Craig Knox

Principal Tuba

Dr. Mary Ann Craig Chair

 

Craig Knox has been principal tuba of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2005, and holds the Dr. Mary Ann Craig Chair. He previously held positions of acting principal tuba of the San Francisco Symphony, and principal tuba of the Sacramento Symphony. He has also performed with many other major American orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Seattle, and with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande of Geneva, Switzerland. Since 1995, he has spent part of each summer as co-principal tuba of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. 

In March 2018, Craig Knox played the world premiere of the Jennifer Higdon Tuba Concerto (a Pittsburgh Symphony co-commission) with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano conducting, performances of which the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, “Mr. Knox played with assurance and complete command of his instrument, providing a convincing case for the solo potential of the tuba.” In 2019 he performed the work again, in Philadelphia's Verizon Hall, with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Mark Russell Smith conducting. In March 2012, Knox performed the world-premiere performances of Andre Previn's Triple Concerto for Trumpet, Horn and Tuba with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mr. Previn; he performed a reprise as part of the Pittsburgh Symphony's 120th Anniversary Celebration Concert, with Music Director Manfred Honeck conducting. Knox has also performed as a soloist with the U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) in Washington D.C., the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and the Carnegie Mellon University Wind Ensemble. His solo recording, “A Road Less Traveled”, of music for tuba and piano with Rodrigo Ojeda, was released in 2012. 

Craig Knox is co-founder of the Center City Brass Quintet, which has performed in recitals throughout the United States and Japan. Its six recordings on the Chandos and Octavia labels have met with critical acclaim, the first being described by American Record Guide as “one of the all-time great brass quintet recordings.” He played for several seasons with the Chicago Chamber Musicians Brass Quintet, and has toured with the Empire Brass. In 2008, the Albany label released a recording featuring Knox and his colleagues in the Pittsburgh Symphony low-brass section.  

Craig Knox is Artist Lecturer of Tuba at Carnegie Mellon University, and a faculty member at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He regularly presents master classes, seminars and recitals at universities, conservatories and festivals around the world. A native of Storrs, Connecticut, Knox began formal musical studies on the classical guitar at age six. His first tuba teachers included Gary Ofenloch, Samuel Pilafian and Chester Schmitz, and he attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Krzywicki, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. He was also a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. 

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