What the critics said...
Don Giovanni, Prelude
to Performance (July 2006)
“The conductor, Steven Crawford, gave
what was a lively, taut and polished reading.”
New York Times
Two Widows, Manhattan School of Music (April, 1998)
"Conductor Steven Crawford shaped the lyrically conversational score with real affection."
Peter Davis, New York Magazine
"...the
experienced conductor Steven Crawford gauged the fresh voices shrewdly,
allowing them both to emerge as individuals and to blend in a totally engaging,
coherent performance."
William Weaver, Financial Times
Il
Barbiere di Siviglia, Cincinnati Opera (July, 1997)
"A few days ago, Cincinnati Opera's The Barber of Seville appeared to be in trouble.....Nicholas Muni, who was to make his conducting debut here, threw out his back. His assistant, Steven Crawford, had to take over....Mr Crawford, on one rehearsal, conducted superbly, propelling the opera's comic twists and turns expertly and accompanying the singer's recitative from the fortepiano with wonderful imagination."
Jenelle Gelfand, The Cincinnati Enquirer
"As
for Muni, who wrenched his back at a rehearsal on Monday, his place was
admirably filled by Steven Crawford, music director of the opera's Young Artist
Program. As both conductor and harpsichordist, Crawford was in many ways
the find of the evening. The famous Overture sounded sly as well as
vivacious under his baton, and rapport between the singers and the pit was
generally well controlled."
Mary Ellen Hutton, The Cincinnati Post
"...Young
Artist Program director Steven Crawford stepped in, authoritatively pulling
things into shape, as well as playing the continuo part."
Charles Parsons, Opera News
Cav/Pag,
Miami Opera (1991)
"....Crawford conducted with passion and fine attentiveness to theater. He particularly brought out the dark beauty of the score of Cavalleria."
James Roos, Miami Herald
Cosi
fan Tutte, Miami Opera (1991)
"....Steven Crawford presided over the performance with admirable finesse. It wasn't just that he didn't miss a beat between conducting and jumping to the harpsichord to play all the recitative accompaniment himself (and play it with a flourish); it was that he found a balance between propulsive momentum and graceful, elegant phrasing....There was also much to enjoy in the way Crawford brought out the almost prismatic orchestral details of the score."
Tim Smith, Opera News
Fantasies
and Flourishes, Disklavier soloist with the New World Symphony (1995)
"....Steve Crawford was the brilliant soloist in Jon Nelson's Fantasies and Flourishes. The pianist demonstrated startling dexterity as he tackled the intricate interplay with the disklavier. His kinetic playing caught the whimsical quality underneath the surface of the score."
Tim Smith, Sun-Sentinel