The SCSM is pleased to announce the Keynote Speaker for our annual conference will be Dr. Craig H. Russell, who will speak on the following topic that relates intimately to the location of Scripps College (our host for this year’s conference) in southern California:
“Friar Juan Bautista Sancho—Tracing the Origins of California’s First Composer and the Early Mission Style“
Craig Russell is a composer and musicologist. He started teaching at Cal Poly in 1982, after earning his doctorate at the University of North Carolina. While at Cal Poly, he received numerous awards from the university, the California State University (CSU), and scholarly organizations throughout the world. They include the 2007 Wang Family Excellence Award in recognition of CSU faculty who distinguish themselves by exemplary contributions and achievements in their academic disciplines; the 2007 Cal Poly Distinguished Research Award; the 2007 Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts’ Distinguished Research Award; the 1996 President’s Arts Award; the 1994-95 CSU Trustee’s Outstanding Professor Award, CSU’s highest honor; and the 1994-95 Cal Poly Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2013 he was inducted into the prestigious Reial Acadèmie Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (one of a few North American scholars to be inducted into the Spanish Royal Academy). His publications have also won numerous awards. His book “From Serra to Sancho: Music and Pageantry in the California Missions” won the 2010 Edna Kimbro award as the most distinguished publication dealing with missions. “J.B. Sancho: Pioneer Composer of California” won the Historical Society of Southern California’s Norman Neuerburg Award for outstanding writing in early California history in 2007.
For more information see Dr. Russell’s bio page at Cal Poly.