Biography
Colin Crandal is a multi-talented percussionist, who brings warmth, humor, and a special kind of joyful vulnerability to any project with which he is faced. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Colin is enthusiastic about playing chamber music, transcribing and arranging works not originally written for his instruments, improvising, and bringing newly written pieces to life.
On account of his father’s multi-faceted musical career, Colin was in his youth equally active in parish music as he was in jazz and rock drumming. He now seeks to nurture those roots as an improviser, and as a choral musician, performing in tours with professional choir Studium Chorale, and giving improvised performances in both the Netherlands and Belgium.
An avid communicator and genuine lover of music, Colin is keen on giving audiences aural ‘keys’ as gateways into gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the music he performs, whether that be through clever programming or open dialogue with his audience.
Upcoming projects involve concerts with the Crandal Hebeisen Duo, in which he plays marimba, presenting two contrasting programs: one of living American composers, and one of transcriptions of works by composers they admire, including Bartok, Stravinsky, and Piazzolla. Recent projects include a tour for “Het Lijflied'' with the Dutch National Opera, performing with L'ENsemble Network Lithuania as part of the Muzika Erdvėje festival, and the premiere of the chamber opera “Siren” from composer Sachit Ajmani, in which he was the sole instrumental accompanist. Colin has also performed as a chamber musician in the Grachten Festival in Amsterdam, Festival NEO in Serbia, and Yellow Barn Music Festival in Vermont, USA.
After studying for four years in Baltimore, Maryland at the Peabody Conservatory with world-renowned marimba soloist Robert van Sice, Colin is now based in the Netherlands to study in Maastricht with Raymond Curfs, solo timpanist of both the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.