Contribution

Contributed by Kalamazoo Bach Festival Society

*Headline photo: CONSPIRARE, Craig Hella Johnson, Founder and Artistic Director

PORTAGE (MICH.)-Conspirare is a dream team of professional singers from around the country who are renowned choral and solo artists.  Established in 1991 in Austin, Texas, Conspirare’s “Company of Voices” has evolved into an international phenomenon, lauded for artistry, innovation, and choral mastery.  They will bring their considerable talents to the area on March 7, 7:30 pm, at Portage Central High School Auditorium, 8135 S. Westnedge, Portage, MI,  in a concert sponsored by the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Society.  For their Kalamazoo area debut, Conspirare will present a program of American works as well as a world-premiere by composer Eric Whitacre. Tickets are $25 general seating, $5 for students, group rates available.

Inspired by the power of music to change lives, Conspirare engages audiences in extraordinary musical experiences through world-class choral performances.  These professional singers come to Texas to rehearse and then tour together around the country and world, providing audiences with a rare level of choral music making.  Conspirare shares an overarching commitment to ensemble singing under the guiding hand of Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. Conspirare’s repertoire is as diverse as their talent, spanning eras from medieval to modern. Their repertoire showcases rigorous classical training while embracing the divergent demands of composers from Bach to Barber, Handel to Pärt, Lassus to Lang.

Pictured: Craig Hella Johnson

Celebrated as one of the most influential voices in choral conducting in the United States, Craig Hella Johnson brings a depth of knowledge, deep artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to his programs. As founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare, Johnson assembles some of the finest singers in the country to form a world-class, award-winning ensemble committed to creating dynamic choral art.

Beloved by audiences, lauded by critics and composers, and revered by singers, Johnson is known for crafting thought-provoking musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. The Wall Street Journal has praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare has written that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.” A distinctive aspect of Johnson’s programming is his signature “collage” style: programs that marry music and poetry in a seamless blend of sacred and secular, classical and popular, old and new. This programmatic style touched the hearts of viewers nationwide in the 2009 PBS special “A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert,” whose accompanying CD release earned a Grammy® nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album – the fifth such honor of Johnson’s career.

Conspirare’s collaboration with the prestigious Harmonia Mundi label yielded Threshold of Night (2008) and earned Grammy nominations for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album.  Sing Freedom! African American Spirituals released in Fall 2011, also on the Harmonia Mundi label, explores many traditional as well as lesser-known settings of this fundamental American music. The CD also features premieres of new settings by renowned composers David Lang, Tarik O’Regan and Robert Kyr.

The Bach Festival has partnered with the Beacon Club to offer concert-goers a wonderful dining experience to round out the evening.  Located just five minutes from Portage Central High School, attendees may enjoy a delicious dinner prior to Conspirare’s performance. Call the Bach Festival for details.

This concert is collaboration between the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Society, Portage Central High School, and Portage Public Schools.  Tickets, $25 adult general seating and $5 for students, are available through the Kalamazoo Bach Festival office: 269-337-7407, or kalamazoobachfestival.org.  Group rates are available.

The mission of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival is to bring excellent vocal, choral and instrumental music to the widest possible audience in southwest Michigan through performances of major works by the Bach Festival Chorus and orchestra, the sponsorship of renowned vocal artists and choral groups and educational outreach activities. The Kalamazoo Bach Festival focuses on the music of J. S. Bach and composers from the Renaissance to the contemporary era.

2011-2012 Kalamazoo Bach Festival events are made possible by Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Arts Fund of Kalamazoo County, Burdick-Thorne Foundation, H.P. and Genevieve Connable Fund,  Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation, Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, Kalamazoo College, Michigan Council for Arts and Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts,  Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation, and many generous individual supporters.

Bach Festival Society of Kalamazoo, Inc., 1200 Academy Street, Kalamazoo, MI  49007-3295 * 269-337-7407 | kalamazoobachfestival.org | bach@kzoo.edu

CONSPIRARE: History and Highlights

Conspirare was born out of a deep desire to connect hearts through the language of music. To attract and inspire the most talented singers to fulfill their callings and find their deepest expression. To imagine and present exceptional, enriching artistic events. To build and nurture a powerful, creative circle of music where everything belongs.

Founded in 1991 as the New Texas Festival to present a summer classical music festival in Austin, Texas, Conspirare has grown to become an internationally recognized, choral arts organization known for outstanding vocal artistry, innovative programming, and an exceptional ability to connect deeply with audiences around the globe.

Led by founding artistic director Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare is comprised of a professional chamber choir of select voices, a highly skilled volunteer Symphonic Choir assembled for larger, orchestral/choral works, and the extraordinary Conspirare Youth Choirs.

Conspirare has a strong commitment to leave a lasting musical legacy. We produced our first commercial recording through the green fuse in 2004 (Clarion). Our second CD Requiem (Clarion) issued in 2006, received Grammy® nominations for Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Our first collaboration with the prestigious Harmonia Mundi label, the September 2008 release Threshold of Night, featured the music of Tarik O’Regan and received Grammy nominations for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album. In 2009, Harmonia Mundi re-released Requiem in America and Europe. This edition was awarded the esteemed 2010 Edison Award for recording excellence in the Choral Music category.

Conspirare’s acclaimed PBS television special “A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert” premiered nationwide in March 2009 and has been seen by millions of television viewers. The concert recording was nominated in 2009 for a Grammy® in the Best Classical Crossover category.

Conspirare is consistently recognized for leadership and innovation in the choral field, with such honors as Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence (2005) and Dale Warland Singers Commission Award (2010) to support the commission of a new work by composer Eric Banks. The chorus is also a sought-after performer at national and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association.

In 2007 the National Endowment for the Arts honored Conspirare with a grant to present a major choral festival. “Crossing the Divide: Exploring Influence and Finding Our Voice” was a four day musical celebration bringing together composers and conductors, singers, musicians and audiences. Three world premieres were performed and a gala closing concert included a choir of 600 singers.

CRAIG HELLA JOHNSON

Celebrated as one of the most influential voices in choral conducting in the United States, Craig Hella Johnson brings a depth of knowledge, deep artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to his programs. As founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare, Johnson assembles some of the finest singers in the country to form a world-class, award-winning organization committed to creating dynamic choral art.

Composer, colleague and collaborator Robert Kyr observed, “Craig’s attitude toward creating a community of artists who work together to interpret the score…goes beyond technical mastery into that emotional depth and spiritual life of the music.”

Beloved by audiences, lauded by critics and composers, and revered by singers, Johnson is known for crafting thought-provoking musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. The Wall Street Journal has praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare has written that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.” Following a performance of his work led by Johnson, the distinguished composer John Corigliano wrote “I believe that CHJ has understood my music in a way that I have never experienced before. He is a great musician who understands everything about the music he conducts.”

A distinctive aspect of Johnson’s programming is his signature “collage” style: through composed programs that marry music and poetry in a seamless blend of sacred and secular, classical and popular, old and new. This programmatic style touched the hearts of viewers nationwide in the 2009 PBS special “A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert,” whose accompanying CD release earned a Grammy® nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album – the fifth such honor of Johnson’s career.

In addition to his work with Conspirare, Johnson also serves as Artistic Director of the Victoria Bach Festival, an annual event that draws musicians and critical praise from around the country. Johnson served as Director of Choral Activities (1990-2001) at the University of Texas in Austin where he led the graduate program in conducting. He was artistic director of San Francisco based Chanticleer (1998-1999) and has served as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, Berkshire Choral Festival, Taipei Male Choir, and Oregon Bach Festival.

A composer and arranger, Johnson works with G. Schirmer Publishing on the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series, featuring specially selected composers as well as some of his original compositions and arrangements. His works are also published by Alliance Music Publications. Also an accomplished vocalist and pianist, he released his first solo CD Thorns on the Rose in 2008 on the Booker Music label. A native of Minnesota, Johnson studied at St. Olaf College, the Juilliard School, and the University of Illinois and earned his doctorate at Yale University. As the recipient of a National Arts Fellowship, Johnson studied with Helmuth Rilling at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, Germany.