Eric Crawford

Eric Crawford

Repertory Orchestra Conductor

Delmar and Mary Klocke Endowed Chair

Eric L. Crawford is a Dayton, Ohio native who has called Wichita home since 1998. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Wichita State University. He began working with the Wichita Symphony Youth Orchestra program in 2008 as the director of the Youth Chambers Orchestra, which he took over from its founder, Jacque Dillon upon her retirement. He became the Repertory Orchestra director in 2022. Mr. Crawford frequently works as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the region. He has also presented and performed at state and national conferences, including the prestigious International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the largest convention of its kind in the world. Mr. Crawford is the director of orchestras at Wichita East High School and is also the Orchestra Curriculum Coach for Wichita Public Schools, overseeing all the district’s orchestra activities.

As a bass player, he has played with the Wichita Symphony since 1998 and spends his summer months playing in the pit orchestra for Music Theatre Wichita. He was also previously principal bass of Wichita Grand Opera. Mr. Crawford has been the president of several important music organizations, such as the Kansas chapter of the American String Teachers Association and the Wichita chapter of the American Federation of Musicians. He has received numerous awards over the years, including the Wichita Arts Council Burton Pell Award, the Wichita Symphony Sevart Award, and the Wichita Public Schools Good Apple Award. He is married to Madeline Crawford, director of the Introductory String Orchestra. He has four children, Madeline, Miles, Rosie, and Neil.