Check Out Dr. Craig Price’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Craig Price. 

Hi Dr. Price, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have been singing as long as I can remember. I started singing in choirs at age five and I never really stopped. Along the way, I studied piano, trumpet, in addition to singing. When it came time to head off to college, it seemed natural that I would study music. I attended Furman University, where I earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance. Immediately after finishing that degree, I moved to New York, where I earned a Master’s Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. I spent a number of years after that traveling the country and singing in places such as New York, Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado, and more. After spending a number of years teaching and singing in Lexington, Kentucky, I decided it was time to pursue a doctoral degree in voice performance and my dreams of teaching singing on the college level. It all worked out for me to return home to South Carolina at this time where I completed my Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of South Carolina in May of 2020. A doctoral degree is never without challenges, but completing the last few months of my degree online as we were forced to stay home with the pandemic was one that I was not expecting. I am proud to have pushed through, and eventually even got to have a graduation ceremony in summer of 2021! I have lived in Greenville since 2019 where I work on the music faculty at Furman University. It has been a thrill to return “home” to teach the next generation of Furman students. In addition to my role at Furman, I am a music lecturer at Senior Action in Greenville where I teach music-related topics classes and class voice to senior citizens in the upstate. I teach a number of private voice students both online and in-person for singers of all ages. I also maintain an active singing career around the state and region. I’m happy to be a member and soloist with Greenville Chorale, where I also hold a part-time marketing role. You can also find me singing in the church choir at First Baptist Greenville on most Sunday mornings. It is a busy life, but I’m grateful to be able to do what I enjoy and give back to my community and my state through music. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It certainly has not been a smooth road. A career in the arts is often filled with some of the highest highs but also a number of lows. While our audiences see the final product on stage after many many years of hard work and training, what they often don’t see is the perseverance required to achieve a professional level in music. The path is often a bumpy one with lots of rejection and disappointment. It truly takes a resilient spirit to make a career in the arts. This is something I work to try to encourage and instill in my students. In addition to this, I had the difficulty of finishing my master’s degree right as the “Great Recession” began and when I finished my doctoral degree we were in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic. It made for an unnerving time for sure, but after all of this, I feel like I can handle anything that is thrown my way. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My degrees are all focused on classical singing and I have made a career singing largely as a soloist for major choral works and in opera. I have been fortunate to teach a number of students with a wide variety of interests. I have former students that are singer/songwriters in Nashville and England, I have former students singing in Music Theatre and on cruise ships, and I have former students that are singing opera or teaching classical music. I work with my singers to find the most unique qualities about their voice and their singing and we let that guide how we pursue their training. I’m really proud of this sort of versatility and that I truly never stop my pursuit of learning about the human voice and different styles and approaches to singing, so that I can pass that on to my students. 

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
NEVER STOP LEARNING. The more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. I love being in an academic community at Furman University where there are so many brilliant and inspiring colleagues that I can learn from. I learn from my students too. My students have been some of my most important teachers because the challenge of finding what works for each individual pushes me to always think about what I do in a different way. This past year I started a podcast as well, called the “Find Your Best Voice” podcast. It has been a great platform for me to learn from so many inspiring friends and colleagues and to help share their experiences with my students and the world at large. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.craigpprice.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/CraigSings
• Facebook: facebook.com/CraigPhilipPrice
• Twitter: twitter.com/CraigSings
• SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/CraigSings