Craig Shuler (1949 - 2022) was a composer who also directed numerous choirs and bands, and performed on piano and organ. He earned a bachelor of music degree from North Texas State University, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in composition from the Julliard School where he studied with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions, and was awarded the George Gershwin Memorial Foundation Scholarship and Alexander Gretchaninoff Memorial Prize. He also earned an ABD degree in musicology from NYU. Craig also studied composition, theory, musicology, conducting, and piano in Florence Italy; at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and with artists of the Chicago Symphony, New York Pro-Arte Chorale, and the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Craig won a Fulbright for advanced study in composition with Maestro Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence, Italy, in 1974. Craig earned acclaim when he was 26, when he collaborated with choreographer Robert Weiss to write the score for a new ballet. In the previous 15 years, the American Ballet Theater in New York had only commissioned one other composer to write a score for a new ballet - Duke Ellington.
Craig's professional life was dedicated to music in many forms. He was on the dance faculty at Julliard, teaching literature and materials of music, and he also taught composition at Julliard's pre-college. He also taught at the collegiate level at Moravian College, Hartwick College, and SUNY Oneonta. He was heavily involved in the musical theatre scene in Oneonta, directing, music directing, and producing many productions for Orpheus Theater, as well as many other productions around upstate New York, including Leatherstocking Theater Company, and directed the Oneonta Boys Choir. Craig's deep spirituality also drove his involvement with many local churches as an organist, pianist, and music director.
