CN Rewind: Turn Your Setbacks Into Successes, with Gabriel Crouch (Part 1)

Sometimes a perceived set-back is really the best way forward. There is so much gold in this early two-part episode that it’s worthwhile to spotlight it now. In this segment, Gabriel discusses his upbringing in a musical family, and his early ambivalence towards music, even while entering Cambridge on a music scholarship. He goes on to recount a less-than-stellar first year at DePauw University, where he was learning to conduct on the job. It’s ultimately uplifting, as Gabriel and Ryan go on to discuss how our failures make us better. Listen: Highlight to Tweet: “Brahms studied counterpoint every day of his life. If it was good enough for him, it should be good enough for us.” - Gabriel Crouch Resources/links Mentioned: Narcissus and Goldmund: A Novel The Greatest Glory of Our Muses Jeeves & Wooster The Liar, by Stephen Fry Patreon - Support the podcast! Biography: Gabriel Crouch is Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer in Music at Princeton University. He began his musical career as an eight-year-old in the choir of Westminster Abbey, where he performed a solo at the wedding of HRH Prince Andrew and Miss Sarah Ferguson. After completing a choral scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was offered a place in the renowned a cappella group The King’s Singers in 1996. In the next eight years he made a dozen recordings on the BMG label (including a grammy nomination), and gave more than 900 performances in almost every major concert venue in the world. Special collaborative projects saw him working and performing with some of the world’s most respected artists, including percussionist Evelyn Glennie, pianists Emmanuel Ax and George Shearing, singer Barbara Hendricks and ‘Beach Boy’ Bruce Johnston. Since moving to the USA in 2005, first to run the choral program at DePauw University in Indiana, and now at Princeton University, he has built an international profile as a conductor and director, with recent engagements in China and Australia as well as Europe and the United States. In 2008 he was appointed musical director of the British early music ensemble ‘Gallicantus’, with whom he has released four recordings under the Signum label to rapturous reviews, garnering ‘Editor’s Choice’ accolades inGramophone and Early Music Review, and, for the 2012 release ‘The Word Unspoken’, a place on BBC Radio’s CD Review list of the top nine classical releases of the year. When the academic calendar allows, Gabriel maintains parallel careers in singing and record production, crossing the Atlantic frequently to appear with such ensembles as Tenebrae and The Gabrieli Choir, and in the US, performing recitals of lutesong with such acclaimed lutenists as Daniel Swenberg and Nigel North. As a producer his latest credits have included Winchester Cathedral Choir, The Gabrieli Consort and Tenebrae. His achievements in the choral world have led to many invitations to adjudicate choral competitions, notably the mixed choir final of ‘Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year’ (televised by the BBC). His work as a singer, coach and musical director has led to his name appearing in the London Times’ list of ‘Great British Hopes’. Sponsored by: Sight Reading Factory (Use promo code “NINJA” at checkout for 10 free student accounts!) My Music Folders (Use promo code “NINJA” at checkout for “last column” or best pricing - usually reserved for bulk purchases only!)