Craig B. Knapp is an elementary choral and classroom music specialist. He has been teaching Classroom Music and Chorus, grades 3 through 5, at the Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in the Rocky Point School District since 1998. He is the current Rocky Point Elementary Music Department Chairperson.

A graduate of the Crane School of Music, Mr. Knapp has also studied with distinguished educators and musicians including John Feierabend, Jos Wuytack, Henry Leck, Francisco Núñez, Janet Galván, Will Schmid and Bobby McFerrin. Craig is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hofstra University where he teaches “Conversational Solfege,” and he is the co-author of the book, “First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk: Sing, Say, Dance, Play" and a contributing author for the book "Feierabend Fundamentals." Craig is also the former director of the Early Childhood Community Music Program at Stony Brook University, where he instructed children in Pre-K through 2nd grade from 2017-2022.

With his innovative and energetic approach to music education, Craig Knapp also directs the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York’s Children’s Treble Choirs (www.myo.org), where he has conducted at many reputable music venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has conducted several commissioned pieces by renowned composers including Nick Page, Jim Papoulis and Melissa Keylock/Jill Friedersdorf and has held Master Classes with his students with guest conductors/clinicians including Francisco J. Núñez.

Craig believes in fostering a tuneful, beatful, artful learning community based on the music education curriculum of Dr. John Feierabend. Through Dr. Feierabend’s approach, Craig passionately teaches his children through research-based and developmentally-appropriate pedagogies that use quality literature, while strategically infusing elements of the Orff-Schulwerk approach and Kodály concept into his music teaching.

Mr. Knapp's school choral ensembles have performed annually at New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Major Organization Evaluation Festivals since 2003, where they have received consistent "Gold" and "Gold With Distinction" ratings. Mr. Knapp frequently has students participating in various American Choral Directors Association’s Children's Honor Choirs, and, in the Organization of American Kodály Educators’ National Children’s Choirs.

Craig Knapp is a respected clinician, and has presented workshops at national conferences for the National Association for Music Education National In-Service Conferences, Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) Biennial Conferences, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Conference and Biennial Children's Choir Retreat, American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA) National Professional Development Conference and Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) National Conference. Craig has also presented workshops at regional conferences for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Eastern Division and Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) Eastern Division Tune-Up. He has also presented for state and local organizations including the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) New York Chapter's Fall Conferences, New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Summer and Winter Conferences, New Jersey School Music Association (NJMEA) Summer and Winter Conferences, Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) In-Service Conference, American Orff-Schulwerk Association's Long Island Chapter (LIAOSA), Kodály Organization of New York (KONY), Balanced Mind Curriculum Conferences, Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA) Classroom Music workshops, Suffolk County Chapter of NYSCAME (New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education) Professional Development Music Education Symposium, Nassau and Suffolk County Chapters of NYSCAME (New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education) Professional Development Series and various public school districts on topics including children’s choirs, elementary classroom music, curriculum, and implementing music technology.

Craig has been the guest conductor for the Connecticut Music Educators Association's Elementary Honors Choir, the New Hampshire Music Educators Association Elementary Honors Choir, the Ohio Music Education Association Children's All-State Choir and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Elementary ChorusFest. He has also been the guest conductor/clinician for the Kodály Organization of New York's "Voices United!" Festival in New York City. Craig has also been a guest choral conductor for Dutchess, Monroe, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Schoharie, Suffolk and Ulster County Music Educators’ Associations in New York. Mr. Knapp has also been a clinician for the NMEA and SCMEA PEAK (Parents Educators And Kids) Festival, with lessons on Orff-Schulwerk, Kodály, Choral and World Music Drumming, and has also been a guest conductor for the SCMEA Eugene Reichenthal Day of Recorder.

Mr. Knapp completed Orff-Schulwerk Level I, II and III at Hofstra University and Orff-Schulwerk Master Class at the University of Memphis' Rudi E. Scheidt School. He completed Kodály Level I, II and III, and FAME First Steps in Music, Conversational Solfege Beginning/Advanced Music Literacy, at the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music. Craig completed Level I & II of the Doreen Rao Choral Music Experience Institute at Ithaca College. He completed Level I, II and III in World Music Drumming and Level I in Technology Institute for Music  Educators (TI:ME).

Mr. Knapp is a Past-President of SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association). Craig is an active member of NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association), and served on their Curriculum Committee from 2012-2022. He served as the Administrative Program Coordinator for the Orff-Schulwerk Summer Studies Program at Hofstra University from 2005-2019 and served two terms as the Membership Chairperson for LIAOSA (Long  Island Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association). Craig is a Lifetime Member of OAKE and served on the OAKE National Conference Choir Committee from 2019-2021. He is also a Lifetime Member of ACDA and has served three terms as chairperson for the ACDA Eastern Division Elementary Honor Choir, two terms as NY-ACDA Repertoire and Standards Chairperson for Children's Choirs, and two terms as Long Island Regional Representative for the New York Chapter. Mr. Knapp is also a founding member of FAME where he is a Lifetime Member and has served on their Board of Directors as President-Elect and Member at Large. Craig is the only music educator to simultaneously hold Lifetime Memberships in ACDA, FAME and OAKE.

Mr. Knapp is currently a member of the following professional music education organizations: ACDA, AES, Americans for the Arts, AMTA, AOSA (LIAOSA), ARS, ATMI, Chorus America, DSA, ECMMA, FAME, GIML, IFCM, ISME, MTNA, NAfME, NATS, NMEA, NYSCAME (Suffolk), NYSSMA, OAKE (KONY), SCMEA, and TI:ME.