Conspirare
Encyclopedia
Conspirare is a choral ensemble
based out of Austin, Texas
. They were formed in 1991 by conductor and musical director Craig Hella Johnson as New Texas Festival but did not begin to regularly perform until 1999. They have released four albums and one DVD and have been nominated for five Grammy Award
s.
. They have also played such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall
and Lincoln Center
. Their music was featured in the 2006 documentary The Mystery of Love.
. Robert Faires of The Austin Chronicle described the album's qualities as "sensitivity to text, purity of vocal tone, and, of course, those long, lush harmonies, with voices melding seamlessly into sounds that are achingly lovely". Tracks include "Deep River
" and "Sleep
".
in 2009. It was recorded at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
. The album has a "somber theme of death and loss", with Requiem Masses
by Herbert Howells
and Ildebrando Pizzetti
and a memorial for tsunami
victims by Eliza Gilkyson
. The album received two Grammy nominations
for Best Engineered Album, Classical
and Best Choral Performance
. In 2010, it received an Edison Award, the Dutch equivalent on a Grammy.
. The chorus is accompanied by the Company of Strings. It was released by Harmonia Mundi Records
in 2008. The album was recorded in October 2007, and like Requiem, at the Troy Music Hall. The tracks are based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
, Pablo Neruda
, Kathleen Raine
and Emily Dickinson
. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard Top Classical Album chart
and received two Grammy nominations
for Best Classical Album
and Best Choral Performance
.
station, KLRU
. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album
.
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
based out of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. They were formed in 1991 by conductor and musical director Craig Hella Johnson as New Texas Festival but did not begin to regularly perform until 1999. They have released four albums and one DVD and have been nominated for five Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s.
History
Conspirare, originally New Texas Festival, was formed in 1991 as a week-long series of vocal performances every summer in Austin, Texas. They did not begin having a fuller schedule of concerts until 1999. They regularly play music festivals in the area including specials for Christmas and in celebration of the music of BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. They have also played such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
. Their music was featured in the 2006 documentary The Mystery of Love.
Through the Green Fuse
Their first release was 2004's Through the Green Fuse on Clarion Records. It was recorded in early August 2004 over two days at the Skywalker RanchSkywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a...
. Robert Faires of The Austin Chronicle described the album's qualities as "sensitivity to text, purity of vocal tone, and, of course, those long, lush harmonies, with voices melding seamlessly into sounds that are achingly lovely". Tracks include "Deep River
Deep River (song)
"Deep River" is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. It has been sung in several films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat, although it was not used in the original show...
" and "Sleep
Sleep (choral song)
Sleep is a choral composition by Eric Whitacre. It was originally set to the text of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" however, Whitacre never secured permission to use the poem. After a long battle, the estate of Robert Frost forbade Whitacre from using the text until it became...
".
Requiem
Requiem, their second offering, was also on Clarion in 2006 and re-released on Harmonia Mundi RecordsHarmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
in 2009. It was recorded at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
. The album has a "somber theme of death and loss", with Requiem Masses
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
by Herbert Howells
Herbert Howells
Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...
and Ildebrando Pizzetti
Ildebrando Pizzetti
Ildebrando Pizzetti was an Italian composer of classical music.- Biography :Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" along with Ottorino Respighi and Gian Francesco Malipiero. They were among the first Italian composers in some time whose primary contributions...
and a memorial for tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
victims by Eliza Gilkyson
Eliza Gilkyson
Eliza Gilkyson is an Austin, Texas-based folk musician. She is the daughter of songwriter and folk musician Terry Gilkyson and Jane Gilkyson. She is the sister of guitarist Tony Gilkyson, who played with the Los Angeles-based bands Lone Justice and X...
. The album received two Grammy nominations
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Engineered Album, Classical
Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording, Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record ...
and Best Choral Performance
Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance has been awarded since 1961. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*In 1961 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Choral ...
. In 2010, it received an Edison Award, the Dutch equivalent on a Grammy.
Threshold of Night
Tarik O'Regan: Threshold of Night is Conspirare's third release. It is a collection of compositions by Tarik O'ReganTarik O'Regan
Tarik O'Regan , full name Tarik Hamilton O'Regan , is a British composer, partly of Algerian extraction. His compositions number over 90 and are partially represented on 22 recordings which have been recognised with two GRAMMY nominations. He is also the recipient of two British Composer Awards...
. The chorus is accompanied by the Company of Strings. It was released by Harmonia Mundi Records
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
in 2008. The album was recorded in October 2007, and like Requiem, at the Troy Music Hall. The tracks are based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Jessie Raine was a British poet, critic, and scholar writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Platonism and Neoplatonism, she was a founder member of the Temenos Academy.-Life:Raine was...
and Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard Top Classical Album chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and received two Grammy nominations
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Classical Album
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes:*From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year - Classical...
and Best Choral Performance
Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance has been awarded since 1961. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*In 1961 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Choral ...
.
A Company of Voices
Their fourth recording, A Company of Voices - Conspirare in Concert, was released in 2009 by Harmonia Mundi Records on both CD and DVD. It was recorded live at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin in October 2008. The show was recorded by the local PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
station, KLRU
KLRU
KLRU is the local Public Broadcasting Service member public television station in Austin, Texas, in the United States of America.-History:...
. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album
Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album
The Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album was awarded from 1999 to 2011.The award will be discontinued from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Basically, the Best Classical Crossover Album category will disappear. If a classical crossover release is a non-classical artist...
.