In March I had the pleasure of playing Principal Oboe with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Full of wonderful players, it’s a brilliant orchestra to work...
Associate, Royal Academy of Music, London (1997)
Fellowship, Arts South Australia (2020)
Excellence in Classical Award, Australian Women in Music (2023)
Creative Arts Fellowship, National Library of Australia (2024)
Biennial Artist, Arts South Australia (2024-2026)
Oboist, educator, arts leader, synesthete, living and working on traditional lands of the Kaurna and Peramagnk peoples, respecting their ongoing spiritual relationship with their country
My story
Oboist
Celia Craig The Oboist
I didn’t start as an oboist- I was focussed on violin…
Like many people, I began the oboe at high school (Northampton) age 12 as a second instrument.
My intensive early age music training on violin- started by request on my fourth birthday! I was lucky to have a series of extremely good violin teachers and plenty of chamber and orchestral playing. We lived in several locations, including abroad and for three years I had violin lessons in German. Immediately, my brain linked the experience of music (harmony and intonation). My involuntary colours corresponding to each key were really very strong (sometimes I couldn’t see at all when I was playing.! Violinists (more so than oboists) have to practice very long hours, eg. 6 hours a day, but I didn’t mind, I loved the minute challenges of trying to get something very difficult, better. As a teenager I travelled for lessons in various cities and also learnt in German for 3 years when we lived abroad (playing as a tiny kid in the local youth orchestra.)…
Celia Craig The Educator
Crafto Art Supplies is a passion project of a group of crafters and
makers with a shared interest in creating and shopping for hard-to-find
Big link to colours of home, use one of their pix
Celia offers
- Musica Viva Colours of Home (contact here)
- Acclaimed tertiary masterclasses
- Personal one to one coaching for important events – exams, auditions, performances and consultation lessons, live and online
- Regular group masterclasses for oboists
- Online connection through Kofi- two levels, one for students of oboe, one for general following and artist support.
Educator
Arts Leader
Highlights
When I was very young, I used to experience music in a haze of colours like smoke, full of swirly patterns and textures, and sometimes couldn’t see properly. Synesthesia is associated with really strong emotions (usually really good but can also be scary) and it seems to encourage these artists to want to try and share their experience. Synesthesia is also a little triggering: it makes you want to shout out or cry or jump up and down. You can even offend people, or get very excited.
I’ve been trying to do this with Artaria, with Colours of Home, and investigating other musicians such as Billie Eilish and now, Miriam Hyde OBE, AO. My Creative Arts Fellowship at the National Library of Australia is so exciting- as I felt she might have had synesthesia so can’t wait to get to know her better as a young woman- read about my project here in my blog.
About Celia
Promoting the wider public awareness of neurodivergent experience and benefits through classical music with a special emphasis on South Australia’s creative women; I make beautiful music with special people to create experiences of colourful harmony for audiences of all ages.
Teaming up with talented individuals, I produce high quality harmonic experiences to resonate with audiences of all ages. I’m especially interested in amplifying the continuing history of South Australia’s creative women, and in encouraging more music education for children.
Creative Arts Fellow 2024 at National Library of Australia, Celia was awarded the Justice Elizabeth Fullarton “Excellence in Classical” Award at Australian Women in Music Awards 2023. Master of The Kings Music, Judith Weir CBE, dedicated her first Oboe Concerto to Celia, co-commissioned by Adelaide, Tasmanian and Western Australian Symphony Orchestras in 2018.
Upcoming Concerts
Colours of Home
Colours of Home invites students into the vibrant world of oboist Celia Craig, who experiences Chromesthesia – where sound evokes an involuntary experience of colour.
The Rest is Silence
Rhythms weave and twirl across the instruments of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Tower’s Chamber Dance, while yearning strings will nurture grief
Creative Arts Fellowship
The Creative Arts Fellowships support writers and artists to spend four weeks at the Library researching and developing a new artistic concept
Arts projects:
Live events, past, current and future grant arts projects
Creative Arts Fellowship National Library of Australia
Celia Craig, a recipient of the Library’s Creative Arts Fellowship, embarks on a four-week exploration of the legacy of Dr Miriam Hyde OBE, AO.
"Songs without Words" - Tarrawatta Trio's Classical Music Residency in Mount Gambier
An Arts South Australia-supported residency will bring three engaging and internationally acclaimed
Carmen Perpetuum - A Solo Oboe Project by Celia Craig
Carmen Perpetuum is a groundbreaking solo oboe project commissioned by Celia Craig, former Principal Oboist of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, from
News
Celia in Europe
At the end of the year, Celia plans to visit her family in France and England. At the same time, in January and February, she will conduct a masterclass with the Royal Academy of Music as part of the Carmen Perpetuum Project. During her stay in Europe, Celia intends to establish contacts to explore the cultural and musical richness of South Australia, to foster possible cultural exchanges in the future.
National Library of Australia Creative Arts Fellow
Celia has been chosen as an Art Fellow to collaborate with the National Library of Australia on the Myriam Hyde Research Project. The project focuses on showcasing the life and contributions of Myriam Hyde, an Australian composer and pianist who, like Celia, experienced synaesthesia.
2023 Australian Women in Music Excellence in Classical Music
Celia receives this award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to South Australia. These include notable concerts and performances in which she has acted as an accomplished accompanist to well-known classical orchestras. In addition, her leadership in organising exclusive musical evenings with the Tarrawatta Group has been commendable. The award also recognises her impactful role as an educator, with special mention of the Colors of Home programme in collaboration with MVIS.
News
AWMA
Crafto Art Supplies is a passion project of a group of crafters and makers with a shared interest in creating and shopping for hard-to-find materials....
Creative Arts Fellows
Celia has been chosen as an Art Fellow to collaborate with the National Library of Australia on the Myriam Hyde Research Project. The project focuses...
Tarrawatta Trio
The name references both the traditional owners and pioneers on the land where the Trio first performed, using the historic 1911 Weber Baby Grand piano at Collingrove Homestead. Their initial concert was created with the permission of the National Trust of South Australia, for whom Celia Craig is Resident Artist.
“…chamber music playing at its best; persuasive and powerful, delivered with dynamic precision and appropriately driven and cantabile in turn. Marlin really ‘sang’… Ierace played throughout with dynamic precision… Celia Craig’s usual seamless eloquence… balance and support of these fine musicians was exemplary…so intimate that listening was like eavesdropping on musicians playing for themselves…”
Brett Allen-Bayes, Limelight
“Classical Music has been defined in a very narrow band. I believe that live music should be fun and engaging for all. Celia proposes a new brand awareness which could shape-shift the audience for classical music…
Margaret Lehmann, AM
CELIA CRAIG OBOIST
THOMAS MARLIN CELLIST
MICHAEL IERACHE PIANIST
TARRAWATTA is an innovative and disruptive musical project within the realm of classical music, particularly with a Baroque focus. All their melodies are crafted with special and unique arrangements that showcase the skill of the musicians in the band. Despite their short history, they have been acclaimed and recognized for their exclusivity and quality, evoking sensations in the audience described as unparalleled.
The journey is just beginning, and TARRAWATTA is gearing up to continue enchanting audiences worldwide while serving as a musical symbol for South Australia.
Music
Private coaching and masterclasses
Oboist
Private coaching
Crafto Art Supplies is a passion project of a group of crafters and
makers with a shared interest in creating and shopping for hard-to-find
materials.
We are a multi-dimensional brand that aims to build a community
where art thrives, through our products and workshops.
Masterclasses
Crafto Art Supplies is a passion project of a group of crafters and
makers with a shared interest in creating and shopping for hard-to-find
materials.
We are a multi-dimensional brand that aims to build a community
where art thrives, through our products and workshops.
My Blog
Batch Thinking on Hutt Street
I’ve never had Friday nights off. For decades, when many people are getting ready for...
Read More
Meeting Miriam at the NLA
I’ve just spent a delightful month at the National Library of Australia as a 2024...
Read More
Study In Blue, White And Gold
“Miriam Hyde (1913-2005) … Australian composer, pianist and teacher with an impressionistic style … was...
Read MoreInspirational comments
“Celia Craig… a talented musician… with a great vision for classical music… this innovative approach of using 21st-century technology to enhance our cultural heritage…”
– Hon. Anne Levy, AO, former Minister for the Arts, SA, Chevalier de la Legion D’Honneur
Congratulations beautiful Celia. You have given so many people a wonderful year of glorious music
margaret_lalchere
“Celia is a rare talent who fortunately chose to live and work in Adelaide. As Australia’s UNESCO City of Music we need to nurture, celebrate and support her”
– The Hon. Steven Marshall, MP, former Premier of South-Australia
Such a fun concert last night pleasure playing with you!Reply Hideit was a pleasure playing with you!
yujinplaysflute
“..a brilliant musician of international standing with powerful connections to the music industry in UK and Europe, Cella’s musical virtuosity combines unexpectedly with seemingly endless drive and inventiveness seeking new ways of presenting music and collaborating with diverse musicians…to create a significant and memorable series of inspiring artistic events…”
Carl Vine, AO, composer, former Artistic Director, Musica Viva Australia
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