c. 1992 (courtesy of your co-conspirators...we couldn't resist!)

Dear friends,

As we prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Conspirare I paused to reflect on where we have come from. Twenty years ago, on September 26, 1992 we gathered at the Austin Convention Center for a fundraiser to kick off the inaugural season of the New Texas Festival that ultimately evolved into Conspirare. Below are the program and invitation…I hope you will enjoy the glimpse they provide into that early event. In much the same way, we will gather this weekend at wondernight  to kick off the next 20 years. Many of you were there in 1992, many have joined us along the way, and we look forward to welcoming more of you into this circle in the years ahead. I am filled with gratitude at your contributions to the growth of Conspirare.

With heartfelt thanks,

Craig

front and back of the 1992 fundraiser invitation

front cover, p. 2, p. 3, and back cover of the 1992 fundraiser program

It is always such a thrill as rehearsals begin for “Conspirare Christmas” and our wonderful group of singers gather to bring the music and text to life for you, our beautiful listening circle. Our singers bring a wealth of singing talent that reflects the variety of music you will hear in the Christmas program. I am inspired by the experience and dedication they bring to each and every rehearsal and performance. I thought it would be fun for you to hear from some of our artists as we approach performances. We will share their insights over the next days and I hope their reflections deepen your listening experience.

Today we hear from soprano Gitanjali Mathur, whom you will recognize from many Conspirare performances.

We are really eager to share this year’s Christmas performances with you and look forward to seeing you.

Craig

Those of you at our “Signature Conspirare” concerts heard one of Kevin Put’s new pieces, If I Were a Swan. While we prepared the piece, Wendy Bloom, one of our altos, was inspired to look through photos she took at her home in Michigan and share images that the If I Were a Swan text evoked for her. As we take this piece to France, I want to share Wendy’s images and the text of this piece with you. I hope it brings back beautiful memories of the music we shared.

Warmly,
Craig

If I Were A Swan (pdf)

Poem by Fleda Brown; photos by Wendy Bloom; presentation by Alicia P. Denney

Dear friends,

The singers of Conspirare gathered on Monday to begin rehearsals for our concert this weekend. It has been an incredible joy to see and hear them again after a long summer break.   

All summer long we have been living with the score of this important new work of Kevin Puts, the composer who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for his opera “Silent Night,” and we were all very moved by our first singing of it together. For the rest of the week we will spend our time rehearsing, eager to inhabit this work as deeply as we can so we can share it with you.  

The rest of the concert will include several pieces familiar to you, many which you have requested to hear again: spirituals, the iconic “Agnus Dei,” and some popular/folk song arrangements including “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” Woody Guthrie’s “I Ain’t got No Home,” a recent song of Eliza Gilkyson, and Stephen Sondheim’s beautiful classic “With So Little to Be Sure Of.” Here is a sneak preview of the Guthrie and Gilkyson that was recorded live during last March’s midwest tour:

“Once I Had a Home / I Ain’t Got No Home”

We really want to sing for you and truly hope you can join us this weekend to begin our 20th anniversary season together.  

Thank you for being a part of our listening circle, you are transcendent company.

Craig

Dear Conspirare friends,

As we are at the beginning of a special year in our Conspirare story — our twentieth anniversary year — I am reminded of the gift of listening. With all of you in our listening community, I am aware of the profound gift of being able to receive music through our hearing sense. And when we allow ourselves to truly be open to hearing, we begin to hear on many levels.

Below is a link to an article which touched me. Perhaps each of us can begin this fall season with a renewed sense of how our lives are enriched and expanded because of the music we hear. Let’s all listen this year as if we are hearing for the first time.

What It’s Like for a Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time
(from theatlantic.com, 08.29.12)

I can’t wait to see you at our upcoming Big Sing and Signature Conspirare concerts this month (September 6 and September 27-30).

I dedicate this little blog to two extraordinary people in the Conspirare circle, Robert and Lara Harlan, who beautifully teach me every day about how to listen to the world.

Craig

Dear Friends,

As we move closer to September we are excited to share the world premiere of a new work by Kevin Puts. The Company of Voices will premiere “To Touch the Sky (Nine Songs for Unaccompanied Chorus on Texts by Women)” at our season opener in September. Kevin has written an exquisite piece that includes moving texts that span the centuries by inspired women including Marie Howe, Amy Lowell and Mother Teresa as well as Emily Brontë, Sappho, Christina Georgina Rossetti, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Hildegard von Bingen.

Conspirare will also record this piece for pairing with a live performance of Puts’ Fourth Symphony by the Baltimore Symphony on a harmonia mundi release. There is so much to discover in these texts. I know the first one particularly resonates with me, and I would like to share it here with you:

I hope you will spend time with these texts over the next weeks as you prepare to listen to them as set by Kevin. You can find the complete texts here.  Please feel free to share your responses to these words in the comments.

Kevin’s compositions are numerous and he recently won the Pulitzer Prize for his opera “Silent Night.” You can begin to get an aural sense of his work by listening to selected excerpts at http://www.kevinputs.com/listen.html.

I look forward to taking this journey to the sky with you.

Craig

Dear Friends,

Here in the heat of August there is one poem I never tire of sharing. I read it often and glean continued inspiration. That poem is “Unending Love” by Rabindranath Tagore:

I sang an improvised version of this poem at Hidden Music in 2006 — some of you were there! I hope you find the poem as refreshing as I do and invite you to take a listen to the Hidden Music recording.

listen

–Craig

P.S.: This was Audrey Hepburn’s favorite poem!

“Unending Love” performed by Craig Hella Johnson, music by Craig Hella Johnson, text by Rabindranath Tagore, from the CD “Hidden Music: An Evening with Craig Hella Johnson & Friends,” recorded live on May 19, 2006 at The Mansion at Judges’ Hill, Austin, TX.

This week I am inspired by the beautiful singing and surroundings of the Berkshire Choral Festival here in Sheffield, MA, where I am guest conducting. I am working with a chorus of almost 200 singers from around the country (including Conspirare’s Bill and Lou Lasher, Helen and Bob Hays, and Fran and Larry Collmann) and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra as we prepare Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Emily Lodine and Derek Chester (both Conspirators) are two of the soloists, and the other soloists are Kevin Deas and Mary Wilson. It’s a superb quartet! The level of commitment and engagement from the choir has resulted in exciting and touching music making that will linger on in our hearts for some time. And the venue — a hockey rink — has made it even more fun! This week also has me looking forward to sharing this Beethoven masterpiece with you, whether as singer or listener, next June. For now, I offer you this recording of Gloria from Missa Solemnis that I conducted in Houston’s Jones Hall with the Houston Masterworks Chorus, Conspirare, and the Victoria Bach Festival Chorus.

listen

I hope you are finding and creating beautiful music this summer.

Craig

When Conspirare performed Andrew Imbrie’s “On the Beach at Night” a few weeks ago many of you approached me to express your desire to have an additional opportunity to hear this less familiar piece again. I was inspired by your comments to post it here so you can continue to experience this work. I hope that additional hearings will foster a deeper connection with this music for you.

Happy listening!

Craig

Listen

On the Beach at Night (1949) by Andrew Imbrie, text by Walt Whitman, performed by Conspirare Company of Voices and Victoria Bach Festival Strings, Craig Hella Johnson conducting. Live archival recording from the concert program “Handel & Pärt: Brilliant Baroque, Sublime Silences,” June 9, 2012 (9pm) at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Austin, TX. Recorded by Panda Productions, Austin, TX; Recording and Mixing Engineer Andy Murphy.

One of our contemporary pop icons, Björk (whose “All Is Full of Love” helped close out this season’s Conspirare Christmas), interviewed Arvo Pärt, composer of the Berliner Messe that Conspirare will perform this week. Her questions explore the nuances of Pärt’s music, and I think they will help provide insight as you prepare to hear this work.

See you this weekend,
Craig

I couldn’t be more excited about our upcoming concert which includes extraordinary music of some quite famous composers — G.F. Handel and the Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt. Many of you are familiar with these well-knowns and some of their music, but we are featuring another composer with whom I am betting you are less familiar…

Andrew Imbrie’s piece, On the Beach at Night, is a piece for choir and strings set to the wonderful poem by Walt Whitman. In our shared Conspirare experiences, I love the opportunity to hear a composer’s work when likely most or all of the audience comes without expectations or biases. We can hear the music with fresh ears. We are each free to have our own experience of the music. I chose to include this piece for that shared experience of fresh hearing and also to include the words of one of our great American mystics, Walt Whitman, next to a mystical work by Arvo Pärt, whose spacious and silence-born music points eloquently to the vast unknown. Imbrie sets this text with great care in a 12-minute piece.

I encourage you to get acquainted with the poem printed below. When you come to the concert, enjoy hearing Imbrie’s musical perspective of the poem with which you have acquainted yourself already.

Following the poem, I have included a short biography and a link to an article written by a former student of Imbrie.

“On the Beach at Night”

—Walt Whitman

Here is a short bio of Andrew Imbrie:

Andrew Imbrie (1921—2007)
Born in New York City on April 6, 1921, Andrew Imbrie studied with Leo Ornstein, Nadia Boulanger, and Roger Sessions, with whom he worked from 1937 to 1948. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley from 1949 and at the San Francisco Conservatory from 1970. Imbrie composed works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensemble, and stage, and his music has been praised for its profound integrity, ardent expression, and an intense drive and conviction. Imbrie’s list of prestigious commissions and honors begins from his earliest days as a composition student. The first of his five string quartets, written while at Princeton, won the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award in 1944. Other commissions include works for the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Halle Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, the Naumburg Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Pro Arte Quartet. His awards include the Prix de Rome, two Guggenheim Fellowships, The Walter M. Naumburg Recording Award, and membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Andrew Imbrie passed away on Dec. 5, 2007 at his home in Berkeley, CA.

Here is a link to an article by one of Imbrie’s former students written in remembrance of him and his legacy:
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/Andrew-Imbrie-19212007-A-Role-Model-for-Composers/

Looking forward to seeing you at the concert!

Craig

Cina Crisara

This week I want to shine a spotlight on one of our extraordinary musicians, Dr. Cina Crisara. Cina (CHEE-na) is a cherished member of the Conspirare family who sings frequently with the professional Company of Voices, most recently as a member of the ensemble that toured the Midwest in early March. She also serves as a section leader for the Conspirare Symphonic Choir and occasionally assists with conducting duties.

We are incredibly fortunate to have Cina in our midst. As a beautifully artful singer, gifted pianist, and superb conductor, she steps into many roles within our organization. We all love Cina not only for her many talents but for the generous spirit and inspiration she brings to our music-making.

Very recently, the Conspirare Symphonic Choir was invited to sing for the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Frank Erwin Center in February. Clearly, this was an exciting invitation to which we wanted to say yes, but I had a schedule conflict with the event, as did Conspirare associate conductor Richard Gabrillo.

It occurred to me that Cina might be the ideal person to prepare the choir for this concert. She is experienced in conducting many styles; while director of choral activities at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a post she held for sixteen years, she was also chorus master for the Omaha Symphony and Opera Omaha. Her vast experience with the operatic repertoire and the strength of her musicianship and leadership were ideally suited for the Bocelli collaboration. So I asked her, and she said yes!

Cina and the choir were splendid; she prepared the singers expertly, in only a few rehearsals, to perform all the planned music. Additionally, as is often the case with new situations and collaborators, this event held some last minute surprises. She adapted quickly and brilliantly and made the chorus feel ready for anything that might possibly happen. The singers sounded terrific and I am so grateful to Cina for her great work with them. It is very special to have this level of talent, experience, and insight in our wonderful family of musicians. Cina is one of the many reasons it is really fun to come to work at Conspirare. I respect and love her and I just wanted to tell you about her!

Craig

Late February finds us looking forward with much anticipation to our Midwest tour this March.  I wanted to take a moment to tell you about the program, the concerts, and why this series is so special for us.

Conspirare’s circle of listeners reaches far beyond our home base in Austin.  In fact, our circle of singers is much the same way – the majority of our singers fly in to Austin from all corners of the country (and sometimes the world) for our rehearsals and performances in central Texas.  As word has spread about our music, it has felt more and more important for us to be able to meet our listeners who may only know us from a CD or DVD, or perhaps from hearing us on the radio, and to be able to share with them the space that we can create together as a group of singers and listeners. We are beyond excited to be able to join our friends in the Midwest for a great week of music.

When planning the program for our tour, I collected and gathered from some of our favorite musical moments from the last few years.  You will notice works from our recent concerts (two new works from Eric Whitacre that were previewed in January, and selections from our Barber concerts and recording sessions last fall), some cherished newer favorites, and some old faithful pieces that we have loved singing together for many years.

What are some of your favorite Conspirare moments from the last few seasons?  If you were to put together a Conspirare program or playlist, what would you include?  Please share your ideas and memories with us in the comments section below!

Now, a preview from the program along with song samples for you to enjoy:

My colleagues and I have been especially inspired in the last two years by our exploration of the African American Spiritual.  As such, several pieces from our “Sing Freedom” album will be featured on our Midwest tour.  Recommended listening:  “Soon Ah Will Be Done / I Wanna Die Easy” and “Hard Trials”

Still fresh in our hearts and minds is the wonderful experience we had this fall at Goshen College recording a new CD of the complete choral works of Samuel Barber.  We eagerly await the album’s release in early Fall 2012 and will perform a few of our favorites from the upcoming release while on tour.  Recommended listening:  “Agnus Dei” and “To Be Sung on the Water”

A stand-out moment for us came in 2010 when we performed David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work, The Little Match Girl Passion. Recommended listening: “Dearest Heart”

See you on the road!

Craig

“Soon Ah Will Be Done / I Wanna Die Easy” and “Hard Trials” (arrangements Craig Hella Johnson) from Sing Freedom!: African American Spirituals, Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices, Harmonia Mundi, 2011. “Agnus Dei” by Samuel Barber from the Grammy®-nominated CD A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert,” Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices live, Harmonia Mundi, 2009. “To Be Sung on the Water” by Samuel Barber, archival live recording from September 2011, Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices. “Dearest Heart” from The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang, archival live recording from May 2010, Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices.

This last week with Path of Miracles was extraordinary for all of us. So many of you began to share stories with me, and I want us to share those stories with each other. I invite you to write some notes about your listening experience in the comments section below.

Craig