Bio

Erin Craig is a vocalist, pianist, keyboardist and composer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She holds a diploma in Jazz Piano Performance from MacEwan College in Edmonton, and a BMus in Piano Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Erin is currently the touring pianist with Alberta Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel. When this run finishes, Erin will have completed some 250 performances of this brand-new production in schools, theatres and community centres around Alberta. When not on tour with Alberta Opera, Erin has been playing all styles of music with various groups around the Edmonton area. You can often hear her at the Red Piano’s Jazz and Shiraz events with vocalist Thea Neumann, and with the Edmonton funk institution Funkafeelya at Blues on Whyte and other great venues.

While living in Boston, Erin was a regular pianist with the Willie Sordillo Trio, which plays the Thursday night Jazz Worship Service at Old South Church in Copley Square, Boston. Erin was also a participating member of several Boston-based bands, including Greedy Cherry, Stars Regardless, Inks, Rock the Night, RubyBC and the Music Factor, and the Undeca Quintet. Please go to the "Media" section of the website for more information about these groups.

Erin has been a singer since she was three years old. She is experienced in several genres of vocal music, including classical solo and choral, sacred and secular, as well as vocal jazz in both solo and group settings. Over the years, Erin has worked with a number of different vocal groups, including the Kokopelli Youth Choir, the Schola Cantorum association of choirs, and the MacEwan College Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She has shared the stage as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Rollanda Lee's Canadian Hot Stars Jazz Orchestra. Erin has also participated in vocal workshops with Sheila Jordan, John Knutson, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, and Richard Nace.

As a pianist, Erin is also very versatile. She has studied with Haley Simons, Francesca Tanksley, Joanne Brackeen, and John Arcaro. She received her Associate's Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in 2005 as a classical pianist, and her Jazz Piano Performance diploma from MacEwan College in 2006. She is in high demand as a jazz sideman in Edmonton; she has shared the stage with Edmonton musicians Don Berner, Jean-Francois Picard and Dino Dominelli, and was a member of the successful Maxwell Roach Quintet. This group was based primarily out of MacEwan College, and played several Edmonton shows, including a sold-out show at Edmonton's premiere jazz club, the Yardbird Suite. She has also led various jazz ensembles which have opened for renowned Canadian saxophonist P.J. Perry, as well as Rollanda Lee's Canadian Hot Stars Jazz Orchestra.

Erin's compositions and arrangements have also achieved wide acclaim in Edmonton. Her orchestral piece, "Metro", was given a premiere by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2003. In 2005, she was commissioned by the Edmonton Public School Board to arrange the finale piece for their annual Night Of Music concert, to feature concert band, orchestral strings, concert choir and childrens choir. The Robertson-Wesley United Church Choir also commissioned Erin to write a piece for their annual Lessons and Carols Service in 2005. She has also written and arranged extensively for various big bands and small jazz ensembles; her compositions and arrangements have been played by several high school and semi-professional big bands in Edmonton, as well as the Emerald City Jazz Orchestra in Seattle, Washington and the Jazz Lions Big Band in Sanford, Florida.

Click here for a downloadable PDF of Erin's resume.