Choral conductor to conduct clinics on campus

The word reverence perhaps best describes the way in which people talk about famed choral conductor, composer and singer, Craig Hella Johnson.

Conspire and Craig Hella Johnson during a rehearsal. Johnson is the University of Wyoming's music department Eminent Artist in Residence for the spring semester. He will conduct clinics and help teach several UW choirs, including the Singing Statesmen and the Bel Canto Women's choir. (Photo: Courtesy)

“He is this human being who is just bigger than life itself and he’s got this awareness of life, of people, of human beings just beyond what we can imagine.” Nicole Lamartine, director of choral activities at the University of Wyoming, said. “When he comes to do music, he dabbles in this thing called music and we partake of who he is.”

Johnson is the UW music department’s Eminent Artist in Residence for the spring semester. His residency started Jan. 30 and will end Feb. 3. During Johnson’s stay at UW, he will conduct clinics and help teach several UW choirs, including the Singing Statesmen and the Bel Canto Women’s Choir.

Ann McNair, Johnson’s executive assistant, began working for him six months ago, yet her enthusiasm for the position is evident when she speaks about her boss.

“I’m the luckiest person in the world,” McNair said.

Johnson’s main project is the choir he started in 1992, Conspirare. Johnson said he wanted to develop a professional choral ensemble because he felt that the U.S. didn’t have one. He said he hoped to bring a new level of professionalism with the group and he wanted to explore a broad variety of songs and styles. The ensemble contains a rotating roster of 77 singers of whom about 36 are usually selected to perform a certain show, Johnson said.

Conspirare has recorded 21 albums and will soon release two more, Johnson said. The ensemble has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and won an Edison Award in 2010 for excellence in the choral music category.

The ensemble will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary. To celebrate, Johnson said the group will perform in France and on the beach at Normandy in honor of the American soldiers killed during D-Day.

Johnson said he is very excited to have a residency at UW and that he is “really appreciating being here.” He said he thought that UW has a “tremendous group of young musicians.”

One song in particular seems special to Johnson. “Psalm of Life” is a piece that Johnson wrote about the young American poet, Mattie Stepanek, who died at the age of 13 from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, Johnson said. He will work on the song with the UW Collegiate Chorale, he said.

Johnson began singing because the voice is the “original instrument” and singing is a “beautiful way to express yourself,” he said.

The music department was able to bring Johnson to UW because of the Eminent Artist in Residence fund that Fine Arts receives each year, Lamartine said. This year, the largest portion of the money went to the theatre and dance program; they brought renowned dance choreographer, Bill T. Jones during the fall semester. However, a small portion was also allocated to the music department and they decided to bring Johnson, Lamartine said.

The decision came about, not only because of Johnson’s well-known reputation as one of the premier choral conductors in the U.S., but also because Lamartine spent time singing in Conspirare.

“It was the most inspiring and influencing experience in my musical career. I was able to see and to hear and to understand music on just another level that I had never experienced before,” Lamartine said. “He is the music. He’s not concerned about the gesture. He’s just there to be in this common humanity making music.”

Lamartine said she began singing as a child. Often, she would sing songs using a hairbrush as her imaginary microphone, she said. She came to UW four years ago and said conducting and teaching at UW has brought her great joy.

Lamartine conducts two UW choirs, the Collegiate Chorale and the Singing Statesmen. She also advises the a cappella group, the Happy Jacks.

UW offers degrees in voice and music education, both of which require choir classes, Lamartine said.

Johnson conducted a clinic Monday with the UW Collegiate Chorale. They rehearsed three pieces, “Psalm of Life,” “Hard Times” and “Requiem.” His other Monday rehearsal was with the Bel Canto Women’s Choir and the UW Singing Statesmen. They worked on the pieces, “Will There Really Be a Morning” and “This Is My Song.”

David Knight

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