Name Craig Russell | Role Composer | |
Education University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of New Mexico | ||
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Craig H. Russell (born April 3, 1951) is an American composer of classical music.
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Russell was educated at the University of New Mexico and then the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and began a career both as a classical guitarist and as a composer of classical music, in which he follows in the stylistic footsteps of Aaron Copland. He has also been associated with the vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, as well as holding a professorship at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Middle Earth, a suite after J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was composed by Craig Russell for the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony. Commissioned in 1995, a recording was released on disk in 2000 by the San Luis Obispo Symphony, together with his Rhapsody for Horn and Orchestra, and the second movement of his Symphony No. 2 ("American Scenes"). He also arranged three compositions for the 2006 film Nacho Libre, which were performed by Chanticleer.