Biography

Ian Crawford is a composer, conductor and teacher.

Born in London, Ian studied at Christ Church, Oxford, before spending several years developing education and community programmes for arts & heritage organisations in London. After training as a music teacher, Ian moved to the North West in 2010 where he is Director of Music at a leading secondary school.

As a composer and conductor, Ian is best known for his work with changing voice (cambiata) choirs. He has been Musical Director of Cambiata North West (abcd’s regional choir for boys whose voices are changing) since 2014. That year, they appeared in the War Horse Prom at the Royal Albert Hall and were subsequently invited to perform at abcd’s 2015 International Gala Concert (RNCM) where they received a standing ovation from over 200 choral directors. A sought-after exponent of cambiata approaches, Ian is regularly invited to speak at UK conferences and lead workshops/singing days for changing voice groups across the country.

Ian’s arrangements for boys’ changing voices are published by Oxford University Press in their Emerging Voices series (nominated for Best Printed Resource, Music Teacher Awards 2017), and two volumes of his arrangements, Changing Voices and Changing Voices Christmas, were published by Novello in 2017.

Recent commissions include motets and canticles for SATB choir, original songs for Sing Together, Blackburn Cathedral’s award-winning choral outreach programme, and a new competition piece for one of the UK’s leading male voice choirs. Ian’s arrangement of the Sussex Carol (pub. OUP 2018) was selected by JW Pepper as an Editors’ Choice and has subsequently been performed by choirs across the US including Atlanta Master Chorale (dir. Eric Nelson).

As a conductor, Ian has taken part in workshops and masterclasses with tutors including Sarah Tenant-Flowers, Peter Broadbent and Neil Ferris. He works with choirs and instrumental ensembles across the NW. Recent highlights include Bach’s St John Passion with 18th Century Sinfonia, Finzi’s In Terra Pax with Northern Chamber Orchestra and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. A keen singer, Ian has performed and recorded with chamber choirs including Commotio, Pegasus and Choir of the 21st Century.