Craig Smith Memorial
Obituaries
Craig Smith, 60; with Emmanuel, he created a nexus of joy and music
By Jeremy Eichler, Globe Staff | November 15, 2007
Craig Smith, the conductor and pianist who founded Emmanuel Music and built it into a cherished hub of Boston's musical life, died yesterday morning at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was 60.
The cause of death was heart failure as a result of diabetes-related kidney failure, according to a Pat Krol, executive director of Emmanuel Music.
"He represented the meaning of devotion," said pianist Russell Sherman yesterday. "He always found this light of meaning and beauty in music. It was a torch he carried for us and for the whole community."
Craig Smith, Boston-Based Conductor Noted for Bach Cantatas, Dies at 60
By Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
Craig Smith, who as the founding music director of the Emmanuel Music orchestra and chorus in Boston led the first complete cycle of Bach’s cantatas in the United States as well as expansive explorations of works from the 16th century to the present day, died on Wednesday in Boston. He was 60.
Pat Krol, the executive director of Emmanuel Music, said the cause was heart failure.
Craig Smith (1947–2007); Boston loses a beloved musician
By Lloyd Schwartz | November 19, 2007
Boston Phoenix
For more than 30 years, Emmanuel Music has been central to the cultural life of Boston. And no one was more central to Emmanuel Music’s growth and achievement than its founder: conductor and pianist Craig Smith, who died this past week at the age of 60. Smith’s friendships, associations, and collaborations with director Peter Sellars, choreographer Mark Morris, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, composer John Harbison, and pianist Russell Sherman produced defining moments in contemporary culture. Boston Phoenix classical-music editor Lloyd Schwartz pays his — and our — tribute to Craig Smith with these memories.