He studied medieval music with Thomas Binkley at Stanford University prior to joining the medieval quartet Sequentia in Cologne in 1978. Young is a founding member of two prominent medieval ensembles, Boston-based Project Ars Nova and the Ferrara Ensemble of Basel. In 1996 the latter ensemble under his direction won a Diapason d’Or de l’Année and was a finalist for Gramophone's Early Music Recording of the Year. In other performance and recording projects he has been a guest soloist with Jordi Savall's Hesperion XX and worked in lute-duo format with Karl-Ernst Schröder.

     Research publications of Crawford Young include chapters in Performer´s Guide to Medieval Music (2000), Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis (1984) and Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music (1992). His most recent work is Sources of Early Lute Music in Facsimile (2003), an extensive collection of the earliest lute manuscripts, published in collaboration with Dr. Martin Kirnbauer. Since 1982 Young has taught lute and Interpretation and Performance Practice at the Schola Cantorum in Basel.