In the past 35 years, Craig Carnahan has received over 50 commissions for original compositions.
His music has been heard in performances by (partial list) the Los Angeles Master Chorale (Los Angeles, CA), Conspirare (Austin, TX), Ensemble of These Times (Berkeley, CA), Cantus (Minneapolis, MN), the Dale Warland Singers (St. Paul, MN), Zeitgeist (St. Paul), cellist Joseph Johnson (Montreal, Canada), Chor Leoni (Vancouver, Canada), Kantorei (Denver, CO), Music on the Hill (Westport, CT), The Atlanta Master Chorale (Atlanta, GA), and over thirty of the GALA-member choruses in North America.
Recent commissions and premieres include The Last Word, a one-act opera for Thompson Street Opera in Chicago, IL; Armistice 1918: Everyone Sang (SSAA and piano) for Sorelle Women’s Chorus in San Diego, CA; Requiem for Frankie Silver (a 95-minute work for vocal soloists, narrator, SATB chorus, orchestra) for The Orpheus Music Project (Minneapolis); Promises and Interludes (a 20-minute song cycle for mezzo-soprano and guitar) for The Dream Songs Project (Minneapolis); MourningSongs (an 8 ½ minute song cycle for mezzo-soprano, piano, cello) for the Ensemble of These Times (Berkeley, CA), and Boredom (a 4-minute solo for bass and piano) commissioned by the Schubert Club (St. Paul) for bass Robert Peskin.
Carnahan received his B.A. from Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) and did graduate studies in composition with Dominick Argento at the University of Minnesota. In 1993 he received a McKnight Composition Fellowship to collaborate with the acclaimed poet, playwright and filmmaker James Broughton on a number of projects. In 2008, 2012 and 2019 he received Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
A member of the American Composers Forum and ASCAP, his music is published by Walton Music, E.C. Schirmer, MorningStar and his own company, Craig Carnahan Music (available through J.W. Pepper’s My Score site).
His music has been described as “absorbing, richly textured and emotionally stirring” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).