We recently connected with Craig Price and have shared our conversation below.

Craig, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I teach singers of all ages and all experiences. Not all of my singers intend to or will go on to professional careers in music. My mission is to help them find the unique qualities about themselves as singers and performers and to help bring that out. I want to help them find confidence from within through our work that they will carry with them throughout their daily lives no matter what they do.

Craig, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My business is a bit unconventional. I work as a freelance professional classical singer where I sing with performing arts organizations around the country. I sing in concert halls, churches, opera houses, museums, and sometimes even in bars! The other part of my business is my teaching. I teach singers as young as middle school in my private studio, I also teach on the faculty of Furman University in Greenville, SC, and I teach singers that range all the way up into their 80s in my group voice classes at Senior Action Greenville.

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a teacher! From elementary school I idolized my music teachers. I sang in choirs and played trumpet in bands from the time I was very young and when it came time to go off to college, I knew I wanted to study music. I went on to get a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate in Voice Performance. A career in music and teaching is very hard work, but I’m grateful that I get to do something I enjoy with my life each day, and even more importantly that my work improves the lives of my students!

I am most proud of the growth I see in my students, not only in their performing and singing, but in how the develop as a person and how they build confidence through this work. Not every singer I work with intends to be a professional musician or will be a professional musician, but the confidence they find within themselves through this work will make them successful teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, business people, whatever they may decide to do. When it comes to my senior citizens, it is really exciting to see them discover a talent they never realized they had, or to rediscover an ability and passion that they held earlier in their life but had let go of. You are never too old to explore your passions! To see their desire to grow and improve and learn as they age is very beautiful and very inspiring for me.

My biggest message to anyone reading this is if there is something you’ve been wanting to do, but you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, what are you waiting for? The first step to finding joy in what you desire to do is to try!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A career in the arts is very difficult work. I think a lot of people see folks with a certain amount of talent and think that what they are seeing is natural. Many years of hard work and a lot of sacrifice are behind the product you see when someone is on stage performing. I remember early in my career when I was first out of school that there were months I would worry that I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills. There were times where I paid my bills and had less than $50 in my bank account afterwards. I worked a number of supplemental jobs over the years. It was not uncommon for me to give a heralded performance one night and then to be cleaning the bathroom at my part-time job the next morning. It is not all as glamorous as it appears. The life of a performer can be very lonely too. There have been many times where I’ll walk off the stage from the high of a successful performance that I’ve built up to with months of hard work and dedication, only to go back to my hotel room alone or return home by myself. It can be an emotional whiplash that creates a very lonely feeling. You also see your peers reach life milestones long before you are able to and that sometimes feel out of reach for you. All that being said, as I am now in a much more stable place in my life and make all my money from my career in music, I can honestly say that I gain a lot of confidence and perspective from those experiences that I’m not sure I would carry with me otherwise. Though it has been difficult at times, I’m grateful that I stayed the course and gave it everything I had. I hope to have a career in music for a long time, but if I had to give it up tomorrow, I would have the satisfaction of knowing that I saw it through.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think if I had the chance to go back in time and speak to an earlier version of myself, the advice I would give is just to go for it! There have been so many moments along the way where I didn’t put myself forward for opportunities because I didn’t believe my experience was good enough or that I was not yet ready. One of the things I learned while completing my doctoral degree is that I am smart and can figure pretty much anything out. I wish I had given myself more credit along the way. Looking back, I think I left a lot of professional opportunities on the table that could have benefited my career because I didn’t believe in myself enough. This is something I try to pass along to my young students now through my teaching. I try to show them, that yes, I too have difficulty believing in myself. It is something I have unlearned and continue to try to overcome. I hope through my encouragement and example I can give them the tools to go after their careers in a different way as they leave school and enter the world.   

Contact Info:

• Website: www.craigpprice.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/CraigSings
• Facebook: facebook.com/craigphilipprice
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-price-4857183/
• Twitter: twitter.com/CraigSings
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Craig_Sings