Prof. Craig Purdy

A faculty member at Boise State since 1987, Craig Purdy teaches violin, coaches chamber music, teaches string pedagogy/literature, and is director of the University Orchestra Program. Mr. Purdy hails originally from New Jersey where he received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music and his Master of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory. His primary teachers have included Newton Mansfield, of the New York Philharmonic, Charles Castleman, Masuko Ushioda, and Sally O’Reilly. Further were with Joseph Silverstein and Joseph Gingold. He has studied chamber music with members of the Tokyo, Guarneri, Fine Arts, and Cleveland Quartets.

Mr. Purdy has performed as soloist and chamber musician across the U.S. and abroad. His performances include participation in numerous national and international festivals such as the Heidelberg Festival (Heidelberg, Germany), the Evian Festival (Evian, France), and Music from Bear Valley (Bear Valley, CA). He is former concertmaster of the Corning Philharmonic, the Winona Symphony, and the Eastman Philharmonia . Mr. Purdy continues to serve as concertmaster for several summer festival orchestras, most recently the Boise Summerfest Orchestra, where he was their featured soloist during their 1998 season. Recent chamber performances have been as guest artist with the Oregon String Quartet. Mr. Purdy is a founding member of the “Les Bois Chamber Players”, ensemble in residence at Boise State.

As a string educator and conductor, Mr. Purdy is a frequent orchestral clinician in Idaho and throughout the Northwest. He served as President of the Idaho String Teachers Association from 1992-94. He is a current member of MTNA and has served on their editorial board for the AMT magazine and associated MTNA e-journal.

Mr. Purdy maintains an active studio of university and private students. Members of his private studio have gone on to attend prestigious schools of music such as the Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, and San Francisco Conservatory.

In addition to leading the orchestral program at Boise State University since 1994, Mr. Purdy has served as interim conductor of the Treasure Valley Youth Symphony during its ’95-’96 season, directed the Boise Summerfest Orchestra in its 1999 ,2000 , and 2001 seasons, and most recently appeared as guest soloist and conductor of the Magic Valley Symphony in Twin Falls, Idaho.

In early 2009 Mr. Purdy served as orchestral conductor, composer, and arranger for the opening ceremonies of the World Winter Games Special Olympics, working with guest artists such as, Kenny G, Darius Rucker, Donnie and Jimmy Demers, and MaryJo Mundy. As a conductor, Mr. Purdy has studied with Gerhardt Zimmerman, musical director of the North Carolina Symphony; composers, Samuel Jones and Robert Ward, and director of the Conductor’s Workshop at the University of South Carolina, Donald Portnoy.

Prof. Purdy plays Ravel’s “Tzigane” (mp4, audio only, opens in a new window) (excerpt)