• Email Address: tiptonc@rider.edu
• Phone: (609) 896-5000
• Fax: n/a
• Office: Fine Arts
• Mailing Address: 2083 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

Craig Tipton is adjunct director of The Rider Choir and select ensembles.  He possesses a MEd degree from Westminster Choir College (the School of Music of Rider University), and BM degree in voice and music education from Philadelphia Biblical University.  Currently he is the vocal music teacher from grades 5-12 at the Mercer Christian Academy.

Mr. Tipton has taught music in high school in both Georgia and New Jersey.  His choirs consistently received superior ratings in competitions such as the Music Showcase Festival in Toronto, the GMEA High School Choral Festival, the Fiesta-Val Choral Competition in Virginia, and placed second at the Music-fest Choral Competition at Disney World.  In Toronto, he also received the Best Accompanist and Best Section awards.

Mr. Tipton is equally skilled in musical theater having directed "The Music Man", "Guys and Dolls", "Grease", "The Wiz", "Cotton Patch Gospel" and "The Robber Bridegroom".  He has taken students to All-State, and directed the Honor Choir of Houston County, Georgia.

While a student at Westminster Choir College, Mr. Tipton was a tenor soloist with the Westminster Singers under the direction of Allen Crowell.  He was an opera chorister for two summers at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds held in Spoleto, Italy.  He appeared as the First Courtier in Rossini's "La Cenerentola" and understudied the role of Monastatos in Mozart's "Die Zauberflote" with the Opera Festival of New Jersey.  As a member of Westminster Symphonic Choir, Mr. Tipton was privileged to sing great choral works with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic under the direction of the great conductors Muti, Abado, Rostropovich, Bernstein and Mazur.  Mr. Tipton also sang the leading tenor role of Florestan in Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" at the Brevard Music Center (NC).  In addition, Mr. Tipton has made numerous appearances as concert soloist, and in opera and musical theater productions.

Mr. Tipton's avocation in sports led him to be NCCAA Division One All-American in cross-country, Top 2% of Finishers in the Broad Street Run (Philadelphia, PA) in 2004, and the Philadelphia Half-marathon for Diabetes Fundraising, also in 2004.  In New Jersey in high school, Mr. Tipton made the Meet of Champions five times.

Honors Mr. Tipton has received are National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, Outstanding Student of Music Scholarship, and Dean's List.