A Conversation with Composer Daniel Crozier: Light, Shadow, and a Deeply Personal Tribute

This season’s Modern Masterworks concert brings the world premiere of a striking new piano concerto by composer Daniel Crozier. Known for his emotionally rich, evocative music, Crozier speaks with the Bach Festival Society about the inspiration behind the work, the painters who sparked it, and the beloved colleague to whom it is dedicated.

You’ve had premieres across the country, but what makes it meaningful to hear your music performed here at Knowles Memorial Chapel?

There’s something truly special about hearing a piece performed at home—especially by Maestro John Sinclair and colleagues with whom I’ve collaborated for many years. That includes our brilliant soloist Adam Golka, a dear friend since his first performance with the Bach Festival. It’s not just a performance—it’s a reunion of musical family.

How did this new concerto begin to take shape? Was there a defining moment?

There were actually two beginnings. The first happened years ago at the Art Institute of Chicago, where I stumbled into a gallery of massive canvases by El Greco and Francisco de Zurbarán. The light and darkness—the chiaroscuro—was so intense, it felt operatic. Their depictions of St. Francis, in particular, haunted me.

The second beginning came years later, during the pandemic, when I was writing other works. New musical ideas started forming—ones that stuck in my head and wouldn’t let go. Eventually I realized: these ideas belonged in a piano concerto.

The piano has such a central role in this piece. What keeps drawing you to it as a composer?

It was my first instrument, and those early experiences leave deep impressions. I’ve known the piano repertoire the longest and most intimately. While my musical influences are broad, the piano literature has always been my most personal point of reference.

Your program notes mention the influence of painters—Josefa Ayala de Obidos, El Greco, and Zurbarán. How directly did their work shape the music?

While I didn’t revisit the paintings constantly during the writing process, their emotional impact stayed with me. I internalized the colors, the contrasts, the weight of them. I wasn’t trying to literally translate a painting into sound, but rather express my reaction to them—particularly the dramatic light and shadow, and the spiritual journey they evoke.

This concerto is dedicated to your friend and colleague James Primosch. Why did you choose to honor him with this work?

Jim passed away just as I began this piece. We met at SongFest in California, brought together by our shared mentor John Harbison. Though we’d studied decades apart, we immediately connected—especially over art song and our love of the piano.

He was a deeply faithful Catholic and had written a great deal of sacred music. We both had a connection to the writings of Thomas Merton, and I think the spiritual themes in the paintings behind this concerto—their Counter-Reformation intensity—would have resonated with him. This piece is, in many ways, a tribute to his spirit.

This new concerto offers a rare opportunity to experience Daniel Crozier’s deeply personal musical voice, brought to life by pianist Adam Golka and the Bach Festival Orchestra. Don’t miss its world premiere at Modern Masterworks—a concert that promises to be both a sonic and emotional journey.