Biography
Arrangements and Orchestrations
Compositions
Schools Shows
Craig Allister Young is currently a cellist with the Queensland Orchestra and musical director of the cabaret ensemble X-Collective. As a student he won numerous awards at the Queensland conservatorium of music and was in the string finals of the ABC Young Performer Awards in 1989. He was a member of the Qld Youth Orchestra for over ten years finishing with a term as President of the QYO Council.
He has been orchestrating and arranging for professional ensembles for the past 20 years and recently orchestrated and recorded for the Ten Tenors CD, "Tenology" which went Platinum in 2005. He has also arranged for vocal ensembles the Clefhangers, Jones and Co, the Song Company, the Qld Youth Choir and Qld Children's Choir and numerous arrangements can be heard on the recently released CD "Whispers" by Carisma. (on ABC Classics new label Atmospheres)
His library of orchestrations is used by orchestras and ensembles in Australia and overseas and he is presently updating the over 150 works he scored for the QLD Philharmonic Orchestra to full symphony orchestra size. In 2006 he worked with the Education Chamber Ensemble (EchO) from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in developing a touring schools show, which included a number of his arrangements as well as composing a small work for the Pilbara Ensemble.
As a composer Craig has written for many small and large-scale events including the RMIT graduation ceremony in 2001 and the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Soccer season in Brisbane, where his song "Calling all nations" was sung by Christine Anu and David Dixon. He also writes regularly for his cabaret ensemble X-Collective that has been touring for the QLD Arts Council for the past 5 years. In 2007 he is developing a new cabaret with the Sirens of Song and performer Leisa Barry-Smith entitled "Dags and Divas" for performance in Brisbane and at the 2007 New Mardi Gras.
As a conductor Craig learnt his craft with the Qld Philharmonic Orchestra where he held the additional role of Music Co-ordinator form 1996 until 2001. In this time he conducted pops concerts, community events and chamber concerts and wrote numerous schools shows for a variety of age groups. In 2004 he conducted and produced two concerts for the Qld Pops Orchestra after the untimely death of their director Colin Harper.
As well as performing as a cellist, singer and compere Craig has played Santa in the 2004 and 2005 Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols and had the dubious pleasure of orchestrating music for a poker machine.