American Bass-Baritone Craig Philip Price has been praised on stage and in competition for his “versatile voice”, and “gorgeous and unique timbre”.He made his professional debut with Central City Opera during the 2007 season. He has since appeared with orchestras and opera companies across the United States, including Charlottesville Opera, Opera Saratoga, Kentucky Opera,University of Kentucky Schmidt Opera Outreach, FBN Productions, Owensboro Symphony, Carolina Master Chorale, the Florence Masterworks Choir, the Greenville Chorale, and many more.
The upcoming season includes performances as the bass soloist in Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with Greenville Chorale, bass soloist in Handel's Messiah with both Christ Church Cathedral (Lexington, KY) and First Baptist Greenville, along with several recital appearances.
The 2021-2022 season included performances with the Columbia Operatic Laboratory, the baritone solos in both the Brahms Requiem and the Fauré Requiem, bass soloist in Handel's Messiah, bass soloist in Bach B minor Mass, and bass soloist in Georgi Andreev's A Melancholy Beauty on tour with Varna International, in addition to several solo recitals.
Recent seasons saw Mr. Price sing the role of Olin Blitch in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah with Opera at USC.In concert he sang the baritone solos in a performance of the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, the bass solos in Handel’s Messiah, and gave a performance of Bach’s Cantata for Bass, Ich Habe Genug as part of the premiere performance of the Bach Ascending concert series in Savannah, GA in February of 2020.He returned to Bach Ascending in March 2021 to present Bach's Der Friede Sei Mit Dir (BWV 158).
He has frequently been broadcast on Kentucky NPR’s Kentucky Center Stage program as a featured soloist with the acclaimed choirs of Christ Church Cathedral (Lexington, KY),and had his performance of Bach’s landmark cantata Ich Habe Genug presented in its entirety on that broadcast as well.His performance of the Bach served as the launch to the Harstad Fine Arts Series (Lexington, KY) in April of 2016.
Mr. Price has been recognized in many competitions including NATS, Classical Singer Magazine, and more.He was previously named the winner of the Wagner Prize (3rd Place) at the Orpheus National Music Competition for Voice in 2012.He is a past recipient of an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.
Other notable performances include performing the Bird in the world premiere performance of Seymour Barab's Everyone Has to be Free with AMP and singing the part of ‘Christ’ in the John Stainer Crucifixion at the famed St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Ave in New York.He was honored to take part in celebrating the career of legendary American composer Carlisle Floyd in 2011 as a guest performer for his induction into South Carolina's State Hall of Fame.
In addition to his career as a performer, he is a passionate teacher of voice.His students have been recognized at state, regional, and national solo festivals, NATS competitions, have been selected for Governor’s School for the Arts and All-State Choir, and have consistently been awarded admission and significant scholarships to major college music programs.He has previously served as Instructor of Voice at Claflin University, and is currently a Professor of Voice at Furman University.
He is a native of South Carolina where he earned a BM in Voice from Furman University as a student of Trudy Hines Fuller. He holds a MM in Voice from Manhattan School of Music, where he was a student of Neil Rosenshein. He recently completed his doctoral degree in voice at the University of South Carolina as a student of Jacob Will.