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DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK NAMES DR. CRAIG JESSOP Recipient of the DCINY Educator Laureate Award
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) is pleased to announce that conductor Dr. Craig Jessop will be the recipient of the DCINY Educator Laureate Award. Celebrated as a conductor and educator worldwide, Jessop will receive the award on Sunday, June 11, at theDCINY performance of The Music of Vaughan Williams at Carnegie Hall. Co-founded by Iris Derke (General Director) and Jonathan Griffith (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor), DCINY’s 9th season will be concluding inDecember 2017.
Craig Jessop is an American academic, musician, conductor, and singer. Previously, the music director of the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, founder and Music Director of the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force music programs where he served as director of the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, Dr. Jessop has been on the American choral scene for more than three decades. DCINY’s Maestro Jonathan Griffith comments: “Craig Jessop has been a steady and driving force in the world of music education for many years. The DCINY Mentoring Workshop, held each January in New York, has had Dr. Jessop as the leading Mentor on several occasions. His insight and experience in the choral and orchestral world is invaluable to students who desire a career as a conductor.” Dr. Jessop has been part of DCINY’s mentoring workshop since 2014 and previously conducted DCINY’s performance of Requiem À Deux on June 7, 2015 at Carnegie Hall.
Currently, Dr. Jessop is Professor of Music and the founding Dean for the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University. He has recorded over 15 CDs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in 2008, he received a Grammy-award nomination. At the Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Dr. Jessop conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony, working with world-renowned artists Sting and Yo-Yo Ma, and composers John Williams and Michael Kamen. Other artists with whom he has collaborated include Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel, Audra McDonald, The King’s Singers, Angela Lansbury, and Claire Bloom.
The DCINY Educator Laureate Award acknowledges an individual’s contribution to music education. It recognizes a personal commitment to instilling a life-long love of making music. Past recipients of the award are Dr. Donald D. Donaldson, professor emeritus of Asbury College and former choral director at Shawnee Mission South High School and chair of the music department at Kansas Wesleyan University, and Dr. Eph Ehly, formerly the Director of Choral Studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Distinguished Concerts International New York is driven by passion, innovative vision, a total belief in its artists, and unwavering commitment to bringing forth unforgettable audience experiences. Having presented numerous sold out concerts and world and US premieres, DCINY also created a mentorship program for young conductors and the DCINY Premiere Project which commissions new works. For more information on upcoming concerts and events please see: www.DCINY.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Andrea Niederman | 212.707.8566 x307 | [email protected]