Darla Crispin

Darla was born in Trail in 1964.  She studied piano under the tutelage of fellow "Champion" Helen Dahlstrom.  She obtained her Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria and a Masters of Music and Doctoral Degree in Musicology in London, England.

She began her music career teaching music in London, moving to the Royal College of Music as Head of Graduate Programs in 2002.

Darla has performed many concerts in North America and Europe, has made CD recordings of graded repertoire piano books and has been an invited speaker at many concert performances and a consultant for a number of musical committees.  She is also an author of many commissioned writings and has been widely published.

In 2009, Darla was awarded an Honourary Doctorate for all her contributions in the field of music, presented to her by Charles, Prince of Wales.

Darla currently works as a Research Fellow in Creative Practice at the Royal College of Music and as a Senior Research Fellow at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent, Belgium.  In her free time, she enjoys long distance running linked to charitable work for the development of the United Kingdom bone marrow transplant register.