Crawford Gates

I still can’t quite get over the encounter I had this morning with Crawford Gates! For those of you that don’t know him, you might check out his Wiki page here. He’s a brilliant composer/conductor/professor and has written some large scale theatrical productions. Just this week, I had been researching church history sites thinking we might want to visit some of them this summer. I saw his name as the composer for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I was impressed, and hoped I could write something like that someday!
This morning I met him at the quarterly breakfast meeting I attended for the Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts! It was a wonderful meeting. Katherine Farmer was there to speak to us about Story Telling. It was an in depth look at how to analyze a story and make sure that it is successful. (I need to do another rewrite on my musical!)
Anyway, I overheard his name as he walked in. I was shocked to see him there. When I had a minute, I introduced myself, and told him that I was a fan. He asked me a little bit about myself, and I just told him that I was a composer, and was interested in learning to orchestrate. Then…. he just opened up to me! We spent the next 30 minutes, (the breakfast was first, and I’m sorry to say that he didn’t get to eat very much!) as he told me all about how he got started with orchestrating. He told me about overcoming some early obstacles -the kind that he said almost made him decide not to ever compose again! He told me many other stories too. I was entranced.
He asked me how many productions I’d published (LOL!) That was funny- I told him I’d written a musical, but that it had only been performed once… and was NOT published. I told him I’d written probably 300 songs or so (he asked…) He told me he had only written maybe a dozen songs (?) but then said something like, “But I’ve written 830 something pieces (or productions!?) I actually became a little teary as he told of the moment when he decided that being a composer was what he felt he was born to do! I feel so blessed to have had the privilege of talking with him, and so personally, for so long. What a wonderful inspiring man.
I hope someday I will also write a few more productions– and with full orchestrations. Mr. Gates had the opportunity to conduct his very first orchestral work when he was like 16! I definitely won’t be that young, but someday… (Maybe when I’m 50!)