Craig Knox Click here for photographs Download Mr. Knox's biography (MS Word) Principal Tuba Craig Knox joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as Principal Tuba in 2005. His previous orchestra positions included Acting Principal Tuba of the San Francisco Symphony as well as Principal Tuba of the Sacramento Symphony and the New World Symphony (Miami). Prior to his appointment in Pittsburgh, he was in demand as regular guest artist with many major American orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota. Since 1995, he has spent part of each summer as Co-Principal Tuba of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. Since joining the PSO, Craig also performs with the Pittsburgh Symphony Brass. He has been an active chamber musician for many years, having co-founded the Center City Brass Quintet, which has performed in recital throughout the U.S. and Japan, and been heard numerous times on NPR. Its five recordings on the Chandos label have been met with critical acclaim, the first being described by American Record Guide as “one of the all-time great brass quintet recordings.” In 2006, he performed with the Center City Brass Quintet as soloist with the Tokyo Symphony, in the world-premiere of Chimera, a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra by Anthony DiLorenzo. In addition, he has played for several seasons with the Chicago Chamber Musicians Brass Quintet, with which he recorded for the Naxos label, and has toured with the Empire Brass. Mr. Knox has performed on the soundtracks for numerous major motion pictures, including Spy Kids, Mars Attacks!, Jefferson in Paris, One Fine Day, and Elmo in Grouchland, which won a Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album. Craig is Adjunct Professor of Tuba at Duquesne University, and Artist Lecturer of Tuba at Carnegie Mellon University. He previously served on the faculty at Kent State University, California State University-Hayward, as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he was Director of the Brass Chamber Music program. With the Center City Brass Quintet, he has presented master classes and seminars at universities and conservatories throughout the U.S., and has been in residence annually at the Music Masters Course in Kazusa, a festival in Japan which draws conservatory students from four continents. He has also presented master classes at the University of Michigan and Indiana University, and taught at the University of Maryland’s National Orchestra Institute. A native of Storrs, Connecticut, Craig began formal musical studies on the classical guitar at age 6, and took up the baritone horn in the fifth grade. At age 11, while attending a summer music camp, he was so enamored of the student orchestra that he switched to tuba so he could pursue a life in music as an orchestral performer. His first teachers included Gary Ofenloch, Samuel Pilafian and Chester Schmitz. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Krzywicki of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Craig resides in Mt. Lebanon with his wife and two sons.