(March 24, 2015)

Centenary Youth Orchestra prepares for spring concert with John-Henry Crawford

SHREVEPORT, LA — Hurley School of Music's Centenary Youth Orchestra will present its second concert Sunday, March 29, at 3 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium under the direction of associate professor of music Dr. Todd Gabriel.

John Henry Crawford
Shreveport native John-Henry Crawford will deliver a solo performance during the spring Centenary Youth Orchestra concert

"The 40-plus member Centenary Youth Orchestra will perform challenging and inspiring symphonic circus music by Igor Stravinsky and festive dances by Joaquin Rodrigo," said Gabriel. "Our very inspiring young guest soloist is Shreveport's own John-Henry Crawford playing one of the greatest works of the classical era, C.P.E. Bach's Cello Concerto in A major."

Crawford, a celebrated cellist, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he was accepted at age 15 and held the Nina and Billy Albert Fellowship. Crawford gave his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2011 as First Prize Winner of the orchestra's Greenfield Concerto Competition. He received praise from The Philadelphia Inquirer, stating that he "projected polished charisma and a singing sound in Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto." This past November, Crawford was invited to perform a solo recital on the International Concert Series of the Louvre in Paris. In January 2015 he was announced as the First Prize Winner of the American String Teachers National Solo Competition for Cello.

"John-Henry learned this concerto especially for this performance with these young musicians to showcase the intimate relationship between orchestra and soloist," said Gabriel. "We appreciate his support of our new program and know it will be a memorable afternoon."

The Centenary Youth Orchestra is comprised of more than 40 young instrumentalists from Shreveport, Bossier City, and Haughton. The concert is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Gabriel at tgabriel@centenary.edu or 318.869.5403.