Kevin McCrae studied conducting with Norman Del
Mar whilst he was a student at the Royal College of Music,
London between
1979-1983 and conducted many student concerts there. His conducting “went
on the back burner” whilst he fulfilled his ambitions
as a ‘cellist, but in recent years more opportunities
to conduct and direct have arisen and Kevin has decided to
leave his position as no.2 ‘cellist in the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra later this year to pursue a career in composing,
arranging and conducting.
Below is a list of some of his more
recent conducting and directing engagements.
November 2003 |
Conducted Ulster Orchestra Concert at Belfast
Festival.
|
July 2003 |
Directed Perthshire
Ensemble for “Dougie
MacLean with Strings” CD.
|
May 2003 |
Conducted Royal Scottish
National Orchestra in concert with Eddi Reader at the “Burns” Festival
in Ayr.
|
Jan & Feb 2003 |
Conducted Royal Scottish National Orchestra
in 2 sell out concerts with Eddi Reader in the Glasgow
Royal Concert Hall as part of the Celtic Connections Festival.
|
February 2003 |
Conducted Royal Scottish National Orchestra
in CD of Burns songs sung by Eddi Reader.
|
August 2002 |
Directed Perthshire Ensemble in concert
with Dougie MacLean at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh, as part
of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
|
July 2002 |
Conducted enlarged BT Scottish Ensemble
in score for the Don Coutts film, American Cousins.
|
Dec 2001 & Jan 2002 |
Conducted BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra in score for BBC Scotland’s
6-part drama series, Gruth is Uachdar (Crowdie and Cream).
|
October 2001 |
Conducted BT Scottish
Ensemble for Karen Matheson CD, “Time to fall”.
|
August 2001 |
Directed Perthshire Ensemble in concert
with Dougie MacLean at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh, as part
of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
|
May 2001 |
Conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
in concert with Dougie MacLean at the Lochwinnoch Festival.
|
What the critics said!
Ulster Orchestra concert at
the Whitla Hall as part of the 2003 Belfast Festival.
“Kevin McCrae is as sympathetic a conductor
as he is arranger.” Belfast
Telegraph, Novenber 2003
“… brought to life again under
the enthusiastic baton of Scottish conductor Kevin McCrae” Belfast Newsletter, November 2003
As well as working with professional musicians,
Kevin has a great deal of experience working with student and
youth orchestras,
something he enjoys enormously. He conducted the Edinburgh
University Chamber Orchestra in 2 concerts at the Festival
of British Youth Orchestras in Edinburgh and took them on a
tour of the Scottish Highlands and Orkney in 1997. He has also
conducted the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra in full and sectional
rehearsals for their 2003 tour of Russia and the Baltic states.
Some of the other youth orchestras he has conducted include
the Shetland Youth Orchestra, the Lochaber Music School Orchestra
and the string orchestra at the Junior Royal Scottish Academy
of Music and Drama in Glasgow.