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http://www.craton.net

Born in Anniston, Alabama, John Craton hails from an extended family of musicians, including both professionals and amateurs. His own career began on the violin at the age of ten, and he began studying piano at fourteen. He made his first feeble attempts at composing at age eleven. Craton demonstrated rapid advancement on both violin and piano and was playing in the Jacksonville State University String Orchestra while still in high school. He studied violin under Robert Louis Barron and John Maltese; piano under Louis Culver and Ouida Susie Francis; and music theory and composition under Gerald Moore and Henry Fusner. He began accepting private students in 1971 and has taught both violin and piano in Alabama, Tennessee, and Indiana. He received his B.A. from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and his M.A. from Indiana University, Bloomington. Craton has played violin in the Jacksonville State University String Orchestra and the JSU String Trio, and piano with the JSU Woodwind Quintet. He also played violin, rebec, viola da gamba, and recorder with the Lipscomb University Early Music Consort and maintains an active interest in early music to this day. In 1973 he appeared in the Henry Fusner production of The Play of Daniel on rebec. He played briefly as second violin in the now-defunct Helen Fowler String Quartet of Indianapolis. Craton has appeared in numerous other recitals in Alabama, Tennessee, and Indiana, both as soloist and as accompanist. Due to a hand injury suffered in the fall of 2002, he was forced to abandon any hope of further public performance. Since that time he has dedicated himself to teaching and composing. He currently resides in Indiana with his wife and three sons. Craton’s music has been performed by such artists and ensembles as Sebastiaan de Grebber, Lester Turner, John Tabler, Ferdinand Binnendijk, Het CONSORT, Het Orkest van het Oosten, and the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. His works include a number of compositions for chamber ensembles ranging from violin to marimba and piano; two operas (Inanna: An Opera of Ancient Sumer, based on ancient Sumerian texts, and The Curious Affair of the Count of Monte Blotto, a comic chamber opera); orchestral works such as Pagan Festivals for string orchestra, Beowulf (two versions, one a suite for ancient instruments and the other an orchestral suite), three mandolin concertos and a double concerto for two mandolins and orchestra, a concerto for tuba and orchestra, and a setting of Mongolian folk songs for viola and orchestra; and vocal compositions including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock for tenor and strings and several song cycles. A number of his works are currently available in print from Wolfhead Music. When not involved in music, Craton enjoys watching the Mets play baseball in the summer, the Saints football in the fall, and sumo wrestling whenever it is available in the U.S. He is an avid reader and has a special interest in history, particularly ancient history and the history of the First World War era. Mr. Craton is a member of ASCAP, AMC, the American String Teachers Association, Opera America, the Classical Mandolin Society of America, and the Indiana Music Teachers Association.