Craig Cramer
Craig Cramer is Professor of Organ and Artist in Residence at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He is also organist of St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Elkhart, Indiana. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance. The Eastman School also awarded him the prestigious Performer's Certificate in Organ. He has studied with Russell Saunders, William Hays, James Drake, David Boe, and André Marchal (Paris). Cramer has been named the winner of several competitions, including the National Organ Competition at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
One of the most traveled organists of his generation, Cramer maintains an active recital career across the country and in Europe. He has performed in forty-four of the United States as well as in Canada. Regularly invited to play some of the most important historic organs in the world, Cramer's European concerts have included performances in Germany on the 1727 König organ in Steinfeld, the 1748 Gottfried Silbermann in Nassau, the 1692 Schnitger in Norden, the 1766 Riepp organ in Ottobeuren; and in The Netherlands on the 1725 Hagerbeer/Schnitger in Alkmaar, the 1727 Müller in Leeuwarden, the 1643/1814 Bader/Timpe in Zutphen, and the 1696 Schnitger in Noordbroek.
Cramer has performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists as
well as for many AGO Chapters across the country. He has also appeared as a
soloist with the Toledo Symphony, the South Bend Chamber Orchestra, the
South Bend Symphony, the Notre Dame Chamber Orchestra, and the Eastman
Philharmonia. Cramer has performed the complete organ works of Bach in
eighteen concerts using a distinguished set of mechanical-action organs in
the state of Indiana.
In 1998 he was Guest Artistic Director of
the Redlands Organ Festival in Redlands, California. In April 1999 Cramer
was a featured recitalist for the International Symposium at Pacific
Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington on the new organ by Paul Fritts.
Dr. Cramer was instrumental in the installation of a new organ hall and
organ by Paul Fritts on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, which he
dedicated in January of 2005 by performing a series of ten different recital
programs. This organ was the focal point of an AGO National Pedagogy
Conference on the subject of Buxtehude, given in September 2005 at the
University of Notre Dame. In honor of the 300th
anniversary of the death of Dieterich Buxtehude in 2007, Dr. Cramer will
present the complete organ works of Buxtehude in a series of nine concerts
on this organ. The University of Notre Dame
recently recognized Cramer with a Kaneb distinguished faculty award.
Dr. Cramer's performances are frequently heard on the nationally-syndicated
program "Pipedreams" (American Public Radio). He has fourteen CDs to his
credit, the first of which was a recording of a collection of
twentieth-century French pieces recorded at the Cathedral in Angoulême,
France on the Arkay label. A recording of works by J.S. Bach on the
1727 König organ in Steinfeld, Germany has been released on the
Motette-Ursina label (Germany). He has also recorded four CDs on organs by American organbuilders: the Martin Pasi organ in Lynnwood, Washington
(Dulcian); three organs by Halbert
Gober in Canada (Dominant Music); and the Paul Fritts organ at Grace
Lutheran Church in Tacoma (Dulcian).
He has recorded three CDs on the Naxos label, the
most recent of which is a recording of works by Buxtehude on the organ by Paul Fritts
at Pacific Lutheran University.
Cramer's premiere recording on the Notre Dame Fritts organ has been released on
the JAV label.
He is married to organist Gail Walton, with whom he frequently plays duo recitals.
Craig Cramer is represented by Penny Lorenz Artist Management.
Press Quotes:
"…at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, Cramer played a number of Concours pieces, chorale preludes and the Passacaglia of Bach, and Reger's massive Sonata II. Having heard this organ played in recital regularly, I wish to state that Dr. Cramer's performance of Bach was one of the most vital and uplifting heard in a long time. The Reger Sonata and the French pieces were bold and exciting." -The Diapason
"Superior and tasteful Bach interpretation…technically flawless." -Mainz, Germany
"…Bach's Prelude and Fugue shimmered in festive G major, and we experienced an impressive and striking performance of the dance-like, animated rhythms." -Rothenburg, Germany
"...in Craig Cramer's performance of the (Bach) Trio Sonata No. 1 in E-flat Major at Palmer, they encountered organ playing at its finest. The organ sounds he chose were light and buoyant. He made the technically difficult music seem disarmingly easy. By the audience's applause, his dancing rhythms and sparkling playing refreshed and elevated the spirits of everyone." -Houston Chronicle
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