John-Henry Crawford

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, cellist John-Henry Crawford has been lauded for his “polished charisma” and “singing sound” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In 2019, he won First Prize in the IX International Carlos Prieto Cello Competition and was named Young Artist of the Year by the Classical Recording Foundation, and in 2021, he was named the National Federation of Music Clubs’ 2021-2023 Young Artist in Strings. In 2023 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as the inaugural recipient of the American Recital Debut Award. Some notable 2024 events are a debut at the Sociedad Filarmonia in Gran Canaria, Spain’s first and oldest standing concert series, the El Paso Pro Musica, guest artist and professor at the Festival International de Violoncello in Mexico, as well as appointment as the Artistic Director of the Violoncello Society of New York’s professional ensemble.

His albums with Steinway pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion have accrued over 3 million streams. Corazón: The Music of Latin America (Orchid Classics – June 2022) reached #5 on the Billboard Classical Charts in its first week and was selected as Editor’s choice in Gramophone Magazine. Crawford’s debut album Dialogo (Orchid Classics - June 2021) as well as his most recent release Voice of Rachmaninoff (Orchid Classics – June 2023) appeared on the Billboard Top 10 Classical chart. Gramophone Magazine wrote, “There’s such a rich variety of colour, touch and texture, and as much vulnerability as dramatic intensity… A splendidly satisfying recital on all counts,”

At age 15, Crawford was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music, later completing a Master of Music at The Juilliard School, and an Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music. Other major mentors have been cellists such as Lynn Harrell, Hans Jorgen Jensen, Zuill Bailey, and Andres Diaz. He has given concerts in 25 states as well as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland at venues such as The International Concert Series of the Louvre in Paris, Volkswagen’s Die Gläsern Manufaktur in Dresden. Crawford gave his concerto debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra as First Prize Winner of the orchestra’s Greenfield Competition.

Crawford commands a strong Instagram presence, attracting tens of thousands of viewers to his project #The1000DayJourney, where for 3 years he filmed artistic cinematic videos daily from his practice and performances for over 50,000 followers (@cellocrawford) to give a glimpse into the working process of a musician.

Crawford’s numerous competition prizes also include Grand Prize and First Prize Cellist at the 2015 American String Teachers National Solo Competition, the Lynn Harrell Competition of the Dallas Symphony, the Hudson Valley Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition. He has competed in the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth competitions and was accepted at the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland. John-Henry Crawford has also been a fellow at Music@Menlo, the Perlman Chamber Music Program, Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, the National Arts Centre’s Zukerman Young Artist Program in Canada, and The Fontainebleau School in France.

Crawford is from a musical family and performs on a rare 200-year old European cello smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather, Dr. Robert Popper, who evaded Kristallnacht in 1938 and a fine French bow by the revolutionary bowmaker Tourte “L’Ainé” from 1790. In addition to music, he enjoys learning languages, performing magic tricks, and photography.