On Tuesday, May 25th, Performance Today will broadcast a performance by Conspirare from the Long Center concert of October 2008:

Morten Lauridsen: “Sure on This Shining Night”
Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, Artistic Director and Conductor
Recorded at Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, TX, October 12, 2008

American Public Media’s Performance Today is broadcast on 245 public radio stations across the country and is heard by about 1.3 million people each week. Each station individually decides what time to air the program. To find out where and when Performance Today is broadcast in your area, please visit performancetoday.org.

You may also visit publicradiofan.com, an independent website that can point the way to on-line listening. Many radio stations stream their signal on the internet, so it may be possible for you to tune in to a radio station across the country and hear Performance Today by visiting that station’s website at the time they air it. This Tuesday’s show will be available online for seven days. The Conspirare performance is included in playlist “Hour 1,” and the lead-in to the piece begins at 00:35:41.

“Sure on This Shining Night” by Morten Lauridsen is included on the Grammy® Award-nominated CD A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert, available for purchase through the Conspirare office.

Austin-based, five-time Grammy®-nominated professional choir Conspirare has received yet another prestigious nomination, this time for an Edison Award in the category Choral Music for its CD Requiem. The Edison Award is the Netherlands’ equivalent of the Grammy, and the nomination is Conspirare’s first such nod at the international level.

Requiem was first released in the U.S. by the Clarion label in 2006 and garnered Conspirare’s first two Grammy nominations, for Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical. In 2009 Conspirare’s present label Harmonia Mundi re-issued the disc in the U.S. and released it for the first time in Europe, making it eligible for the Dutch award nomination. The 2010 winners will be announced on June 18.

The Edison Award, named for the inventor of the phonograph, is the oldest and most prestigious Dutch music prize, presented since 1960. For more information about the Edison Award, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Award. For a direct link to the Edison Award’s Dutch-language website, click http://tinyurl.com/26tnley.

“Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert”

The Recording Academy just released nominations for the 52nd annual Grammy® awards, and Austin-based professional choral ensemble Conspirare is once again on the list. Conspirare is nominated in the category Best Classical Crossover Album for its CD “Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert” on the Harmonia Mundi label.

“Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert” was recorded live at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, in October 2008 in cooperation with PBS television station KLRU. It was first released as a DVD for national broadcast on PBS affiliate stations nationwide beginning in March 2009, and was subsequently released on CD by Harmonia Mundi in June 2009. Both the CD and DVD are available for purchase through Conspirare and through major retail record outlets.

The Grammy® nomination of “Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert” is Conspirare’s fifth nomination. Previous nominations were in 2006 for “Requiem” (Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical) and 2008 for “Threshold of Night” (Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album).

The award for Best Classical Crossover Album is given to the artist(s) and/or the conductor. In addition to the ensemble Conspirare, individuals named in the nomination are conductor Craig Hella Johnson, who is Conspirare’s founding artistic director, as well as percussionist Tom Burritt, oboist Ian Davidson, and cellist Bion Tsang, who were important collaborators in the album.

A new recording, a journey through the Renaissance, and a sparkling contemporary oratorio highlight Conspirare’s season under the direction of artistic director Craig Hella Johnson.

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Sing Freedom: African American Spirituals

Spirituals program page

Join Conspirare for an in-depth encounter with the African American spiritual. Among the most essential American music, spirituals are dramatic, powerful, and often profoundly beautiful. The spiritual is a foundational genre for so much modern American music, and Conspirare will demonstrate its full range of color and expression and how completely it speaks to the universal human condition.

In addition to the live performances, Conspirare will continue its successful partnership with distinguished label Harmonia Mundi by recording the spirituals program at Goshen College’s acoustically renowned Sauder Concert Hall for a CD scheduled for release in 2011.

Fri., Oct. 1, 2010, 8pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
Sat., Oct. 2, 2010, 8pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
Sun., Oct. 3, 2010, 3pm, Austin, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

ALSO in Georgetown at Klett Performing Arts Center, Thu., Sept. 30, 2010, 8pm (presented by the Georgetown Performing Arts Alliance; tickets through the Georgetown Symphony Society, 512-864-9591)

ALSO in Goshen, Indiana, at Goshen College Sauder Concert Hall, Tue., Oct. 5, 2010, 7:30pm (tickets through Goshen College, 574-535-7566) 

Christmas at the Carillon (with Patrice Pike)

Patrice Pike; photo Dennis Benton

Conspirare’s popular holiday concert features guest vocalist Patrice Pike, whose heartfelt performances in last year’s “Carillon” series brought cheering audiences to their feet. Craig Hella Johnson and the professional voices of Conspirare again weave diverse musical threads – sacred and secular, classical and pop, old and new – into one seamless whole. An Austin tradition, “Christmas at the Carillon” always sells out early.

Fri., Dec. 3, 2010, 7pm, San Antonio, Laurel Heights United Methodist Church
Sat., Dec. 4, 2010, 2:30pm and 8pm, Austin, The Carillon
Sun., Dec. 5, 2010, 2:30pm and 8pm, Austin, The Carillon
Mon., Dec. 6, 2010, 8pm, Austin, The Long Center. Carillon Gala at 6pm

Box Office

ALSO in Victoria at First United Methodist Church, Thu., Dec. 2, 2010, 7:30pm (tickets through the Victoria Bach Festival, 361-570-5788)

For the Dec. 6th Long Center performance, tickets are available from Conspirare through Sept. 30, 2010 as part of the Subscription Package only. Single tickets are only available through the Long Center.

Renaissance and Response: Polyphony Then and Now

A dramatic concert series over a single weekend explores the riches of Renaissance polyphony (“many voices”) and its enduring influences. The series comprises four distinct programs featuring works by Josquin, Lassus, Victoria, and Bach.

Robert Kyr; photo Stuart Mullenberg

Each concert will also feature a world premiere composition by series composer-in-residence Robert Kyr, written in response to the early masters. Mr. Kyr will also be presenting pre-concert talks for three of the performances (free to ticket holders). Concert-goers can choose individual programs or purchase a special package.

EARLY VOICES - Fri., Jan. 21, 2011, 8pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church (pre-concert talk by Robert Kyr at 7pm). Featuring the music of Josquin Des Prez (1450-1521)
DEFINING MASTERY – Sat., Jan. 22, 2011, 4pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church (pre-concert talk by Robert Kyr at 3pm). Focusing on the music of Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594)
A FLOWERING IN SPAIN – Sat., Jan. 22, 2011, 8pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church. Featuring  Tomás Luis de Victoria’s (1548-1611) work for multiple choruses.
AND THEN CAME BACH – Sun., Jan. 23, 2011, 3pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church (pre-concert talk by Robert Kyr at 2pm). Works by J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Roberto Sierra’s Missa Latina ‘Pro Pace’ (For Peace)

Roberto Sierra; photo Ellen Zaslaw

The season closes with a choral-orchestral spectacular, the Austin premiere of Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra’s Missa Latina ‘For Peace’. Acclaimed soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and baritone Nathaniel Webster, featured on the recording of this buoyant work, will appear with a performing force of nearly two hundred musicians from Conspirare, the Victoria Bach Festival, and the Texas State Chorale under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson.

Commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., Missa Latina was hailed after its premiere as “the most significant symphonic premiere in [D.C.] since Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.” Another reviewer said: “I can’t imagine anyone who starts listening to Missa Latina wanting to [stop] before it is over.” Missa Latina received a 2009 Grammy^® nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Box Office

ALSO in Victoria at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Sat., Jun. 11, 2011, 7:30pm (tickets through the Victoria Bach Festival, 361-570-5788)

For the June 12th Long Center performance, tickets are available from Conspirare through Sept. 30, 2010 as part of the Subscription Package only. Single tickets are only available through the Long Center.

Conspirare Special Events

THE CARILLON GALA
Mingle with friends, gaze at sparkling city lights, and launch your holiday season with Conspirare! Enjoy a pre-concert reception, seated dinner, and post-concert dessert and champagne after-party with the artists. Admission to the after-party only is also available. For more information about the Gala, please call Conspirare at 512-476-5775.

Mon, Dec. 6, 2010, 6pm, Austin, Kodosky Donor Lounge, The Long Center

HIDDEN MUSIC VI
Conspirare’s annual spring fundraiser, featuring intimate performances by Craig Hella Johnson and friends, is eagerly awaited by Conspirare fans. Mark your calendar now for the sixth annual “Hidden Music,” and look for details in early 2011.

Tues., May 3, 2011, 6pm, Austin, University of Texas Alumni Center

Conspirare Youth Choirs Concerts

Conspirare Youth Choirs

Conspirare’s youngest singers perform in two delightful concerts that showcase their joyful artistry. Both youth ensembles, Kantorei and Conspirare Children’s Choir, will appear in the holiday concert “Awaiting” and a spring series entitled “Voices of Joy.” The entire season will be dedicated to music from “across the pond” by composers and poets from England, Scotland, and Ireland.

AWAITING – Fri.-Sat., Dec. 10-11, 2010, 7:30pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church

VOICES OF JOY – Fri.-Sat., May 6-7, 2011, 7:30pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church

Big Sing!

You too can sing with Conspirare! Conspirare brings back the Big Sing, the hugely popular event where the audience is the choir. Inaugurated last season to capacity crowds, the Big Sing offers the community an opportunity to lift their voices together. Conspirare’s artistic director Craig Hella Johnson leads each Big Sing in breathing exercises, vocal warm-ups, and simple songs. Admission is free and no reservation is required.

Thu., Nov. 11, 2010, 5:30pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
Thu., Feb. 24, 2011, 5:30pm, Austin, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church

Carmina Burana

Ballet Austin; photo Amitava Sarkar

Enjoy Ballet Austin’s encore production, choreographed by Stephen Mills, of the ever-popular Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, a collaboration of the Conspirare Symphonic Choir, the Conspirare Youth Choirs, Ballet Austin, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra (tickets through the Ballet Austin Box Office at 512-476-2163 or www.balletaustin.org).

Fri., Sept. 24, 2010, 8pm, Austin, The Long Center
Sat., Sept. 25, 2010, 8pm, Austin, The Long Center
Sun., Sept. 26, 2010, 3pm, Austin, The Long Center

Conspirare gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
South Texas Money Management,
Season Sustaining Underwriter & Sponsor of the Carillon Gala

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