Elizabeth Ball Crawford, a native of western New York, is currently a Visiting Artist at BYU-Idaho. In addition to teaching the bassoon studio, she also teaches the Music Technology and Scoring & Arranging courses. Elizabeth joined the BYU-Idaho music department faculty after four seasons as principal bassoonist of the Great Falls Symphony, Billings Symphony and the Chinook Winds Quintet. She was also adjunct instructor of bassoon for the University of Montana. Elizabeth has been fortunate to enjoy a very diverse career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician and educator. She is one of the co-founders and prior board member for the Utah Wind Symphony. While living and working in Salt Lake City, Elizabeth created a successful scholarship competition run by Utah Wind Symphony, awarding thousands of dollars to student musicians throughout Utah. She also worked with her peers at the University of Utah to create the student-run Utah Chamber Music Competition. Elizabeth served for 15 years as a bassoonist and vocalist in the Army Band program, performing throughout the United State and South Korea. She can be heard on recordings with KBYU-TV, Albany Records, and Querstand in Germany.
Elizabeth began her formal music training on piano and bassoon in the Eastman School of Music preparatory division. She went on to finish high school at Interlochen Arts Academy, a student of Barrick Stees. Elizabeth completed her undergraduate degree in performance from Manhattan School of Music, a student of Whitney Crockett. In 2011 Elizabeth completed a graduate degree in music performance from the University of Utah as a student of Lori Wike. She has presented at the International Horn Symposium and twice been selected to present at the International Double Reed Society Conference. Most recently, Elizabeth premiered a new work for oboe and bassoon by composer Jenni Brandon, commissioned by Dr. Jennifer Cavanaugh of the University of Montana. Elizabeth is married to her high school sweetheart and mother to their 13-year-old son.