James Crawford

James Crawford is now concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, with many important performances under his belt. However, at age eleven he was just meeting Elaine Richey who became a large influence on his violin playing and teaching.

Colonel Charles Waid, Crawford’s violin teacher at the time, wanted James and his brother to play for Elaine. The goal was to get the two boys into North Carolina School for the Arts, where Richey taught. Crawford remembers the time vividly, recalling that he and his brother had set their violin cases down on the steps of the hotel for a moment, and when they turned around, the cases were gone! The story has a happy ending, because apparently the baggage carriers put the violins with the luggage, and both brothers ended up being accepted into the school with full scholarships. This was when Crawford was in the seventh grade. He studied with her at NCSA through the end of high school.

James remembers one time, when he was around the age of thirteen or fourteen, he had gone to a lesson three or four days previous, when he ran into Elaine. She asked him how his practicing was going, which happened to be on a specific etude. He replied that it was going well. Her response was that he must have memorized it before he left her studio, because she still had his book! Crawford said he “got serious” about his violin playing at age sixteen.

His lessons with Richey continued during summers when he was a college student at Curtis. Elaine then asked James to be an assistant teacher at the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, and through this experience their relationship grew more as colleagues. “She was always learning new things, and was so open-minded,” Crawford said. “Her philosophy on teaching was that she and the student were partners in learning.” This was significant in her bonding with students because they participated in the feeling of learning together. Richey had a strong personal connection with her students as well. She encouraged Crawford and other students to participate in giving input, critiquing, and observing other performers. This helped the students learn to be teachers themselves.

Crawford says, “I miss her. She raised three absolutely incredible sons. How amazing they turned out was a reflection of how amazing she was.” He also remembers his years with CMFS fondly and mentioned that it would be nice to have the student aspect revived. Now he spends his summers with the Grand Rapids Symphony doing the summer concert season, and has done some chamber music in a symphony string quartet and piano trio. Last season, Crawford performed as soloist on the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with the GRSO, and will be playing a Bach Brandenburg concerto in January. He has been concertmaster of the group since 1994, and has three children of his own who keep him busy as well, Naomi (18 months), Orion (4 years old), and Julia (6 years old).