Farewell to Craig Allister Young
Blog ·
After many years of playing the cello in Queensland Symphony Orchestra, it is now time to bid a very fond farewell to Craig Allister Young. The QSO Cellos share some memories of Craig in this tribute.
Craig has made an exceptional contribution to the orchestra, and especially the cello section. He has created countless musical arrangements – including ballets and small group touring versions of operas, and presented concerts that have enriched both players and audiences alike.
His gifts as an arranger and composer have been shared generously and enthusiastically, particularly in our cello ensemble concerts. We, the cellos, love these concerts – they’re fun, challenging and richly rewarding, reaching a pinnacle during Covid when we recorded and filmed Danny Boy. He also brought us together during that time through Controlled Chaos, an orchestral work we each recorded remotely and he masterfully assembled into a unified performance. These and other recordings and cooking videos (yes, he does that too) can easily be found on YouTube.
We’re fairly certain Craig doesn’t sleep – he just adds another skill to his resume. He is a cellist, arranger, composer, songwriter, singer, cabaret artist and the director of Brisbane Sings (big choir festival). He can sew tails, cook like a Masterchef finalist for the entire orchestra (yes, he was on Masterchef), tile your bathroom and still turn up to rehearsal like that’s completely normal.
Because that isn’t enough, Craig also created Symphonic Santa, a children’s Christmas concert with the Orchestra. Craig is, of course, a perfect Santa.
In recent years, Craig has developed our high school composer program, Compose, nurturing young composers and giving them the opportunity to write for the orchestra. This inspiring program will now expand further, reaching new communities and orchestras.
We, the cellos, say “Craig is incredibly generous, outrageously talented, warm, and endlessly creative. He is an excellent baker, a cello ensemble genius, a little bit crooked, deeply caring, a wonderful colleague, quite hairy, funny, delightfully wicked, appalling, somehow still much loved, and above all, will be greatly missed.”
With much love, admiration and our very best wishes from the cello section (and we suspect, the rest of the orchestra too...).
