Robert Craft, the noted conductor and widely respected writer and critic on music, literature, and culture, held a unique place in world music. He was in the process of recording the complete works of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Webern for Naxos. He had twice won the Grand Prix du Disque as well as the Edison Prize for his landmark recordings of Schoenberg, Webern and Varese. He also received a special award from the American Academy and National Institute of Arts and Letters in recognition of his “creative work” in literature. In 2002 he was awarded the International Prix du Disque Lifetime Achievement Award, Cannes Music Festival.

Robert Craft conducted and recorded with most of the world’s major orchestras in the United States, Europe, Russia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. He was the first American to conduct Berg’s Wozzeck and Lulu, and his original Webern album enabled music lovers to become acquainted with this composer’s then little-known music. He led the world premières of Stravinsky’s later masterpieces: In Memoriam: Dylan Thomas, Vom Himmel hoch, Agon, The Flood, Abraham and Isaac, Variations, Introitus, and Requiem Canticles. Craft’s historic association with Igor Stravinsky, as his constant companion, co-conductor, and musical confidant, over a period of more than twenty years, contributed to his understanding of the composer’s intentions in the performance of his music. He remained the primary source for our perspectives on Stravinsky’s life and work.

In addition to his special command of Stravinsky’s and Schoenberg’s music, Robert Craft was well-known for his recordings of works by Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Schütz, Bach, and Mozart. He was also the author of more than two dozen books on music and the arts, including the highly acclaimed Stravinsky: Chronicle of a Friendship; The Moment of Existence: Music, Literature and the Arts, 1990-1995; Places: A Travel Companion for Music and Art Lovers; An Improbable Life: Memoirs; Memories and Commentaries; and “Down a Path of Wonder”: On Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Eliot, Auden, and Some Others (2005). Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories was published by Naxos Books in May 2013. Craft died on 10 November 2015 at his home in Florida.