Three questions with Craig Hella Johnson
Thursday, January 31, 2008Come July, Grammy Award-nominated Austin choir Conspirare will be the only choir from the United States attending the Eighth World Symposium on Choral Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. For the European concert, Conspirare director Craig Hella Johnson crafted a program, "I Dream A World," that showcases American choral classics. But this weekend Conspirare gives Austin the premiere of "I Dream A World" — which takes its title from a Langston Hughes poem of the same name. African American spirituals, choral works by contemporary American composers Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre, songs by Dolly Parton and Eliza Gilkyson and American choral classics from Colonial times to the present day merge in what Johnson says will "demonstrate the transformative power of music to blur the divisions between borders, countries and ideologies." Here, we ask Johnson a few more questions about "I Dream A World."
XL: Why create a program of American music now, in 2008? And why take it abroad?
Rodolfo Gonzalez 2003 AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Craig Hella Johnson gives Austin a sneak peek at what Conspirare is planning for the Eighth World Symposium on Choral Music in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Craig Hella Johnson:Since we are the only American choir singing at the World Symposium in Denmark this summer, they really want us to sing American music. In the midst of these difficult times, some of this gorgeous music reminds me of the beauty in our culture.
Among other works Conspirare is singing in the upcoming program this weekend is Eliza Gilkyson's 'Requiem,' Dolly Parton's 'Light of a Clear Blue Morning,' and also works of more classical style. Why the eclectic approach?
I'm always interested in breaking down these borders between classical and popular music, between sacred and secular, between art music and folk music. Both Eliza and Dolly are amazing songwriters and it's such a joy to bring these surprises into a classical program. Listeners are often quite amazed at how a Latin chant setting can be illuminated by Eliza's "Requiem" and vice versa. The musical voices start really talking to each other.
Samuel Barber's haunting Baroque-like 'Adagio for Strings' is one of the most popular pieces of classical music, reprised in films like 'Platoon,' 'The Elephant Man' and 'El Norte.' Now, you're doing the choral version of the 'Adagio,' 'Agnus Dei,' yet you've held off for doing so before now because of the difficulty of the piece. What makes it so difficult?
The phrases are just soooooo long for singers to sustain, and the dramatic arc is so challenging to build. It's such a physically and musically demanding work, and it can be hard to pull off. I go between this being one of my favorite pieces of choral music and my worst nightmare to rehearse. But it is certainly one of the most important pieces in the American choral repertoire.
— Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
'I Dream A World' plays at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31 at University Presbyterian Church, 2203 San Antonio St.; and 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th St. $14-$30. 476-5775, www.conspirare.org.
