Craig Urquhart’s name isn’t too well known as yet, but he has had a very colorful musical life so far, and is creating original music on his own terms. His mother was the neighborhood piano teacher, so music was introduced and became a passion at a very early age. Craig was also enthralled by “Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts” which were shown on television in the 1950’s, and while the other kids around him wanted to become police officers and football players, Craig wanted to be “just like Leonard Bernstein.” Right after college, Craig moved to New York City, and, on a lark, left some of his music with Leonard Bernstein’s doorman at The Dakota. The two became friends, and Craig eventually became Bernstein’s personal assistant for the last five years of his life (1985-1990). Craig is now working on his fifth CD of original pieces on his own label, “HeartEarth Music.” What follows is an interview we did by phone in April 2003.
KP: You said you started improvising at the age of six, when you discovered the black keys on the piano. Let’s talk about that.
Urquhart: I realized those five notes, which I call my “Chinese Music,” somehow resonated with me and made tonal sense. That’s what I started improvising on.
KP: Was your first piece, “Sonatina #1,” all on the black keys?
Urquhart: No, “Sonatina #1” is in A major. I’ve never done “Sonatina #2.”
KP: Since your mother was the local piano teacher, was she your teacher as well?
Urquhart: At the very beginning, but it didn’t work very well, and she had the sense to find me another teacher.
KP: My mom was my first teacher, too, and she always says that I got too cocky.
Urquhart: There is a mother/child dynamic that isn’t always positive.
KP: Especially in that kind of a role - you need somebody different.
Urquhart: That’s what I mean. You don’t need to add “piano teacher” to the list of things a mother has to be responsible for.
KP: Where did you go to college?
Urquhart: I went to the University of Michigan, and got my Masters Degree from there in 1976. Then I went to New York right away.
KP: What made you decide to leave some of your music with Leonard Bernstein’s doorman?
Urquhart: One of the reasons I moved to NY was Leonard Bernstein’s, “Young People’s Concerts,” which I had followed as a child. I remembered sitting and watching him, and wondering, “Why aren’t I there?” There were no opportunities like that where I was growing up [in Michigan]. There was no one with such charisma giving young people’s concerts. Somehow I just knew that that was where I wanted to be - in that kind of environment. So, I came to New York.
KP: How long after you arrived did you leave the music for Bernstein?
Urquhart: Oh, about four weeks.
KP: So you did it right away!
Urquhart: The first person I called when I came to New York was John Corigliano. I’d seen an article about him in a magazine, and thought, “There’s a young composer.” He’s about ten years older than I am, and he agreed to meet with me. He was very professional and nice, and got me hooked up into the music copying business, which was done by hand then. I did some work for an opera composer, and then I did a piece for John Corigliano, and then I realized that maybe music copying wasn’t where I should be. It was tedious, and I wasn’t that good at it. I just didn’t have the patience to be as good as what people needed. And thank God we have computers now - they make a life a lot easier! Although I stumbled around for a few months, I met people through that work, and that was good. Then I left this package of music at The Dakota for Leonard Bernstein. About six weeks later, his secretary called and said that Bernstein would like me to come to a concert. I went, and then met him backstage - it was really great! I worked for CF Peters [classical music publisher] through a connection with one of my teachers, and then I worked for Belwin Mills through another connection. In the meantime, I saw an ad in the newspaper asking for “an assistant to a major musical figure.” I decided to answer the ad, and it turned out to be for Leonard Bernstein. It’s interesting how fate is - I had just met him a couple of weeks before. I got a call from his manager, so I went over to be interviewed, and it was the first chance we’d had to talk about my music. Lenny said, “There seem to be two people here. There is somebody who writes beautiful songs, and there is somebody who writes this twelve-tone stuff.” My secret was out! I couldn’t hide my real musical language from him. He said, “You really need to write from the heart, and not from the head.” I had done all of the academic work - 12-tone, atonal, music where you draw cards and everyone improvises - and things like that, so I went back to the music that I wrote as a child, and went into the harmonic languages there. That’s what I built my music on after that - that sense of childhood tonality that I had. Anyway, the interview with Lenny went well. His manager, Harry Kraut, and I met, and Harry is still one of my dearest friends. He’s now the Executive Director of the Bernstein Organization. After the interview, it was mutually agreed that it wasn’t the right time for me to take the job as Lenny’s assistant. I had only been in New York for about six months, and I was suffering from culture shock. Here was a kid from the Midwest, who, when he came to NY only knew one person. A friend from college said “I’ve got a loft in Chinatown for two months, do you want to come and live with me?” Other than him, I didn’t know a soul. I’d never even smelled garlic on the street before! I really wanted to teach for awhile, and I just didn’t feel equipped emotionally or worldly-wise to take something like that on. Harry remained a very dear friend of mine, so I got to see a lot of Lenny, and we built a friendship. Then in the middle of 1985, Harry called and said they were looking for a new assistant - did I know of anybody who might want the job? I called back the next day and said that I would like the job, that now I was ready.
