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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2010 > December > 08 > Entry
Review: Conspirare’s ‘Christmas at the Carillon’
Framed between two Christmas trees, Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare brought their diverse sensibilities to their holiday concert on the Long Center’s main stage.
For all the decking of the hall — including colorful shawls for the women and a flock of poinsettias — the program was not festive in the strictly traditional sense. Integrating modern pop music with standards and traditionals, this year Conspirare’s choices trended toward the bittersweet.
Joining the chorus on stage were Patrice Pike, the Austin singer/songwriter, and percussionist Thomas Burritt. Pike, in a red pea coat, was the evening’s standout. She has instinctive stage presence and voice that effortlessly projects emotion.
At times the arrangements felt a little light on counterpoint, but backing up Pike, the choir’s effect was moving. Burritt’s marimba was a soft touch, but had moments that were mesmerizing.
The Christmas season isn’t all reindeer and bows, and this year’s concert made room to consider the melancholy that sometimes arrives with the year’s end. Both lyrically and in a host of quiet, spare arrangements, Conspirare and company were in a reflective mood.
A number of the selections in the collage, like Annie Lennox’s “Why,” and Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” effectively reflected on regret and the end of a relationship. Many delicate tunes featured just a solo or a small group of voices accompanying the piano.
On occasion, then, it was a relief to have the contemplative mood broken with the chorus at its full volume and energy.
The choir was joyous in its “Jubilate Deo,” and shined in more formal works, like “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and an extended and beautiful “Kyrie.”
The Old Crow Medicine Show’s country tune “Take ‘em Away,” brought a lightness and laughter from the crowd.
The delivery and lyrics (“Every year I just keep getting deeper in debt”) struck a chord, and reminded us that even calamity can be cathartic at Christmas.
Although some tunes felt overly sincere— as when the entire company turned to the audience to sing “True Colors” — these were in the minority. Pike’s original songs and her moving take on pop tunes helped steer mostly clear of treacle.
Even away from the church acoustics, the crowd was rewarded with powerful singing and a breathless, moving reverence for secular and spiritual songs.
Luke Quinton is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
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