Story by Nick Erickson, Assistant Features Editor
Photo courtesy of Maribeth Crawford
There is a dated joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.” Practice and determination has paid off for assistant professor of music, Maribeth Crawford, who traveled to New York City to perform on Feb. 19 in the legendary concert hall.
Crawford participated in the Distinguished Concerts International New York. As a soprano, she was one of four soloists performing Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626.
Crawford said she contacted assistant artistic director of DCINY, Dr. James Meaders, to get an audition.
“I recorded an audition tape and submitted it to be considered for this concert,” Crawford said. “Dr. Meaders was my choral director at Mississippi College, where I completed my undergraduate degree in vocal performance.”
Crawford said it is important to work hard and build connections with those in your field.
“It might be that a colleague, mentor, teacher, etc. will be the very person to open doors for your career,” Crawford said. “It also never hurts to let people know that you are interested in certain parts/performances.”
Leading up to DCINY, Crawford said she had good fortune in her prior musical endeavors. She won the 2012 Great Lakes Regional NATSAA voice competition, as well as the Voices of Mississippi voice competition in the artist category in 2015.
“I’ve had the good fortune to perform with several orchestras and opera companies, including the Paducah Symphony Orchestra,” Crawford said.
Crawford said one of the more interesting performance opportunities she has had was when she traveled as a soloist with the New Sousa Band to China, performing in Shanghai, Beijing, Yunnan, Yinchuan and Kunming.
DCINY was Crawford’s fourth time performing as a soloist in the Mozart “Requiem”; she performed it along with the other three voice faculty members at Murray State in 2016.
“Other than practicing and making sure that I feel completely comfortable with the music and the text, I work on visualizing that things will go well and focusing on the power of this gorgeous music,” Crawford said. “All I can do is my very best. I can not control anything else.”
Since beginning her musical career, Crawford said she has made new realizations with her life aspirations over time.
“When I first began to perform, my goal was to sing with the Metropolitan Opera and I was working towards having a full-time singing career,” Crawford said. “Sometimes life happens and that’s when I started to realize my love for teaching.”
With a huge milestone on the horizon, Crawford said she is content with meeting her goals both from a performance and teaching perspective.
“My career priorities are focused mainly around my teaching and helping the next generation of singers,” Crawford said. “The fact that I get to continue to grow and experience new horizons as an artist is just so satisfying.”