Versatile in all styles of music, Craig Christman plays sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxes; flute, alto flute, & piccolo; clarinet, and bass clarinet. He attended the University of Miami as a double major in Music Business and Studio Music & Jazz Performance, studying under Gary Keller and Gary Campbell. Craig is also a musical instrument repair technician, focusing on professional level instruments. Since graduating U.M. in 1998, he has become one of South Florida’s most in-demand woodwind performers and repair specialists for both brass and woodwind instruments.
Having studied both classical and jazz at U.M., Craig regularly performs in many groups around Florida. Craig has been a featured soloist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southwest Florida Symphony, and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. He is also an accomplished arranger having written orchestrations and horn section arrangements for concerts, recording sessions, and classical music ensembles for weddings. In addition to contracting ensembles for weddings, corporate functions, and other events, he also has performed with artists such as: Brian Wilson, Bernadette Peters, Frank Sinatra Jr., The Four Tops, The Temptations, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Valli, Alan Parsons and many others. Craig has been the leader, as well as a featured soloist, with bands that have opened concerts for Bruce Hornsby, Nelson Rangell, and Richard Elliot. His multi-instrumental skills have allowed him to play with many local theater groups as well as with the touring Broadway shows: Wicked, Hairspray, Spamalot, 42nd Street, The Sound of Music, A Chorus Line, My Fair Lady and many others that travel throughout Florida.
Some of the local bands that he has been a member of include: Rock-n-Soul Revue (R.I.P. the finest soul band in all of south Florida, may it be resurrected soon!), R&B Connection, The Mambo Brothers, the Stu Shelton Trio, the Naples Jazz Orchestra, High Voltage (Wedding/Convention band), Powerhaus (Convention band) and many others. A few of Craig's wide variety of musical influences are: Michael Brecker, Maynard Ferguson, Lenny Pickett (SNL & vintage Tower of Power), Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods, Steve Grossman, Branford Marsalis, Gene Ammons, David Sanborn, Gordon Goodwin, Bob Berg, Jerry Hay, Dan Higgins, Klaus Thunemann, James Galway, Rolf Smedvig, Sabine Meyer, Bill Watrous, Carl Fontana, Nick Brignola, Sonny Stitt, and Ronnie Cuber.
His quest for excellence as a performer also shows in his repair work (a link to my old personal website! Check out www.craigchristman.com to see my old website that has all kinds of other stuff.). Craig is a specialist in wind instrument repair and takes great pride in his work. Craig repairs instruments for the faculty and students at the University of Miami, Florida International University, New World School for the Arts, professional musicians from all around Florida, musicians of the Naples Philharmonic, the Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, as well as professional musicians from all around the world!
Music is a passion for Craig and it is his mission in life to help others through his God-given abilities. Craig is happily married to oboist Ruth Christman! Ruth is the Executive Director of The Music Foundation of Southwest Florida, a non-profit organization that helps kids study music by giving scholarships for lessons, providing music summer camps, a traveling instrument program, and many other programs.
Some of Craig's interests include: flying, computer repair and website design (he made this site!), collecting (and reading) old books, vintage microphones, studying history and law, big band music and cars. Craig is an instrument rated private pilot and is a pilot with the Sundowners, a local aerial search organization that looks for people stranded in the coastal waters of SW Florida with a small fleet of Cessna 172 aircraft. Early in life, Craig wanted to be an airline pilot and play music for fun. Ironically, music became his career and now he flies for fun! He is able to fly as part of his career, though, by flying to gigs as well as to pick up and deliver repairs around the state.
In September of 2014, Craig formed the Stardust Memories Big Band, an 18 piece band dedicated to carrying forth the legacy of the great big bands of the Greatest Generation. They perform the original arrangements made famous by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Harry James, and many others. Craig is the band leader and covers the Benny and Artie parts on clarinet, plays lead alto and the occasional tenor solo, is the part-time sound man, booking agent, publicist, band manager, personnel director, paymaster, (and excuse taker from musicians who bail out at the last minute!). It's a lot of work but it's worth it to play with such an awesome band that brings so much joy to so many! Check out our website, www.stardustmemoriesbigband.com, to hear some recordings and see where they'll be playing next.