John-Henry Crawford: "Every emotion we have ever felt, or could ever feel, is likely already encapsulated in some moment in some piece of music. All we have to do is find it."

TRADITION OR INNOVATION?
I think all the composers we know and love were innovating in some way.

PREPARATION OR IMPROVISATION?
Preparation reinforces what you already know. Improvisation shows you what you don’t.

SMALL MUSIC OR BIG MUSIC?
I feel that I don’t truly know another musician, until I’ve played chamber music with them. Harder to tell in a large group.

PASSION OR PRECISION?
Hitting your target perfectly is of no use if you don’t have a reason for aiming.

BACH OR BEETHOVEN?
Bachtoven…?

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I believe that music is the sonic representation of the human experience. Every emotion we have ever felt, or could ever feel, is likely already encapsulated in some moment in some piece of music. All we have to do is find it.

I was given a green, foam cello at the age of five — until one day I found myself
playing a real one.

I grew up in a musical family, the fourth of four brothers, and we all played instruments. My mother directs a Suzuki program, so that method was central to my life — weekly group classes were a wonderful environment for friendship, growth and expression.

I took piano lessons on the side. I’m no concert pianist, but I keep a small repertoire — and hearing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations at twelve was the moment the cello turned from hobby into passion.

The best thing about the cello is its enormous range — it can anchor a quartet as the bassline or soar like a soprano. They say it’s the instrument closest to the human voice.

My current project ‘Tales of Ravel’ is one I have long wished to bring to life. His famous Pavane pour une infante defunte was a nightly ritual for me growing up and I easily listened to it a thousand times.

There was a period when I had nerve damage issues in one of my left fingers, it made me doubt whether I could continue on with playing my instrument. I wore a bandage during international competitions just to bear the pain. I overcame the injury through reworking my technique, and taking proper time to heal. It made me stronger as a player and I haven’t had any issues with it in over a decade.

There are sadly no original works that Ravel wrote for solo cello (with the exception of his Habanera and Kaddisch which he personally transcribed from voice to cello.) This EP features those arrangements as well as the Pavane and selections from his Mother Goose suite all with the cello as the interpreter of the stories that live in his music.

Above all, I want my listeners to find peace and tranquility in my music.

I grew up playing Lacrosse, but oddly enough I never cared to watch it on TV. More fun to play.

New York City is the best city in the world, it’s more like five in one.

Perhaps I’d like to meet Sir Ian McKellen, for his portrayal of Gandalf, who might be my favourite film character ever.

And regarding the musicians of the past…I would like to say Beethoven, but I know about ten words in German. So I’ll go with Pablo Casals, who might tolerate my Spanish…

I listen to quite a bit of Latin music, bossa nova and film scores. Hans Zimmer and Shostakovich dominate my workout playlists — when I need to feel like a hero conquering the impossible, Man of Steel, the ‘Leningrad’ Symphony and The Dark Knight get the job done.

A cliche, but as Batman said “It’s not who we are underneath, but what we DO that defines us.”