Podcasts about Conspirare

How can an arts organization consistently attract top talent and inspire top donors at their annual gala or signature fundraising event? In this episode, I talk with Craig Hella Johnson, Founder & Artistic Director of the multi-GRAMMY AWARD®-winning ensemble Conspirare, to discuss their signature fundraising event, Hidden Music. For over 30 years, Conspirare has captivated audiences with powerful, thought-provoking performances, including Craig's acclaimed work Considering Matthew Shepard. Their annual gala, Hidden Music, has become one of Austin's most beloved and successful fundraising events focused on the arts. Craig shares insights on how to build and retain a world-class ensemble, connect meaningfully with donors, and create events that leave a lasting emotional impact. He also reflects on how to honor loved ones with integrity and depth during fundraising performances. This is one episode you will not want to miss.

Shara Nova is a composer, vocalist, and producer currently creating from Detroit, Michigan. Shara has released six albums under the monikerMy Brightest Diamond and has composed works for The Crossing, Conspirare, yMusic, Brooklyn Rider, Roomful of Teeth, Aarhus Symfoni, and American Composers Orchestra among many others. In 2024 she starred in the Tony Award Winning musical “Illinoise” on Broadway, directed by Justin Peck, co-written by Jackie Sibblies Drury with music by Sufjan Stevens, witha live album released on Nonesuch Records.

Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) - Messa da Requiemper soli a cappella I. Requiem [0:00] – Kyrie [3:37]II. Dies irae [6:36]III. Sanctus [18:04]IV. Agnus Dei [21:48]V. Libera me [24:00]Conspirare EnsembleCraig Hella Johnson, conductorAbout Messa da Requiem

Composer Robert Kyr provides an immersive experience of nature through several environmentally themed oratorios and choral dramas, including A Time for Life and Earth Vigil. He speaks with Mary Claire Murphy on his concepts and collaboration with the acclaimed ensemble Conspirare and their artistic director, Craig Hella Johnson. As a supplement to the conversation, see below for nature photography by Robert Kyr (captioned: Illuminated Cloud Beyond Mesas, Bright Mesa Rising from Stillness (High Noon), Bright Mesa Rising from Stillness (Twilight), Mesa with Three Trees, Bright Mesa Face, Illuminated Cathedral Mesa, Premiere of Earth Vigil, Mesa Descending into Twilight, The Tree of Life.

Today on conduct(her) McKenna & Kyra interview Moira Smiley. An active composer and performer, Mora has written commissions for ensembles such as the LA Master Chorale, Conspirare, Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Mirabai, American Choral Directors Association, and countless others.  Her arrangements and original compositions for choir – especially those with her signature body percussion – are performed by millions of singers around the world. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/conducther/support

חיבור ותמיכה אנרגטית בעקבות המתקפה על ישראל בחג סוכות 2023.החלק השני של המדיטציה כולל כניסה למצב חלימה (גלי תטא) ליצירת תמונת דמיון רצויה ובריאה של מציאות מיטיבה. תודה לכל אלו שהשתתפו ושתורמים להחזקת התדר.לפלייליסט המלא |  To full playlistמוזיקה מאת |  Featuring:Salomé--D/S/T/N/C/E--Vladimir Martinov, Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson--Don Slepian--Crosby, Stills & Nashהוקלטה בשידור חי בזום בהרצליה, ישראל בתאריך 9 באוקטובר 2023.אם אתם מכירים מישהו שיכול להפיק תועלת מהמדיטציה הזו, אשמח אם תעבירו אותה הלאה.וגם,קבוצת וואטסאפ שקטה בה אני שולח הקלטות והזמנות לתרגולים שבועיים בזוםארכיון מתעדכן של מדיטציות לפי נושאים ומצבים בספוטיפייערוץ היוטיוב שלי, עם ארכיון תרגולים בוידאושלכםעופר ✨About this podcastPractice and frequency for vibration management ///////////////// Free guided meditations for the benefit of all. New meditation every Tuesday ///////////////// Ofer Shani is a Tech entrepreneur and Meditation coach from Tel Aviv, Israel ///////////////// His sessions are unique and combine music with teachings of Mindfulness, Zen, Shamanism, Quantum physics and Neuroscience ///////////////// Linktree https://linktr.ee/ofershani An important noticeThis podcast celebrates music as a tool for transformation and well being - and wish to spread the tracks played in each meditation as much as possible.Each episode's description showcases the list of artists and pieces played - and includes links to a full playlist to listen to on Spotify. If you wouldn't want your music to be played here - Please contact us oshani@gmail.com

Conspirare – Miró Quartet/Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (Delos) New Classical Tracks - Craig Hella Johnson by “It's exciting, isn't it? It's hard to believe,” says Craig Hella Johnson, the artistic director of Conspirare. “I don't know how to understand the passage of time like this because it feels like we just got started.”The vocal ensemble Conspirare was started 30 years ago in Austin, Texas, by Johnson, who was inspired by the power of music to change lives. Their anniversary celebration is underway with the release of their latest recording, House of Belonging, which features a long-awaited collaboration with the Miró Quartet.“I spoke about collaborations early on and how we can partner with musical friends, both just for the sheer joy of it and also to really learn. It's how we keep a knife-sharp edge in terms of our own creativity. “The Miró Quartet, they're just stupendous players themselves, and they come together and create this astounding magic.”Can you explain the title, House of Belonging, and the music that lives within it?“I thought, ‘What music do we need to hear at this time? What am I sensing in our audiences, the people? What are they going through in their lives? What's meant to be expressed from Conspirare at this time?' So, I chose these pieces, and it was quite an eclectic bunch initially. And I thought, ‘Oh, well, I don't see the thread yet.' And then suddenly it just appeared to me. It felt like what I observe culturally, just so many elements that aren't feeling a deep sense of belonging.“David White has a wonderful poem called The House of Belonging. I decided to borrow that as a working title. And then in the process, which was kind of quick, I got in touch with Alex Berko and asked if he would consider creating an anchor piece, a multimovement work.“He created a beautiful work called Sacred Place, and that's at the heart of this CD. He used a Jewish service as a model for the piece, as well as texts from a lot of different places. Wendell Berry is in the first movement. Then there's John Muir in a letter that he wrote to Teddy Roosevelt about preserving Yosemite.”You've said commissioning new works is important as part of the mission of Conspirare, and the recording opens with one of your pieces, Reaching.“For our Christmas concerts, we always sing in Austin and often in Houston. But in December 2022, we made a decision to reach out to the people in Uvalde, Texas, where that horrible school shooting took place in May 2022, to ask if they thought it would be helpful if we brought the concert on the road to Uvalde.“The whole team wanted to do this so deeply. The piece you're referencing is called Reaching, and it is the first track on this CD, just because it speaks to the yearning, the first lines of, ‘We are far away from home. We were turning away, oh, my unknown home. I love you. I'll never return.' It just spoke to that sense of separation in a simple way.“ Listen on YouTubeTo hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.ResourcesConspirare – Miró Quartet/Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (Amazon)Conspirare – Miró Quartet/Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (Delos)Conspirare (official site)Miró Quartet (official site)Craig Hella Johnson (official site)

Conspirare's founder and leader, Craig Hella Johnson, commissioned many of the pieces on House of Belonging and composed the opening track himself. The album's texts convey and explore themes about spirituality, philosophy, the natural world, and the human need for deep connection with others. Composers Kevin Puts, Derrick Skye, Alex Berko, Moira Smiley, Shara Nova, and Michael Schachter were recruited for the project, and the music of  Margaret Bonds and Ross Lee Finney completed the album. The emotive texts include verses by Euan Tait, John Muir, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Rabindranath Tagore, David Whyte, Langston Hughes, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Hildegard of Bingen.Help support our show by purchasing this album  at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber and Apple Classical. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber#AppleClassical Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.comThis album is broadcast with the permission of Sean Dacy from Rosebrook Media.

This week on Moveable Do, Steve talks with Craig Hella Johnson, the director of the professional choral ensemble, Conspirare. This Minnesota native now lives in Texas and was named the 2013 official Texas State Musician. We talk about what that means, keys to programing a successful concert, and how and why he started Conspirare. Pieces featured on this episode: "Songs from the Road," "Gitanjali Chants," and two pieces from Considering Matthew Shepherd, "Cattle, Horses, Sky and Grass," and "The Fence (After) - The Wind." For more information about Craig and his music, visit https://conspirare.org. For more information about this podcast and a full archive of episodes, visit https://sdcompose.com/moveabledo. Keep the music moving! Connect with us! Email: moveabledo@gmail.com Website: https://sdcompose.com/moveabledo Instagram: @Moveable_do_podcast Twitter: @MoveableDo --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moveabledo/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moveabledo/support

Dale Trumbore is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music has been called "devastatingly beautiful" (The Washington Post) and praised for its "soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies deployed with finesse" (The New York Times). Trumbore's compositions have been performed by the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW ensemble, Conspirare and the Miró Quartet, soprano Liv Redpath, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Modesto Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony. She has written extensively about working through creative blocks and establishing a career in music in essays and in her first book, Staying Composed. Learn more about Trumbore's music and writing at daletrumbore.com.In this episode, we talk about collaboration and advocacy related to composers, writers, and more! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tKVY7X-sxVs The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com  Order your copy of “The Business of Choir”: https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/the-business-of-choir-book-g10713 or check out the website, businessofchoir.com. Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

"In choir we have a chance to learn to embody a different culture through its language. When you're singing pieces in another language, there's a moment where you have to feel that you speak that language if only for a few words, if only a few moments. I think that has the capacity to create a kind of empathy regardless of whether that's your culture or not. To embody it does create this empathy that I really believe in as a way to make our world a little closer for the right reasons."Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail's life and music was profiled on Season 3 of PBS Great Performances series Now Hear This, as well as Frame of Mind, a podcast from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Esmail divides her attention evenly between orchestral, chamber and choral work. She has written commissions for ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale,  Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Kronos Quartet, and her music has featured on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, including The Singing Guitar by Conspirare, BRUITS by Imani Winds, and Healing Modes by Brooklyn Rider. Many of her choral works are published by Oxford University Press.Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 2020-2025 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and was Seattle Symphony's 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. She also holds awards/fellowships from United States Artists, the S&R Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Kennedy Center.Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM'05) and the Yale School of Music (MM'11, MMA'14, DMA'18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazumdar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers.Esmail was Composer-in-Residence for Street Symphony (2016-18) and is currently an Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting music traditions of India and the West.She currently resides in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.To get in touch with Reena, you can find her on Instagram (@reenaesmail) or check out her website: https://www.reenaesmail.com.Choir Fam wants to hear from you! Check out the Minisode Intro episode from September 16, 2022, to hear how to share your story with us. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels

Shara Nova has released five albums under the moniker My Brightest Diamond and has composed works for The Crossing, Conspirare, Cantus Domus, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Roomful of Teeth, many community choirs, as well as yMusic, Brooklyn Rider, violist Nadia Sirota, Aarhus Symfoni, North Carolina Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, American Composers Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among others.In 2019, she composed for over 600 community musicians and the Cincinnati Symphony in celebration of their 125th season, a piece entitled "Look Around," with director Mark DeChiazza. Her baroque chamber p'opera “You Us We All” premiered in the US in October 2015 at BAM Next Wave Festival. With co-composer and performer Helga Davis, Nova created a four-screen film entitled “Ocean Body,” along with director Mark DeChiazza, which premiered at The Momentary in August 2021, shortly followed by the premiere of “Infinite Movement,” her baroque masque for 100 musicians, set to text by artist Matthew Ritchie, which premiered at The University of North Texas in November 2021.Ms. Nova is the featured singer on “The Blue Hour” with the string orchestra A Far Cry and co-composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Caroline Shaw on Nonesuch Records (Sept ‘22). A collection of songs by Nico Muhly with Detroit's acclaimed wind ensemble Akropolis Quintet also features Ms. Nova's voice entitled Hymns for Private Use (Oct ‘22). A number of music composers, including Sarah Kirkland Snider, Bryce and Aaron Dessner, Steve Mackey and David Lang have created works specifically for her voice. She has collaborated with Matthew Barney, The Decemberists, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Sufjan Stevens, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, and many others.Shara has a couple different branches to her life:Singer and Composer Branch: https://shara-nova.com/Pop Music Branch: https://www.mybrightestdiamond.com/Instagram: @mybrightestdiamondTwitter: @MyBrightestDmndWriting on Substack: https://substack.com/profile/91251132-shara-nova

Chelsea and Kevin speak with poet, musician, teacher, and director of The Gay Men's Chorus Los Angeles, EJ Harrison about how music can heal you, using social justice as inspiration, moving through mental health challenges, and overcoming fears when it comes to something you're truly passionate about.  More about EJ: Ernest Harrison is a poet, musician, and teacher. He is a proud graduate of Tuskegee University (2010) where completed his Bachelor's in English Liberal Arts. He later received his Bachelor's in Vocal Performance from Auburn University (2014), where he studied voice with world-renowned composers/conductors Dr. Rosephanye and William Powell. He then received his Master's in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri (2016) under the tutelage of Dr. R. Paul Crabb. Ernest is currently ADB, concluding his Doctoral studies in Choral Music at the University of Southern California under the direction of Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe.  Ernest became a member of the international Grammy Award winning choral ensemble, Conspirare, in 2019. He was an associate conductor for the Grammy Award-winning National Children's Chorus (2017-2022) and conductor of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music's Cantare Chamber Choir (2019-2022). Ernest is now Music Director and Head of Education and Outreach of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. Ernest has also taught as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine College, the University of Southern California, and Columbia University. He is currently teaching Voice and Music & Social Justice at Loyola Marymount University. Ernest is dedicated to the fight for social justice, equity, and inclusion in the choral classroom, on the concert stage, and in the world. Whether it be as a conductor, composer, arranger, vocalist, choral clinician, poet, or lecturer, his passion for people is the guiding light in every facet of his music making. Instagram: @ej92187 Facebook: Ernest Harrison Gay Men's Chorus Los Angeles (for tickets and more info!): gmcla.org

On Wednesday's show: Harris County officials approved the safety agreement drafted by the special events taskforce in response to the Astroworld tragedy. But does it go far enough? Also this hour: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Then, with the recent collapse of cryptocurrency firms like FTX and BlockFi, that has us wondering are cryptocurrencies all they're cracked up to be? And the Austin-based choral group Conspirare is coming to Houston to perform a Christmas concert on Friday at St. Luke's Methodist.

This week on Max Q we speak with Baritone Ross Tamaccio (MM '18). Ross has built a career on concert music and church music, singing career both as a soloist and ensemble member, singing with ensembles like True Concord, Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and with most of the major church music programs in the DC … Continue reading 2. Max Q – Ross Tamaccio →

*JOIN IN THE FUN!* The Confident Music Educator Course is opening for Cohort Two on September 1, 2022!  Danielle Larrick and I created this course with upper elementary and middle school general music teachers in mind. The course includes nine robust modules that help you earn strategies for working with older students, lesson planning, assessment, communication, technology and more.  You'll receive a wealth of information through video tutorials and conversations, a guided journal specifically made for the course, Google drive materials, and a private Facebook group for our community. The cost is $125 and doors open on September 1, 2022.  Don't miss out! Go to theconfidentmusiceducator.podia.com to join our email list and get ready to be inspired, prepared, and more confident in teaching your older students. Jodi Coke, aka The Choir Queen, is hear to share her secrets about creating a successful, joyful, and organized middle school choir.  Hint: relationships matter and so does planning!  If your students sing in the classroom - elementary, middle school general music, after-school ensembles, or middle school choir - this episode is for you!  Jodi has great ideas for starting off the year well and keeping organized throughout the year. Jodi Coke is a choral director and classical singer in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.  She is currently in her ninth year as the head choir director at Hillwood Middle School in Keller ISD and 17th year teaching. Jodi has sung with many professional choirs in the DFW area, including Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Bach Society, and Vox Humana.  She has also sung with Conspirare, directed by the renowned Craig Hella Johnson, and is a soloist on the Grammy nominated album, “Threshold of Night.” Jodi holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of North Texas in 2006 and Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University in 2014.  She resides in Fort Worth with her husband, Wes, and eight-year-old daughter, Kennedy, who is a pediatric cancer survivor. Links: Website: www.thechoirqueen.com Instagram: @the_choir_queen Podcast: The Choir Chronicles Email: thechoirqueen@gmail.com TPT: The Choir Queen   Jessica Grant: Instagram - @highafternoonti Email - contact@jessicagrant.org

Dr. Howell talks with Craig Hella Johnson, Grammy-winning founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare renowned as one of today's most influential voices in choral conducting. They speak about conducting, composing, and deeper connections between music, spirituality, and the world. His work, Considering Matthew Shepard, will be at Myers Park UMC on June 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Today on In Unison, we're chatting with https://www.conspirare.org/people/craig-hella-johnson/ (Craig Hella Johnson), founder and Artistic Director of http://conspirare.org (Conspirare), a grammy-winning choir based in Austin, Texas that is comprised of distinctive solo artists from around the country who are also committed to the highest level of ensemble performance. Music excerpts “https://music.apple.com/us/album/let-the-river-run/586139787?i=586140158 (Let the River Run),” by Carly Simon, performed by Conspirare, featured on the album https://www.conspirare.org/product/a-company-of-voices-conspirare-in-concert/ (A Company of Voices) “https://music.apple.com/us/album/how-little-you-are-interlude-springtime/1530583549?i=1530583555 (Springtime),” from How Little You Are, by https://nicomuhly.com/ (Nico Muhly), performed by Conspirare, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and the Texas Guitar Quintet, feaured on the album https://www.conspirare.org/product/the-singing-guitar/ (The Singing Guitar) “Hold On,” traditional spiritual, arranged by https://isaaccatesmusic.com/ (Isaac Cates), performed live by Ordained and Conspirare at https://youtu.be/rUhN8-udvso (Conspirare Christmas 2021) “https://music.apple.com/us/album/reincarnations-iii-the-coolin/555919643?i=555919715 (The Coolin),” from Reincarnations, by Samuel Barber, performed by Conspirare, featured on the album https://www.conspirare.org/product/samuel-barber-an-american-romantic/ (Samuel Barber, An American Romantic) Episode references Conspirare https://www.conspirare.org/ (Website) | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWBZyeDFzGGupDpo7P_LRpw (YouTube) | https://www.facebook.com/Conspirare/ (Facebook) | https://www.instagram.com/conspirareatx/ (Instagram) https://youtu.be/y_XE3_vD5LQ (Unity: Songs of Invitation) virtual choir project Theme Song: https://music.apple.com/us/album/mr-puffy/1457011536?i=1457011549 (Mr. Puffy) by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by http://www.dynamicjazz.dk/ (Dynamic)

Welcome to the Seraphic Saturday Podcast Companion. In this episode, Dr. James K. Bass leads us through the recent history of professional American choral ensembles with the help of Bass Eric Alatorre, and conductor Craig Hella Johnson. With Eric's decades-long tenure at Chanticleer, he takes us through the ensemble's beginnings to its award winning present, while Craig reminisces about Conspirare's impressive path forging the way for professional choral ensembles throughout the country.

Notes: Conversations with songwriters can be illuminating. Moira and I talk about wanting our voices to make a difference, and how to evaluate that, how Moira's voice has protected and shaped her, rest as part of the job of being a creator, and so much more. She shares a song that is in the process of becoming, and we get a very special glimpse of this creative process, which includes a calling sound that fascinates Moira right now. As you sing along, you'll be able to really tune in to what feels good to you this day -- is it the commitment and determination of "each day we make a little light"? The seeking melodic curve of "mmm...render...mmm...a remedy?" The wild, aching cry of the calling sounds? Or something else that you feel called to bring to the song? As you're singing in your own space, I wonder if there will be movement -- stepping or dancing or swaying? Songwriter Info: As a composer, Moira Smiley is known worldwide for choral arrangements like Bring Me Little Water, Silvy and originals, Stand in That River and How Can I Cry. Her music is sung by millions of singers worldwide. She's credited with helping to bring body percussion into the choral mainstream and is in demand as a commissioned composer, writing multi-movement pieces including Time In Our Voices and In The Desert With You for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, evening-length secular liturgy, The Song Among Us and Tis A Fearful Thing for Craig Hella Johnson's Conspirare and CVAE, Vonnegut Requiem: Light Perpetual for Voces Novae, Loud My Soul for Ad Astra Festival and I Have A Voice for ACDA Women's Choral Consortium. The European premiere of Time In Our Voices was performed by the voices and mobile phones of Ars Nova Copenhagen under the direction of Paul Hillier.   In 2018-2019 Moira released the album and choral songbook, Unzip The Horizon as companion to her ‘The Voice Is A Traveler' solo show. In 2021 she released the all-vocal social-justice centered album, In Our Voices with four powerful singers of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. She continues composing and improvising in collaboration with artists in film, video game production, theater and dance, and her work can be heard on feature film soundtracks, BBC & PBS television programs, NPR, and on more than 70 commercial albums.   “Moira Smiley is a marvel—an omnivorous singing and composing chameleon with a voice that can wail or caress at will!” -- Grant Gershon - artistic director, Los Angeles Master Chorale   “Moira Smiley is a brilliant musician – an innovative composer and arranger, and a heartbreakingly beautiful singer. Her music transcends (and expands) boundaries.” -- Billy Childs - multi-grammy-winning composer/pianist   “I'm so thankful I've had the privilege of performing and recording with Moira. She embodies the endless creative potential of the voice, and… (has made) a deeply moving body of work.” -- Merrill Garbus - Tune-Yards Links: www.moirasmiley.com for all info including sheet music, practice tracks! https://moirasmileysubscription.com/ to support Moira monthly for as little as $4/mo. https://www.instagram.com/moirasmiley/ for up-to-date personal and music pics https://www.youtube.com/c/MoiraSmileyMusic for official music videos, song and body percussion tutorials and live performances Lissa Schneckenburger -- the link goes to her interview on A Breath of Song, which includes her own site links and more Night Song - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook. The link goes to the title song of the album. Here is the album on Apple Music. Shara Nova - "My Brightest Diamond" -- This link goes to a live performance and interview (go to about 2'40" to get close to the start). Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:12 Start time of reprise: 00:54:45 Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Minor, Dorian & Aeolian, harmonized layers Visit abreathofsong.com for lyrics, more of Patty's artwork, and a way to nominate songs or songwriters for the podcast. Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Okay, I procrastinated on recording this episode for the longest of any song yet... I respect Moira so much, and I desperately wanted to share her song in a beautiful way that convinced you to love it, too. I felt like I wasn't good enough, and I got a good run of the whole imposter syndrome going, yada, yada, yada. But you know what shifted? I remembered why this podcast exists -- to share songs that help me heal, adapt, and grow, so you can sing them, too. And this song is one that I've sung to myself over and over in the middle of troubling times to help me release and let go. When I sing this into myself, I can see more clearly which actions might be mine to make next. And when the world is in turmoil, this is what helps me navigate a way forward. None of us (myself included) need to have a stunning voice for a song to be a companion... and I'm grateful to Moira for this gift. Please notice, I haven't shared the entire song here, only an excerpt... check out the links below to hear the whole song, and buy the music on her website for yourself or to share with others. Next episode: a conversation with Moira Smiley herself, who turns out to be absolutely lovely and generous -- we talk creativity, how rest is part of the job, how her voice has protected her, and more... Songwriter Info: As a composer, Moira Smiley is known worldwide for choral arrangements like Bring Me Little Water, Silvy and originals, Stand in That River and How Can I Cry. Her music is sung by millions of singers worldwide. She's credited with helping to bring body percussion into the choral mainstream and is in demand as a commissioned composer, writing multi-movement pieces including Time In Our Voices and In The Desert With You for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, evening-length secular liturgy, The Song Among Us and Tis A Fearful Thing for Craig Hella Johnson's Conspirare and CVAE, Vonnegut Requiem: Light Perpetual for Voces Novae, Loud My Soul for Ad Astra Festival and I Have A Voice for ACDA Women's Choral Consortium. The European premiere of Time In Our Voices was performed by the voices and mobile phones of Ars Nova Copenhagen under the direction of Paul Hillier.   In 2018-2019 Moira released the album and choral songbook, Unzip The Horizon as companion to her ‘The Voice Is A Traveler' solo show. In 2021 she released the all-vocal social-justice centered album, In Our Voices with four powerful singers of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. She continues composing and improvising in collaboration with artists in film, video game production, theater and dance, and her work can be heard on feature film soundtracks, BBC & PBS television programs, NPR, and on more than 70 commercial albums.   “Moira Smiley is marvel—an omnivorous singing and composing chameleon with a voice that can wail or caress at will!” -- Grant Gershon - artistic director, Los Angeles Master Chorale   “Moira Smiley is a brilliant musician – an innovative composer and arranger, and a heartbreakingly beautiful singer. Her music transcends (and expands) boundaries.” -- Billy Childs - multi-grammy-winning composer/pianist   “I'm so thankful I've had the privilege of performing and recording with Moira. She embodies the endless creative potential of the voice, and… (has made) a deeply moving body of work.” -- Merrill Garbus - Tune-Yards Links: www.moirasmiley.com for all info including sheet music, practice tracks! https://moirasmileysubscription.com/ to support Moira monthly for as little as $4/mo. https://www.instagram.com/moirasmiley/ for up-to-date personal and music pics https://www.youtube.com/c/MoiraSmileyMusic for official music videos, song and body percussion tutorials and live performances A beautiful recording of a quartet singing the full Stand In That River, part of "The Mt. Tom Sessions". Moira's own recording of Stand In That River with VOCO. Visit abreathofsong.com for lyrics, more of Patty's artwork, and a way to nominate songs or songwriters for the podcast. Nuts & Bolts: ​3:4, Ionian, harmonized melody Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! This week, for example, I shared a video collected by the Polyphony Project of Ukrainian women singing a traditional song about a son who has gone to be a soldier, and I included a list of possible organizations to support the people harmed by war. No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Reena Esmail joins us to chat about integrating her Western and Hindustani roots in her composition and throughout her work as artistic director of Shastra. We chat about how she prepares listeners with less experience for musical experiences that are new to them. She speaks about her work as composer-in-residence of Street Symphony, a non-profit organization bringing music to Los Angeles-based homeless and incarcerated populations on Skid Row and beyond. And, we talk about her methods for introducing Western musicians to primarily aural traditions. Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail's work has been commissioned by ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, Richmond Symphony, Town Music Seattle, Albany Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Girls Chorus, The Elora Festival, Juilliard415, and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Upcoming seasons include new work for Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Amherst College Choir and Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and Conspirare. Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 2020-2023 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and Seattle Symphony's 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. Previously, she was named a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Music, and the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the S & R Foundation's Washington Award. Esmail was also a 2017-18 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow. She was the 2012 Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (and subsequent publication of a work by C.F. Peters). Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM'05) and the Yale School of Music (MM'11, MMA'14, DMA'18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis and Martin Bresnick, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazundar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers. Esmail was Composer-in-Residence for Street Symphony (2016-18) and is currently an Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting music traditions of India and the West. The transcript for this episode can be found here. For more information about Reena Esmail, please visit her website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Jocelyn Hagen joins us for episode 13 of the Composer Happy Hour. Jocelyn is a prolific composer with many fabulous works, but what I think I admire most about her are her passion and enthusiasm for poetry, and her strong interest in collaboration. Her collaborations with hip-hop artist Dessa and electronic musician Spearfisher bring unexpected voices to choral music, and she performs together with her husband (choral composer Tim Takach) as Nation, an a cappella duo that often performs "pop" music. Her love of poetry is readily apparent just by seeing the poets she has illuminated in her choral music, but hearing her talk about the poems (or even read them aloud) reveals sincere admiration for the work of these other artists. On this episode, we discuss poetry, pop music, and whether or not Frasier is suitable binging material. Jocelyn Hagen composes music that has been described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). She is a pioneer in the field of composition, pushing the expectations of musicians and audiences with large-scale multimedia works, electro-acoustic music, dance, opera, and publishing. Her first forays into composition were via songwriting, still very evident in her work. The majority of her compositions are for the voice: solo, chamber and choral. Her melodic music is rhythmically driven and texturally complex, rich in color and deeply heartfelt. In 2019 and 2020, choirs and orchestras across the country premiered her multimedia symphony The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci that includes video projections created by a team of visual artists, highlighting da Vinci's spectacular drawings, inventions, and texts. Hagen describes her process of composing for choir, orchestra and film simultaneously in a Tedx Talk given at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, now available on YouTube. Her dance opera collaboration with choreographer Penelope Freeh,Test Pilot, received the 2017 American Prize in the musical theater/opera division as well as a Sage Award for “Outstanding Design.” The panel declared the work “a tour de force of originality.” In 2013 Hagen released an EP entitled MASHUP, in which she performs Debussy's “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum” while singing Ed Sheeran's “The A Team.” She is also one half of the band Nation, an a cappella duo with composer/performer Timothy C. Takach, and together they perform and serve as clinicians for choirs from all over the world. Hagen's commissions include Conspirare, the Minnesota Opera, the Minnesota Orchestra, the International Federation of Choral Music, the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut and Texas, the North Dakota Music Teachers Association, Cantus, the Boston Brass, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band, among many others. Her work is independently published through JH Music, as well as through Graphite Publishing, G. Schirmer, ECS Publishing, Fred Bock Music Publishing, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and Boosey and Hawkes. www.jocelynhagen.com All Recordings Used by Permission of the Composer: "I Started Out Singing" University of Toledo Rocket Choristers "Look Out Above" Macalester College "Load Poems Like Guns" Conspirare

Conspirare Christmas with guest artist Isaac Cates & Ordained December 5th at 3:30 pm, Victoria Fine Arts Center

COVID hospitalizations remain at a low ebb, but new cases and our local community transmission rate are both rising, indicating a likely winter spike on the way. Holiday travel for a great many Austinites - give yourself as much time as you can, and give your fellow travelers lots and lots of patience. Austin Grammy nominees include Willie Nelson, Black Pumas, Jack Ingram, Conspirare, and Sarah and Shawna Dodds. Texas faces Kansas State on Friday morning, desperate to turn around a disastrous season, while local high school football teams representing Lake Travis, Bowie, Vandegrift, Westlake, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, LBJ Austin, Wimberley and Lago Vista head into the third Regional round of this year's playoffs. And Thanksgiving rain starts tonight and should wrap up by late Thursday morning.

The Austin, Texas-based choir, Conspirare, give voice to poets and writers from across the spectrum of nationality and gender in their latest recording, The Singing Guitar. Founder and director, Craig Hella Johnson, commissioned new works from composers such as Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, and Kile Smith that highlight the words of the Sufi poet Hafiz, pioneer and indigenous women in the 1880s; and of the Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore. Giving “The Singing Guitar” an added literal and figurative quality are no fewer than three guitar quartets: the Los Angeles, Texas and Austin quartets are heard most fully in How Little You Are, by Nico Muhly. Cellist Douglas Harvey joins Conspirare for The Dawn's Early Light, and Craig Hella Johnson's The Song that I Came to Sing. Listen to John Pitman's conversation with Johnson to learn more.

Hi friends - thanks so much for listening to Episode 6 of the Composer Happy Hour. Hopefully you have a drink in hand, and you are ready to relax and enjoy a great conversation. Also - a quick plug here: if you aren't already following us on social media, please take a second to check us out (IG: @whateverandeveramen / Twitter: @whateverchoir). Your follows mean a lot to us. I'd also like to ask that if you have Apple Music, consider finding the podcast there and giving us a 5-star rating. This helps us out a lot! Our guest for this episode is Jake Runestad. If you are a choral music fan or participant, I imagine you already know some of Jake's music. He has been prominently featured on the program at just about every recent ACDA conference, and his music has been collected on albums by Conspirare and Kantorei. When I first met Jake in person, I knew we would get along well because we have several shared interests: we both enjoy a good old-fashioned, consider ourselves to be "foodies," and have a shared fondness for the music of Ben Folds. We discuss all of that and more in the episode. I hope that as you listen to each episode you find you are getting to know these composers more as people - understanding their influences, their personality, etc. - and that this might give you a greater appreciation and understanding of their music. Grab a drink and enjoy! As always, if you like what you hear - buy us a beer! Your contributions will help to fund future projects by whateverandeveramen. Episode Sponsor: Funky Turtle Brewing starts with spirit brothers Drake Pregnal and Tom Garrison. Drake and Tom met in the backwoods of Kentucky in 2014. Both avid rock climbers and outdoor junkies, they grew their partnership with craft beer and good belly laughs. Drake has worked for companies like Avery Brewing Company and Millhouse Brewing Company. Tom a Software Engineer. We quickly added another turtle to the team, Troy Secrest a lambic lover and marketing genius. At the Funky Turtle, we brew exclusively barrel-aged beers and meads. Every unique, small-batch, single-barrel vintage is aged for several months, creating an aura of anticipation, excitement, and hard-earned value. Our mission at the Funky Turtle is to brew beers and wines that expand the palatable sensations through exquisitely crafted, uniquely aged, one of a kind recipes that will constantly change and challenge the perception of what a profound brewery can truly be. With a town full of frogs you need a couple of Funky Turtles. Funky Turtle Brewing is available for shipping in 40 states at www.funkyturtlebrewing.com

A musician who "effortlessly weaves between genres and brings as much rock and roll to the violin as she does classical precision and refinement to rock and roll," Grace Youn has established herself as one of today's most versatile violinists. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Grace began violin studies at age 7. Grace's performances have taken her across the United States, with shows in Seattle, Denver, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Honolulu, Chicago, Formula 1, and the South by Southwest music festival in Austin. She has performed solo with Conspirare, the Balcones Community Orchestra, Montecito International Music Festival Orchestra, Austin Civic Orchestra, the University of Puget Sound Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and the Tacoma Youth Symphony. She was a prize winner in the Texas Rising Stars Competition, the Beatrice Hermann Young Artist Competition, the International Rockin' Fiddle Challenge, and the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition and has performed at music festivals all over the United States. In 2011, Grace launched her YouTube channel, grace plays violin, where she explores various musical genres, combining classical traditions and techniques with other musical styles. Her videos have accumulated thousands of subscribers and millions of views. Grace's work has also been featured in film, TV, music recordings, and live shows of touring music artists internationally. She is working on her debut EP to be released later in 2021. Grace earned her Artist Diploma and Master of Music degree from the University of Texas - Austin and her Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from the University of Puget Sound. Her primary teachers include Brian Lewis and Dr. Maria Sampen. A dedicated teacher, Grace is on faculty at Huston-Tillotson University and Austin Suzuki Music School, and teaches masterclasses around the United States. Grace Youn's Instagram: @graceplaysviolin Edited by Galle Studios Your Host: @gracesviolin --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/b4thestage/message

We are joined today by two-time GRAMMY Award winning operatic bass-baritone Dashon Burton. Dashon’s repertoire runs the gamut from the Baroque period to the present, and he has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. He is a member of the contemporary vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, and has devoted his career to breaking down the arbitrary walls of what it means to be a Classical singer and artist. As an internationally touring vocalist, he enjoys a particularly robust presence in early music, concert and orchestral music, and art song and recital. Although singing solo music from throughout the ages and traditions of classical music is the foundation of his work, his extensive experience in singing with ensembles has included work with Cantus, Conspirare, and the Grammy Award winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth. Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content. For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Conductor Craig Hella Johnson lets his imagination run wild with the Austin-based vocal ensemble Conspirare. He leads them and three different guitar quartets in their new album, The Singing Guitar.

The brilliant Thomas Echols joins the show today to talk about musical barriers in his life, various philosophies, current trends in electronic music (hint it's quite a surprise), his diverse career, and more. To find out more about Thomas Echols, follow his websites below.http://www.thomasechols.com/http://www.manwomanfriendcomputer.com/Thomas Echols’s work is an amalgam of classical, modernist, and pop music forays.As visiting artistic director for Austin Classical Guitar, Thomas curated programs including traditional instrumental recitalists, experimental electronics, newly commissioned works, and interactive visual projections. I have recorded and performed with the Grammy­Nominated choral ensemble Conspirare and the Houston Symphony Orchestra (our recording of Wozzeck recently won a Grammy and the prestigious Echo Klassik award for best operatic recording), and have had major engagements at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Palazzo Chigi (Siena, Italy), The Whittier Bach Festival (LA, The Blanton Museum of Art (Austin), Jones Hall (Houston), and other venues around the world.His experimental-pop alter ego, Man, Woman, Friend, Computer, creates simple songs that unfold into meandering compositions, analogue synth fetishism, conspiracy pop, polyrhythmic laments, somnambulist visions, and process music. MWFC’s debut album has garnered rave reviews from Austin Monthly and The Austin Chronicle, which calls it “Meditative and fetching . . . he ventures into a complex amalgam of analog and synth. Wistful, romantic. . . Echols’ vocals sooth to surrender.” As a classical guitarist, music technologist, composer, and song writer, Thomas is a mainstay in the thriving classical guitar and experimental music scenes in Austin. Thomas is active as a performer and lecturer, and he has contributed scholarly articles to Soundboard Magazine. Thomas Echols holds degrees from the University of Southern California (Doctor of Musical Arts), the University of Texas (Master of Music), the University of Colorado (Bachelor of Music), and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy (Diploma di Merito).To stream other episodes of Creative Peacemeal Podcast, click here.To learn more about host Tammy Takaishi, or to check out the corresponding creative arts blog or the merch store, click here!

This episode of Harmonious World features composer Craig Hella Johnson, who is also Artistic Director of Conspirare.Conspirare have a new album out, called The Singing Guitar. It details an unusual musical journey combining voices, guitars, cellos and women's stories.Many thanks to Craig and Conspirare for allowing me to feature clips from The Singing Guitar  alongside our conversation.To find out more about Conspirare, click here.Follow me on instagram.com/hilaryrwriterFollow me on facebook.com/HilaryRobertsonFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriterSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HWpodcast)

Hello World! In this episode we visit with Willa Snow (https://www.willasnow.com/ (https://www.willasnow.com/); IG @w.snow.audio), an Austin based sound engineer who does consulting, front-of-house, production management, . She is also the head of the Austin chapter of SoundGirls.org (https://soundgirls.org/willasnow/ (https://soundgirls.org/willasnow/)). We start off the interview discussing the finance, accounting, and bookkeeping know-how necessaries for gig life. We mention Rock n Roll Rentals in Austin, TX (https://rocknrollrentals.com/ (https://rocknrollrentals.com)), and the Rode PodMic (https://www.rode.com/microphones/podmic (https://www.rode.com/microphones/podmic)). Willa does production management for three ATX area bands: Corbella (https://www.corbellabandofficial.com/ (https://www.corbellabandofficial.com/)), Dossey (http://dosseymusic.com/ (http://dosseymusic.com/)), and Ley Line (https://www.leylinesound.com/ (https://www.leylinesound.com/)). In addition she wears a number of other hats, "diversify your portfolio!" She uses Google calendar for gig life, and emphasizes that Google calendar really needs to offer more colors! Next up we discuss how studio time while at university was very much Willa's gateway drug to the world of audio. We discuss how Willa came to Austin, and how in the beginning of her audio career, she actually kinda hated live sound. But she learned it anyway, and largely through networking, and on-the-job training. Conspirare (https://conspirare.org/ (https://conspirare.org/)) brought Willa on one of her very first tours to work. Willa had a couple of tour jobs lined up for 2020, but alas, that pesky pandemic... Next we talked about hard work, and the fear of failing or looking bad. The humility to fail for the sake of learning and growth, is highlighted as a key mindset for the audio industry. We touch on the principle of "read the whole menu!" before getting back to the point of "it's ok to be terrible in the beginning!" Willa used to give herself "anti-pep pep talks" as a way to give herself permission to fail. We talk about the wonderful Dani Parks (https://rhythmgalaxy.com/dani-1 (https://rhythmgalaxy.com/dani-1)) from The Belmont (https://www.thebelmontaustin.com/ (https://www.thebelmontaustin.com/)) who was on Let's Talk ... Audio previously (https://www.beatsinabottle.com/letstalkaudio (https://www.beatsinabottle.com/letstalkaudio)). The Belmont is a wonderful venue to work with and they understand how important great organization is! Tangela shares how it is she met Dani Parks. There had been an event lined up with The Belmont of SXSW 2020 that Dani, Tangela, and Willa were all supposed to work together. In recalling how Willa had initially found out she would be working with them, "yay more estrogen! But I love my brothers in audio too!" However, being the only woman in the room gets a little old after a while. We discuss the disappointment we had at the SXSW cancellation. Willa strongly recommends listening to Primo the Alien (https://primothealien.com/ (https://primothealien.com/)). During the time of the SXSW cancellation and the start of Austin's lockdown, Willa, Primo, and some others started to organize a live stream gig. They had an anchor lady from KVUE (https://www.kvue.com/ (https://www.kvue.com/)) on tap for the event as well as sponsorship from PreSonus (https://www.presonus.com/ (https://www.presonus.com/)). Their DAW, Studio One 5 Artist was used to edit, mix and master this episode btw ;) Unfortunately that livestream event got cancelled as well due to Austin's shelter-in-place order (https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Order%2020200324-007%20-%20Stay%20Home%20-%20Work%20Safe.pdf (https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Order%2020200324-007%20-%20Stay%20Home%20-%20Work%20Safe.pdf)). After that cancellation, Willa found herself struggling with depression. So we talk about it, and how the pandemic has been a break...

durée : 00:30:09 - Panorama discographique : Thibaut Roussel et l'ensemble Conspirare - par : Sébastien Llinares - Un panorama discographique avec le nouvel album de Thibaut Roussel, "Le Coucher du Roi", paru chez Chateau de Versailles Spectacles, et la sortie de "The Singing Guitar" par l'ensemble Conspirare chez Delos. - réalisé par : Patrick Lérisset

American soprano Melissa Givens moves and excites audiences and critics alike with a rich, powerful tone, crystalline clarity, and intelligent musical interpretations. A champion for collaborative musical endeavors, Givens performs with various chamber groups, including Conspirare, the 2015 Grammy winner for Best Choral Performance. In today’s episode, Melissa and Randy will discuss the role of the arts in the journey towards social justice and racial equality.

Music Mondays featuring Conspirare and Founding Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. “When the Guitar” composed by Reena Esmail, performed by Conspirare in November 2019 at St. Luke's UMC and included in their album From The Singing Guitar. Soloists: Gitanjali Mathur, Estelí Gomez, Lauren McAllister, Dann Coakwell and Tim O'Brien.

Michael Shapiro in conversation with broadcaster and producer Elliott Forrest about his many productions such as Considering Matthew Shepard with Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare and original work called The Babbling Orchestra with Michael Shapiro. www.michaelshapiro.com www.elliottforrest.com

Mela Sarajane Dailey, is an accomplished, Grammy Award-winning musical artist, notably with the acclaimed Conspirare music ensemble, and other assorted melodic accomplishments. In one of our most fun segments yet, this dynamo from a small town in East Texas shares the secrets to successful style, both on-stage and off with Success With Style co-hosts Rob Giardinelli and Lance Avery Morgan. Listen now. Photo of Mela Sarajane Dailey courtesy of Joseph Moran Photography.

Mela Sarajane Dailey is one of the treasures of Austin’s Arts community. She is a a classically trained soprano with one Grammy and eight Grammy nominations under her belt for her work with the Austin choral ensemble, Conspirare. Mela SaraJane has sung with operas and orchestras around the world, including the Austin, Detroit, Rochester and […]

James K. Bass, three-time GRAMMY®-nominated singer and conductor, is Professor and Director of Choral Studies at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. James is on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and serves as the associate program director for the Professional Choral Institute. He is the Associate Conductor and Director of Education for the Miami based ensemble Seraphic Fire and is the Artistic Director of the Long Beach Camerata Singers. Bass is an active soloist and ensemble artist. He has appeared with numerous professional vocal ensembles including Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Trinity Wall Street, and more. He was the featured baritone soloist on the GRAMMY nominated recording Pablo Neruda: The Poet Sings with the GRAMMY winning ensemble Conpirare. He is one of 13 singers on the GRAMMY®-nominated disc A Seraphic Fire Christmas and appears on many other CD recordings. His professional career has coincided with the development of Seraphic Fire as one of the premier vocal ensembles in the United States. He has been actively involved as soloist, ensemble artist, editor, producer and preparer for 14 of the ensembles recordings and routinely conducts the ensemble in Miami and on tour. During the summer of 2011 he co-founded the Professional Choral Institute. In its inaugural year of recording, Seraphic Fire and PCI received the GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance for their recording of Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem. In 2017 Seraphic Fire and UCLA launched a new educational initiative entitled the Ensemble Artist Program that aims to identify and train the next generation of high-level ensemble singers.

This week on New Classical Tracks, Jake Runestad discusses the poetry and compositional process behind 'The Hope of Loving,' a new album of his choral music recorded by Craig Hella Johnson's Conspirare.

Reading for the DayJohn 20:19-23 (NRSV)

Craig Hella Johnson-Artistic Director of the Grammy Award Winning choral ensemble Conspirare, as well as Artist-in-Residence at TXST School of Music. Dr. Johnson talks with us about his Cantata Considering Matthew Shepard.

Craig Hella Johnson-Artistic Director of the Grammy Award Winning choral ensemble Conspirare, as well as Artist-in-Residence at TXST School of Music. Dr. Johnson talks with us about his Cantata Considering Matthew Shepard.

At First United Methodist Church on December 6, 2018 at 7:30 pm

How to Open Eyes To The Needs Of A Community At the age of twelve, David C. Smith says he already knew that his life would be dedicated to the cause of creating a world where “equality is the norm.” He remembers being impacted by the number of homeless he saw on the streets, during his first visit to New York City. With young eyes opened, it was clear David’s path forward would become ruled by a strong sense of social justice. “Once your eyes are opened to that,” Smith told us, “you start to see it everywhere and that’s where it just becomes part of the fabric of your life.” Speaking of fabric, Smith’s resume is a colorful tapestry, woven over twenty years of nonprofit and business leadership. He founded both the Hill Country Ride for Aids and the Mamma Jamma Ride for Breast cancer — two of the most successful fundraisers of their kind. He started his own consulting agency, with stints as interim CEO of a handful of local businesses like Conspirare and The Thinkery. Then two years ago, he came on board as CEO of United Way for Greater Austin, which ironically enough is a job he did his best to talk himself out of. You’ll have to listen to find out why. In this episode of Voices of Impact, David and I discuss some startling statistics about income disparity in Austin. We talk about the programs, challenges, successes and opportunities  behind re-energizing an almost century old organization. And David shares why time and again he finds the joy of giving one’s time and resources far exceeds the rewards of supporting the cause itself. To access the full audio, links and resources for David’s interview, visit: http://www.voicesofimpact.com/david-smith

As we do every Friday, we’ll be traveling across the state letting you know about places events that make Mississippi great!!! On today’s show we’re going to speak with Ki Harris with the Sunflower County Freedom Project about the student play “Crumbs from the Table of Joy”, then we'll speak with Jane Halbert-Jones about the Jackson City Tours. Next, we’ll talk to Patrick Welsh about Conspirare's oratorio "Considering Matthew Shepard" and end our trip with musical guest Keesha Pratt of the Keesha Pratt Band. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello, 2017!  To start off this new year we are joined by Tom Burritt, Director of Percussion Studies at UT, Austin.  Tom is known as a marimba soloist and percussionist for the twice GRAMMY-nominated choir Conspirare.  Additionally, his video-based episodic Axiom TV was one of the first dives into the combination of classical percussion and new technology.We talk about the details of his IP mallets, Joseph Schwantner, the "10,000 hour rule" of mastery, being a student for life, and "grit;" he also answers several questions from Facebook.Watch here. Listen below. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element 0:00 hello 3:25 Ted Jackson: Tom's new mallets from IP? 12:00 Joseph Schwantner 22:00 Gordon Stout: Your overall philosophy of teaching? 28:20 Micah Detweiler: Performing with vocal ensembles? 31:22 Caleb Pickering: Music in three dimensions? 38:50 Ben: Studying with Gordon Stout? 42:02 Tony Kirk: Time and balance? 45:54 10,000 hour "rule", "Student for Life", and "Grit" 59:27 Thom Hasenpflug: How you approach a MM student and a DMA student, level of autonomy / lit / etc. 1:01:28 Axiom TV/ what's next? 1:06:36 Quote

Jessica Valls has created a fascinating career as a double bass performer, educator, and free improvisor. She performs regularly with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and the vocal group Conspirare.  She also plays chamber music, jazz gigs, and solo performances. Jessica teaches at Southwestern University, Austin Community College, and Huston-Tillotson University.  She is also the founder ad director of the Austin Bass Workshop. Jessica is a dedicated free improvisor, incorporating singing, bass playing, and other elements on a regular basis into her performances. This episode is divided into three parts: Part 1 - Being Onstage Part 2 - Improvisation: The Hows and Whys Part 3 - Reflection and Advice Links to check out: Intermezzo by Reinhold Gliére - with improvised introduction from Jessica Improvisation from the first Austin Bass Workshop 2015 Considering Matthew Shepard - an ongoing project with Conspirare Group free improv - workshop video that we discuss Austin Bass Workshop Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: The Upton Bass String Instrument Company.  Upton's Concord model is the first truly authentic New England double bass that they’ve made. Beautiful sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as their Gary Karr Upton Double Bass), Busetto corners, Prescott ff-holes, flat maple back and sides (many grades available) with deep ribs (lined outside) and a deluxe spruce top combined with a finely detailed scroll, button and hand-cut tuners that pay homage to Prescott while keeping with their own highly-revered and uniquely New England tradition of instrument building. A440 Violin Shop - An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Bass Violin Shop -  Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Craig Johnson wrote a beautiful piece of music that commemorates a tragic event: the brutal beating of a young gay man. The piece asks listeners to consider Matt Shepard, the person who lived through the event, and to consider the life Shepard lived prior to the beating. In this episode, part 2 of our 2-part series on activism in classical music, Johnson talks about his Grammy-nominated choral work, “Considering Matthew Shepard.” He also talks about the strong and effective tool that classical music can be in bringing people together and in shedding light upon dark places. Music in this episode: Music from “Considering Matthew Shepard,” by Craig Hella Johnson By Johann Sebastian Bach B Minor Mass Prelude in C major from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier St. Matthew Passion Audio production by Todd “Hella” Hulslander with assistance from Dacia Clay and Mark DiClaudio. To learn more about Conspirare, go here. To learn more about the Laramie Project, go here.

Grammy-winning conductor/composer Craig Hella Johnson, founder and artistic director for the choral organization Conspirare, discusses his arresting new work, Considering Matthew Shepard.

Jake Runestad stops by to tell some stories of his youth, including "Old Kmart", the origins of "Nyon Nyon" (and "Ner Ner"), and his viewpoint as a composer when it comes to sharing his art with the world. An entertaining listen, sponsored by KI Concerts. Oliver Scofield of KI drops in to announce a World Premiere commission by Jake as well! Support our sponsor for this episode: KI Concerts Listen Jake's Bio Jake Runestad is an award-winning and frequently-performed composer of “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works. He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Arts Festival, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, and many more. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements, enabling him to be one of the youngest full-time composers in the world. Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. Has has also studied extensively with acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. A native of Rockford, IL, Mr. Runestad is currently based in Minneapolis, MN and his music is published by JR Music. Find out more at: JakeRunestad.com Links Jake's Soundcloud #ikeptliving on Twitter

Bobby Maddex interviews Craig Hella Johnson, the director of the Conspirare choir, and Vlad Morosan, the founder and president of Musica Russica who helped select the songs that Conspirare sing on their 2015 Grammy-award winning CD The Sacred Spirit of Russia.

Bobby Maddex interviews Craig Hella Johnson, the director of the Conspirare choir, and Vlad Morosan, the founder and president of Musica Russica who helped select the songs that Conspirare sing on their 2015 Grammy-award winning CD The Sacred Spirit of Russia.