Press, engagements, contact Celia & mailing list

+ Principal Oboe, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
+ Lecturer in Oboe, Elder Conservatorium of Music
+ President, Australasian Double Reed Society
+ Recitalist and soloist

Celia Craig and Amy Johansen

"Yours and Amy's stars sparkled
magnificently at the concert and I rank it
as one of the best we've staged in
seventeen seasons..."

Celia plays on instruments by Marigaux,
Paris, and Patricola, Italy, serviced and
maintained by Richard Craig.

Matthew Ockenden, Celia and Richard Craig

Combining oboe and cor anglais with equal specialism, speaking directly to audiences through her playing, Celia has been described as 'eloquent', 'marvellous', 'wonderful' by the Press. Celia was Principal Cor Anglais of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, soloist at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, judge for the BBC 'Young Musician of the Year' competition and a regular Guest Principal with most of the Symphony Orchestras in the UK before moving to Australia with her family in late 2006.

Since then Celia has been in constant demand as a freelance player. She has appeared with the Australia Ensemble, the Sydney Soloists, New Sydney Wind Quintet, in recital with Amy Johansen and her own group Sound Academy and was a featured guest artist with Michael Cox at the Sydney Flute Festival. Celia was also a featured guest artist at the International Double Reed Society Conference in 2009, where she gave Wolrd Premiere during a shared recital with Nathan Hughes of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York, and another with Thomas Trotter, organ. President of the Australsian Double Reed Society since 2007, Celia has been invited to give masterclasses, recitals, reedmaking demonstrations and workshops all over Australia and in New Zealand. She has formed Sound Academy, her chamber group with strings, and  a successful duo with the distinguished organist Amy Johansen with whom joint recitals have been extremely popular. A CD recording for Move records is scheduled for release soon. She also performs with Leigh Harrold, piano, in a wind trio with clarinettist Richard Craig and bassoonist Matthew Ockenden and a flute trio featuring Lisa Osmialowski with Bernadette Harvey, piano.

Equally at home in front of the orchestra as within it, Celia has performed as soloist with the London Chamber Players, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom she sold out Gloucester Cathedral at the Three Choirs Festival in 2003, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductors Sir Andrew Davies and John Adams on live television. She was one of the soloists in the Southern Hemisphere Premiere of Messaien's last work, Concert a Quatre, with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand. Celia has worked closely with many of the giants of twentieth century music including Berio, Carter, Adams, Bernstein, Andriessen and many others. In recognition of Celia’s outstanding talent, the BBC commissioned a solo work for her with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. ‘Tristessa’ by Michael Berkeley, was recorded under Richard Hickox in 2003 and chosen by Gramophone Magazine as Editors Choice of the Month.

As one of the world's more experienced orchestral players, Celia has toured and broadcast all over the globe, working with the best players, soloists and conductors in the world on a daily basis. She makes regular trips back to the UK to teach and perform and to play for orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom she toured in Russia in 2006 with principal conductor Valery Gergiev. She has performed with the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmanian and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras as well as the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Australian Idol orchestra. Her discography includes recordings of the complete Walton orchestral music with Andrew Litton and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the complete Vaughan Williams Symphonies with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Kees Bakels, live television broadcasts of The Rite of Spring with Valery Gergiev and Daphnis and Chloe with Pierre Boulez. She can also be heard on blockbuster film soundtracks recorded at Abbey Road in London and Trackdown in Sydney.

Committed to connecting players all over the globe,  as President of ADRS Celia's achievements have included expanding the reach of the ADRS, increasing its membership base, linking visiting players with the local double reed community, and donating her time and expertise. Celia has been invited to teach, lecture and examine at institutions such as The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, The Royal Scottish Academy, Glasgow, The Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide and the Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane as well as Sydney Grammar School.

Celia herself studied with Nicholas Daniel at the Purcell School for gifted musicians in Harrow where she was a scholarship holder. She won awards, scholarships and prizes while studying in London with George Caird and Christine Pendrill, including the National Festival of Music for Youth Oboe Competition in  1988, and the Craxton Chamber Music Prize at the Royal Academy of Music. She was awarded places in the European Community Youth Orchestra, conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, and the first Pacific Music Festival Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas. She graduated with honours in Music from the University of York. In 1996 the Royal Academy of Music awarded her an Honorary Associateship for her achievements in the music profession.