Tuba Concerto

Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed and most frequently performed living composers. She is a major figure in contemporary Classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto. In 2018, Higdon received the Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University which is given to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Most recently, the recording of Higdon’s Percussion Concerto was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works, and blue cathedral is today’s most performed contemporary orchestral work, with more than 600 performances worldwide. Her works have been recorded on more than seventy CDs. Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the prestigious International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for 2 Grammy awards. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.

Acclaimed for its “otherworldly ensemble and professional level of sophistication” (New York Times), the Curtis Symphony Orchestra offers a dynamic showcase of tomorrow’s exceptional young talent. Each year the 100 extraordinary musicians of the orchestra work with internationally renowned conductors, including Osmo Vänskä, Vladimir Jurowski, Marin Alsop, Simon Rattle, Robert Spano, and Yannick Nézet Séguin, who also mentors the early-career conductors who hold Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellowships. This professional training has enabled Curtis alumni to assume prominent positions in America’s leading orchestras, as well as esteemed orchestral, opera, and chamber ensembles around the world.

Principal tuba of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2005, Craig Knox was previously acting principal tuba of the San Francisco Symphony and principal tuba of the Sacramento Symphony. He has performed with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit, and Seattle, as well as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

As a soloist, Mr. Knox premiered Jennifer Higdon’s Tuba Concerto and André Previn’s Triple Concerto for trumpet, horn, and tuba, both with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as a soloist with the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and has toured with the Empire Brass. He is co-founder of the Center City Brass Quintet, which has made six recordings for the Chandos and Cryston labels. He has made recordings for Naxos with the Chicago Chamber Musicians Brass Quintet and for the Albany label with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra low brass section; and has recorded a solo album, A Road Less Traveled.

Mr. Knox graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Krzywicki. His previous teachers included Samuel Pilafian, Chester Schmitz, and Gary Ofenloch. He joined the tuba faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2014. He also teaches at Carnegie Mellon University and has presented master classes, seminars, and recitals worldwide.