Brian Crain - Under the Willow

I've created this page just to show my support and spread the word about this very talented and creative pianist. 

Brian was born in Hollywood, California. He has been composing music as long as he can remember. Family members tell him that when he was very young he began whistling nearly all the time. When someone would ask what he was whistling, Brian would usually answer something like, "I don't know. I just made it up."

He was only six years old when his parents bought a baby grand piano, thinking that Brian's musical talents could use a more polished medium. But Brian continued to whistle his songs. He was not drawn to the keyboard.

When he was ten years old, Brian began taking piano lessons, but he soon became bored with the lessons. Besides, the piano took time away from his new passion, baseball. So he gave up the piano. His need to compose, however, would not be stopped. His friends would often hear him whistling his newest compositions during practice or games on the baseball diamond. At this young age, Brian was dreaming of becoming a professional baseball player while whistling his own songs.

When Brian was fifteen years old he began editing award-winning educational films. While he was still a teenager, he began doing sound on Hollywood films. At nineteen years of age, he built his own sound studio to complete the first feature-length film in Hollywood to be finished in R-DAT digital audio. Some of his technical innovations in post-production sound became standard Hollywood practice.

During this time Brian would occasionally sit down at that nearly forgotten piano. He would improvise at the keyboard, just as he had always improvised with his whistling, playing with the notes until something started sounding just right. He was, without realizing it, teaching himself to play the piano.

Also without intending to do it, Brian was training himself to compose at the piano. By his early twenties, he was composing songs for award-winning children's films. He was also still nurturing his dream of playing professional baseball, but after unsuccessful tryouts with professional teams, he sadly let that dream slip away.
It was during this time that his family suggested he record his personal piano works and release them on CD. He had never seriously considered recording for CD release, but when he recorded the first album, it was so well received that he now spends all his time composing and recording his own works. He continues to be encouraged by loyal fans who frequently tell him that his music has changed their lives. Now he jokes that the best thing that ever happened to him was not becoming a professional baseball player.

Brian's compositions Butterfly Waltz, Northern Lights, A Walk in the Forest and Lavender Hills are used as theme music and background music for television dramas and commercials in Asia. The use of Brian's music in this fashion has made him very popular in all of Asia.

In 2005 Brian composed his first two symphonies, entitled Spring Symphonies, which were recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Brian debuted these symphonies with the Dakota Symphony Orchestra on Oct 8th 2005. He also performs regular piano concerts in Asia and the U.S. and is currently working on his eleventh album.

“Let everything that's been planned come true. Let them believe. And let them have a laugh at their passions. Because what they call passion actually is not some emotional energy, but just the friction between their souls and the outside world. And most important, let them believe in themselves. Let them be helpless like children, because weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible. When he dies, he is hard and insensitive. When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being. Because what has hardened will never win.” 
― Andrei Tarkovsky

Brian Crain - Under the Willow

Brian Crain Fan