The Kane County Chronicle
Performances with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra
"This maestro is a welcome anachronism with his uncanny ability to stretch out a phrase. He understands how to prepare and then cling to the last beat, anticipating the great emotional apex in the music...a precise and inspired performance."
Robert McClintock - The Sacramento Union
Performances with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra
"...demonstrated an intimate understanding of the scores and their meaning beyond the notes. His ability to transmit that knowledge to the Philharmonic led to a memorable event."
Robert McClintock - The Sacramento Union
"...one of the up-and-coming conductors who bears watching."
Robert Jennings - The Memphis Commercial Appeal
Performance with the Arkansas Chamber Orchestra
"He led the orchestra with verve and vivacity, weaving a short baton with economical but expressive strokes."
Eric E. Harrison - Arkansas Democrat Gasette
"...highly effective on the podium."
Jesus Lopez-Cobos (Music Director) - Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra