House of Belonging

House of Belonging is a dynamic and timely collection of world premieres for choir and instruments featuring the Miró Quartet, violinist Sandy Yamamoto, cellist Daniel Kopp and pianist Carla McElhaney.

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Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare in a musical exploration of home and belonging.  These world premiere recordings showcase the virtuosity and distinctive expressiveness of Conspirare’s vocal artists in music from composers Alex Berko, Craig Hella Johnson, Shara Nova, Kevin Puts, Michael Schachter, and Derrick Skye. The music of Margaret Bonds, Ross Lee Finney and Moira Smiley complete the album.

The musical texts are written by a diverse array of writers and poets including Ludwig van Beethoven, Wendell Berry, Hildegard of Bingen, Langston Hughes, Kobayashi Issa, Rūta Kuzmickas & Alex Berko, Andrew Marvell, John Muir, Kiara Skye, William Stafford, Rabindranath Tagore, Euan Tait, and David Whyte.

With soloists Simon Barrad, Meg Dudley, Haitham Haidar, Chelsea Helm, Michael Jones, Lauren McAllister, Savannah Porter, Kathlene Ritch, and David Kurtenbach Rivera.

“Many of the performances on this latest collection by Conspirare are so powerful, one can’t help but be awed by their beauty.”
-Textura Magazine

Track Listing
  1. Reaching (Craig Hella Johnson)
  2. Home (Kevin Puts)
  3. Black Ocean: Anthems of a Crowd 7 (Derrick Skye)
  4. Sacred Place: (I) Opening Prayer (Alex Berko)
  5. Sacred Place: (II) Amidah (Alex Berko)
  6. Sacred Place: (III) Shema (Alex Berko)
  7. Sacred Place:(IV) Mi Shebeirach (Alex Berko)
  8. Sacred Place:(V) Kaddish (Alex Berko)
  9. Sacred Place:(VI) Closing Prayer (Alex Berko)
  10. Haiku (Moira Smiley)
  11. See How the Earth (Ross Lee Finney)
  12. The House of Belonging (Shara Nova)
  13. O Vorsehung (Michael Schachter)
  14. Joy (Margaret Bonds)
  15. You Through Me (Alex Berko)
  16. Evergreen (Kevin Puts)
  17. I Have Never Loved Someone (Shara Nova)

Recorded at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Austin, TX

April 3 – 5, 2023

Label: Delos Productions, Inc.

Catalog Number: DE3601

Executive Producers: Ann McNair and Craig Hella Johnson

Producer and Recording Engineer: Randall Squires

Associate Producer and Technical Director: Robert Harlan

Recording Assistant: Allyson Moreno

Cover Design: Karin Elsener

Booklet Design: Lonnie Kunkel

Photo credits: Conspirare- Cassandra Weyendt, Miró Quartet- Jeff Wilson

Acknowledgments

Conspirare gratefully acknowledges the following for their support of this recording: Tejemos Foundation / Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge / The Joel Brauer Fund for New Music / Mary and Phil Delk / Dale and Tina Knobel / DeeAnne and Steven Paulson / The Eva and Marvin Womack Foundation / H-E-B / Anonymous / Legacy of Sound 2 / Hella Circle / Texas Commission on the Arts / St. Martin’s Lutheran Church / MKI Artists / Andrea Troolin / Conspirare Board and Staff

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

We thank the following individuals for their additional generous support: Fran & Larry Collmann Danna & Crutch Crutchfield, William Fivecoat, Lara & Robert Harlan, Richard Hartgrove & Gary Cooper, Gail & Jeffrey Kodosky, Wendi & Brian Kushner, and Gayle & Mike Roche