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SEASON FINALE

GREAT BIG CHORUSES: FROM BROADWAY TO BEETHOVEN

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GREAT BIG CHORUSES: FROM BROADWAY TO BEETHOVEN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2015, 4:00 PMDell Hall, Long Center for the Performing Arts

Pre-concert talk one hour before the performance:Margaret Perry, Director, Armstrong Community Music School

CONSPIRARE SYMPHONIC CHOIRCONSPIRARE COMPANY OF VOICESVICTORIA BACH FESTIVAL CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA

MELA DAILEY, SOPRANO

LAURA MERCADO-WRIGHT, MEZZO-SOPRANO

ERIC NEUVILLE, TENOR

CHARLES WESLEY EVANS, BARITONE

CRAIG HELLA JOHNSONARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

SEASON SUSTAINING UNDERWRITER

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PROGRAMDe D i c at e D to Bo B Ka r l i

Sanctus (Messa de Requiem) ..................................................................Giuseppi Verdi (1813-1901)

Zadok the Priest ................................................................................George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Agnus Dei (Requiem, Op. 48) ...............................................................Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Sanctus (Requiem, Op. 9) ......................................................................Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Dies irae (Requiem in D minor, K. 626) .....................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

ed. Süssmayer

Lacrimosa (Requiem in D minor, K. 626) ......................................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

ed. Süssmayer

Let Us Join in Celebration ................................................................... Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)

(The Bartered Bride) choral arr. Greg Pliska

O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) ............................................................................. Carl Orff (1895-1982)

Geistliches Lied ..........................................Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), arr. Sir John Eliot Gardiner

The Heavens Are Telling (The Creation) ................................. Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)

— INTERMISSION —

So Long As Days Shall Be .......................................................................Donald Grantham (b. 1947)

World premiere

It’s a Grand Night for Singing (State Fair) ....................................Richard Rogers (1902-1979) orchestral arr. Bruce Pomahac

Till There Was You (The Music Man) .......................................... Meredith Willson (1902-1984) orchestral arr. Don Walker

Finale “Ode to Joy” (Symphony No. 9 in D minor) ........... Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

GREAT BIG CHORUSES PROGRAM NOTES

By default, everything the combined Conspirare/Victoria chorus sings is big. Among these are big choruses—mostly excerpted from larger works—that rise to the level of greatness. Some you may have sung yourself at a Conspirare “Big Sing,” others are familiar favorites, and one on this program is a world premiere.

The joyful and dancelike “Sanctus” from Verdi’s Requiem is a contrast and a brief relief from the somber character of most of the work. The double chorus’s surges of enthusiasm are mirrored in the virtuoso orchestral accompaniment, culminating in upward and downward sweeps near the end and closing in a blaze of choral-orchestral glory.

Handel’s four Coronation Anthems were commissioned for the crowning of George II in 1727. The longest and most familiar, Zadok the Priest, has been used at every British coronation since. As site-specific artworks, Handel composed the anthems in broad, emphatic strokes to suit the vast space and reverberation of Westminster Abbey.

Choruses are not great only from being loud and dramatic. The Requiem Mass movements by French Romantic composers Fauré (“Agnus Dei”) and Duruflé (“Sanctus”) offer a complete contrast to the theatrical “Sanctus” of Verdi. Their overall restraint and transparency evoke a divine image that is more personal and familiar while still mysteriously complex and awe-inspiring.

A movement from Mozart’s Requiem Mass returns to a Classic view of the texts, with the “Dies irae” (Day of Wrath) depicting God as the Eternal Judge in fiery trumpets, timpani, flaming strings, and chorus phrases like glowing embers. The later “Lacrimosa” (“Tearful”) section of the Dies irae text extends the image of fire transformed to the ashes and tears of the guilty sinner.

Smetana’s comic opera The Bartered Bride has always been popular in his Czech homeland but rarely produced in the United States, with only its overture and dance numbers regularly excerpted for concert use. Now that there is a renewed enthusiasm for the institution of marriage, a revival of at least this (mostly) joyful chorus of villagers extolling the virtues of marriage seems appropriate.

Orff’s Carmina Burana is a setting of sometimes-bawdy love and drinking songs from the Middle Ages, an innovative pouring of old wine into a new wineskin. The opening “O Fortuna” is a perennial audience

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favorite and one of the most massive of big choruses. It drives home its depiction of fickle fate with overwhelming choral thrusts backed up by immense orchestra with intense percussion.

With its hopeful and consoling text, Brahms’s Geistliches Lied, in this string orchestra arrangement of the original organ-accompanied version, could almost be a bonus movement to the composer’s later A German Requiem. The broad, expansive gestures and profound calm of the music express the acceptance of God’s grace and the renunciation of all worry.

By age 65, Haydn knew what worked in musical composition, and he put it to fullest use in his masterpiece The Creation. Part One of the oratorio ends with this famous chorus winding up the fourth day of creation. The three angel soloists lead the heavenly host (the rapid beating of their wings painted in the strings) in this increasingly ecstatic number, cunningly designed to close Act I with a bang.

Rodgers and Hammerstein originally wrote “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” for the movie State Fair. Hayseed siblings have run into new big-city romances at the Iowa State Fair, and all looks rosy for the time being. The sweeping waltz melody is reminiscent of traditional American hits like “After the Ball” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

More from Iowa: native son Meredith Willson spent almost a decade perfecting The Music Man before its Broadway premiere. Its loving portrayal of the American heartland features Marian the Librarian, whose romantic passion had never been awakened “Till There Was You,” that is, “Professor” Harold Hill, the charlatan band director. The couple is improbably but unavoidably united in the last moments of this finale.

A blow-by-blow description of music is for once appropriate in understanding the finale of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the first symphony ever to include a chorus and perhaps the greatest of the great big choruses, often quoted in spinoff versions. The entire opening section of the movement may be seen as a rhetorical/dramatic justification of the inclusion of voices in what had traditionally been an instrumental form:

1. The “chorus” of instruments enters with a chaotic expression of dissonant fury.

2. The low strings’ “solo” counters with an instrumental recitative that seems to plead for something more peaceful.

3. A dialogue ensues in which the orchestra suggests snippets of themes from the symphony’s earlier movements; the lower strings reject these and finally introduce their own new melody, the “Ode to Joy” theme.

4. The orchestra seems to agree and develops the theme extensively, but then doubts itself and abruptly returns to the furious opening music.

5. Now only the entrance of the human voice—the baritone solo recitative—can calm the chaos. He begs for peace and re-introduces the “Ode to Joy” melody, this time with words.

6. The human chorus agrees immediately and continues with variations on the theme that develop into the extended movement.

–eric leiBrocK

COMPOSER NOTE:SO LONG AS DAYS SHALL BE

So Long as Days Shall Be takes its text from The Bay Psalm Book, which was first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This translation of the psalms was the first book in English to be produced in America, appearing just twenty years after the Pilgrims’ arrival. “Thirty pious and learned ministers” including John Eliot and Richard Mather (grandfather of Cotton Mather of Salem witch trial fame) authored the work. Their translation is metrical, roughly-rhymed, and—in their view—closer to the Hebrew originals than the ones found in other psalters of the period. They sound rather eccentric to modern ears; none are now in common use and all have disappeared from contemporary hymnals. It was precisely this unfamiliar aspect that appealed to me as a composer, and I chose two of the most familiar psalms—23 and 100—to set to music. I heard these texts in a new and fresh way when I first read them because of the striking contrast with the traditional versions that I knew. Psalms 23 and 100 are very different in tone and character: the first is serene and pastoral, while the second, the Jubilate Deo, is celebratory and boisterous. The music proceeds from the first to the second without pause, and the settings share some of the same material. So Long as Days Shall Be was commissioned by the Victoria Bach Festival.

–DonalD Grantham

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Sanctus (Messa de Requiem) Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Holy, Holy, HolyDeus Dominus Sabaoth! Lord God of Sabaoth!Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in excelsis! Hosanna in the highest!

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in excelsis!

Hosanna in the highest!-ORDINARY OF THE MASS

Zadok the Priest Zadok the priest / And Nathan the prophet Anointed Solomon king;And all the people / Rejoiced and said:God save the king / Long live the kingMay the king live forever / Amen, alleluia.

-1 KINGS I, 39, 40

Agnus Dei (Requiem, Op. 48) Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,dona eis requiem. grant them rest.Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine

May light eternal shine upon them, Lord,Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,

with your saints forever,

TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS quia pius es for you are merciful.

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, Grant them eternal rest, Lord,

et lux perpetua luceat eis. and may light always shine upon them.-ORDINARY OF THE MASS

Sanctus (Requiem, Op. 9) Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus

Holy, Holy, HolyDeus Dominus Sabaoth!

Lord God of Sabaoth!Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in excelsis!

Hosanna in the highest!

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in excelsis!

Hosanna in the highest!-ORDINARY OF THE MASS

Dies irae (Requiem in D minor, K. 626) Dies irae, dies illa

Day of wrath, day of mourning,Solvet saeclum in favilla,

The world dissolved in ashes,teste David cum Sibylla.

As foretold by David and the Sibyl.Quantus tremor est futurus,

What fear will be,

quando judex est venturus, When the Judge has come

cuncta stricte discussurus! To examine all things strictly.-REQUIEM MASS

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Lacrimosa (Requiem D minor, K. 626) Lacrimosa dies illa,

Day of tears and mourning,qua resurget ex favilla

When all humanity rises judicandus homo reus.

From the ashes for judgment.Huic ergo parce, Deus,

By your mercy spare them, Lord.pie Jesu Domine,

Gentle Lord Jesus,dona eis requiem. Amen.

grant them eternal rest. Amen.-REQUIEM MASS

Let us Join in Celebration (Opening Chorus from The Bartered Bride) Let us join in celebration.Thanks to God for health and joy, happiness.Who can tell what next year brings us?Will we see a time of joy, healthiness?Married men or married women: Who will most enjoy the revel?Wives at home are never sleeping,Husbands out are pleasure seeking.

Ouvej! Ouvej!Joy of youth will fade,Soon we’ll drown in worries!Troubles! Tribulations! Ouvej!

Let us join in celebration.Thanks to God for health and joy, happiness.We are only truly happy when we make the best of life!

-KAREL SABINA; TRANSL. MILENA LEWIS, GREG PLISKA

O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) AUDIENCE PLEASE SING ALONG AS DIRECTED FROM THE STAGEO Fortuna, / velut Luna / statu variabilis,

O Fortune! / Like the moon / ever-changing,semper crescis / aut decrescis;

rising first / then declining;vita detestabilis / nunc obdurat

hateful life / treats us badlyet tunc curat / ludo mentis aciem,

then with kindness / making sport with our desiresegestatem, / potestatem

causing power / and poverty alikedissolvit ut glaciem.

to melt like ice.Sors immanis / et inanis,

Dread destiny / and empty fate,rota tu volubilis,

an ever-turning wheel,status malus, / vana salus

who make adversity / and fickle health semper dissolubilis,

alike turn to nothing,obumbrata / et velata

in the dark / and secretlymichi quoque niteris;

you work against me;nunc per ludum / dorsum nudum

how through your trickery / my naked backfero tui sceleris.

is turned to you unarmed.Sors salutis / et virtutis Good fortune / and strengthmichi nunc contraria.

now are turned from me.est affectus / et defectus

Affection / and defeatsemper in angaria.

are always on duty.Hac in hora / sine mora

Come now, / without delay

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corde pulsum tangite; pluck the strings;

quod per sortem / sternit fortem, and since by fate / the strong are overthrown

mecum omnes plangite. weep ye all with me.-LATIN GOLIARDIC POEM, C. 13TH CENTURY

Geistliches Lied Laß dich nur nichts nicht dauren mit Trauren, Do not be sorrowful or regretful;sei stille, wie Gott es fügt,

Be calm, as God has ordained, so sei vergnügt mein Wille!

and thus my will shall be content.

Was willst du heute sorgen auf morgen? What do you want to worry about from day to day?Der Eine steht allem für,

There is One who stands above all der gibt auch dir das Deine.

who gives you, too, what is yours.

Sei nur in allem Handel ohn Wandel, Only be steadfast in all you do,

steh feste, was Gott beschleußt, stand firm; what God has decided,

das ist und heißt das Beste. Amen. that is and must be the best. Amen.-PAUL FLEMMING

The Heavens Are Telling (The Creation) Chorus:The heavens are telling the glory of God.With wonder of his works resounds the firmament.

Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael:Revealed are his ways by day unto dayBy night that is gone to following night.

Chorus:The heavens are telling…

Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael:In all the land is known the Word,Every ear will harken, never tongue be dumb.

Chorus:The heavens are telling…

-PSALM 19, 1-3

•••••• INTERMISSION ••••••

So Long As Days Shall BeThe Lord to me a shepherd is; want therefore shall not I:He in the folds of tender grass doth cause me down to lie.

To waters calm me gently leads; restores my soul doth he:He doth in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake lead me.

Yea, though in valley of death’s shade I walk, none ill I’ll fear;Because Thou art with me, thy rod and staff me comfort still.

For me a table thou hast spread in presence of my foes: Thou dost anoint my head with oil, my cup it overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my days shall surely follow me,And in the Lord’s house I shall dwell so long as days shall be.

Make ye a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all the earth:Serve ye Jehovah with gladness: before Him come with mirth.Know, that Jehovah He is God;Not we ourselves, but He hath made us,His people and sheep of his pasture are we.

O enter ye into His gates with praise,O enter ye his courts with thankfulness,O enter ye with praise and thankfulness.

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Confess to Him, and His name do ye bless.Because Jehovah he is good, His bounteous mercy is everlasting:And his truth is to eternity. Amen.

-THE BAY PSALM BOOK, PSALMS 23 AND 100

It’s a Grand Night for Singing AUDIENCE PLEASE SING ALONG AS DIRECTED FROM THE STAGE

Chorus It’s a grand night for singing, / The moon is flying high, And somewhere a bird / Who is bound he’ll be heard Is throwing his heart at the sky! It’s a grand night for singing, / The stars are bright above.The earth is a-glow / And to add to the show,I think I am falling in love! / Falling, falling in love.

Maybe it’s more than the moon, / Maybe it’s more than the birds,Maybe it’s more than sight of the night, / In a light too lovely for words. Maybe it’s more than the earth / Shiny and silvery blue.Maybe the reason I’m feeling this way / Has something to do with you!

ChorusIt’s a grand night for singing...

-OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Till There Was You (The Music Man) There were bells on the hill, but I never heard them ringing,No, I never heard them at all, till there was you.There were birds in the sky, but I never saw them winging;No, I never saw them at all, till there was you.

And there was music, and there were wonderful roses,They tell me, in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew.There was love all around, but I never heard it singing;No, I never heard it at all, till there was you!

-MEREDITH WILLSON

Finale (Ode to Joy), Symphony No. 9 in D minor O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!

Oh friends, not these sounds!Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, Let us instead strike up more pleasingund freudenvollere.

and more joyful ones!Freude! Freude!

Joy! Joy!

Freude, schöner Götterfunken Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,

Tochter aus Elysium, Daughter from Elysium,

Wir betreten feuertrunken, We enter, burning with fervor,

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! heavenly being, your sanctuary!

Deine Zauber binden wieder Your magic brings together

Was die Mode streng geteilt; what fashion has sternly divided.

Alle Menschen werden Brüder, All men shall become brothers,

Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. wherever your gentle wings hover.

Wem der große Wurf gelungen, Whoever has been lucky enough

Eines Freundes Freund zu sein; to become a friend to a friend,

Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Whoever has found a beloved wife,

Mische seinen Jubel ein! let him join our songs of praise!

Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Yes, and anyone who can call one soul

Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! his own on this earth!

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Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle Any who cannot, let them slink away

Weinend sich aus diesem Bund! from this gathering in tears!

Freude trinken alle Wesen

Every creature drinks in joyAn den Brüsten der Natur;

at nature’s breast;Alle Guten, alle Bösen

Good and Bad alike Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.

follow her trail of roses.

Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, She gives us kisses and wine,

Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; a true friend, even in death;

Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, Even the worm was given desire,

Und der Cherub steht vor Gott. and the cherub stands before God

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Gladly, just as His suns hurtle

Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, through the glorious universe,

Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, So you, brothers, should run your course,

Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen. joyfully, like a conquering hero.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Be embraced, you millions!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! This kiss is for the whole world!

Brüder, über’m Sternenzelt Brothers, above the canopy of stars

Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. must dwell a loving father.

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen? Do you bow down before Him, you millions?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Do you sense your Creator, o world?

Such’ ihn über’m Sternenzelt! Seek Him above the canopy of stars!

Über Sternen muss er wohnen. He must dwell beyond the stars.-FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER

“It’s A Grand Night for Singing” Copyright © 1945 by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II. Copyright Renewed Williamson Music (ASCAP), an Imagem Company, owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

“Till There Was You” Lyrics reprinted with permission of MTI Enterprises Inc.

Special thanks to Ben R. King for translation assistance

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SOLOISTS

MELA DAILEY, SOPRANOAs a winner of competitions sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs, Metropolitan Opera, New York University, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Downbeat magazine, and Connecticut Opera Guild, Mela (mee-la) Dailey has command of both her instrument and the stage. In the 2015-2016 season, she will make her debuts with the Florida and Grand Rapids orchestras and return as a soloist with the Chattanooga and Austin Symphony orchestras for performances of Samuel Bar-

ber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Poulenc’s Gloria. Ms. Dailey is Artistic Director of Life in the City, (lifeinthecityaustin.org), a United Methodist congregation in Austin, and the Special Gifts Officer for Conspirare. melaDailey.com

LAURA MERCADO-WRIGHT, MEZZO-SOPRANOAt home in a variety of musical genres, Laura Mercado-Wright’s performances have been praised as “stunningly agile” and “dramati-cally astute” by the New York Times. She has been a featured soloist with the Met Chamber Orchestra, Boston Pops, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Gotham Chamber Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Ensemble Sig-nal, Tanglewood Music Festival, Guggenheim Works and Process, and Mark Morris Dance Group. She has sung with Conspirare Company of

Voices since 2011, and was nominated in 2014 for an Austin Critics Table Award for best Classical Singer. lauramercaDowriGht.com

ERIC NEUVILLE, TENORA regular on both operatic and concert stages throughout the country, Eric Neuville has been praised for his “golden, Mozartean tenor and perfect command of both nuance and melodrama” (Tacoma News Tribune). He has performed with Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Tacoma Opera, and Opera Fairbanks; as well as the Austin Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Victoria Bach Festival. Upcoming performanc-es include Adamo’s Little Women with Madison Opera, Gabriel Fauré’s

Pénélope with Vespertine Opera, and Carmina Burana with the Tucson Symphony Or-chestra. Dr. Neuville is a graduate of St. Olaf College, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Washington. ericneuvilletenor.com

CHARLES WESLEY EVANS, BARITONEApplauded by the New York Times for his “elegant, mellifluous and expressive baritone,” Charles Wesley Evans is establishing a fine career as an early music artist and recitalist, performing throughout the United States and abroad. He has recently appeared with the Princ-eton Pro Musica chorus and orchestra, Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus, Dryden Ensemble, TENET, Berkshire Baroque, Master Chorale of South Florida, and in “Baroque Masterpieces” with

the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Evans is proud to be on the Conspirare Com-pany of Voices roster as well as those of Grammy®-nominated ensembles Seraphic Fire and Trinity Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street.

PROCESSIONAL - LIFE IN THE CITY UMCColin BayEllie ByromJon DurhamLisa Goeller Ansel HarlanAubrey HarlanEllis HarlanLauren HorstHilan KeagyJohn KeagyRachel KeagyDebra LawsonKevin Lawson Susan LubinKathryn Jane MurrayCrystal PaullJaden PaullJP PaullLaura PavlasLisa RadebaughDaniel RosenbladValerie Sansing

PRODUCTION TEAMViera Buzgova, Stage ManagerStephen Pruitt, Production DesignerSamuel Parrott, Supertitle OperatorJim Volkema, Procession Rachel AtkinsonZac CroffordJason GallardoMichael KrieseNomad SoundDallas TateWith special thanks to Jim Larkin and The Long

Center production staff. All stage employees of the Long Center for the Performing Arts are represented by IATSE Local #205.

FRIENDS & SUPPORTERSAustin American-StatesmanAustin ChronicleChez ZeeFirst Austin Church -

Louise Avant & Marshall SmithGusto Italian Kitchen & Wine BarJames HallidayRobert Harlan

Helen HaysHornaday DesignCaroline KaneKMFA-FMKUT/KUTX FMHenry LeightonChristopher Novosad, Tiki2.comPhilip OverbaughSt. Cecilia Music SeriesSessi, Chamberlain & Stewart, LLPSouth Texas Money Management –

Jeanie Wyatt, Josie DorrisTexas Performing ArtsUniversity Federal Credit UnionVictoria Bach FestivalRay Votolato

Piano courtesy of Scott & White Healthcare CONSPIRARE AMBASSADORS & ARTIST HOSTSDarrell BlandfordLinda BuehlmannSam & Anne ByarsBob ClaggettCatherine ClarkLucinda CoakwellFran & Larry CollmannRick & Jeanne FarleighSusanna FinnellGlenda GoehrsTim & Sarah HillBill & Donna HulseyBobbie HuffmannEric Leibrock & Ellen JusticeEd & Eileen LundyRay & Kathy MooreJack & Susan RobertsonRobert & Janice RyanTenaya SunburyBernadette TasherTeresa Tice-BoggsPatrick & Julie Willis Ryan & Sheila Youngblood

Conspirare Ambassadors volunteer as ushers, CD sales associates, artist hosts, and for other concert functions. We invite new volunteers who enjoy meeting the public and contributing to Conspirare’s operations to contact House Manager Kathy Leighton at kleighton@conspirare.org to learn more.

THANK YOU

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VICTORIA BACH FESTIVAL CHORUSDuane Roth, conDuctor

SOPRANO Jennifer Allison Janet Born Persephanie CanoRebecca DiGangi Eugenie Furman Jo Ann Hoffman Ashley Hunter JoBeth Kee-Rees Sara Sawey Connie Sistrunk Beth Spiller

ALTO Sallye Allen-Denison Elisa CoffeyKelley Moody Billie Southern Shirley Williamson

TENOR Don Eastham Carmelita Kessler Jonathan Drozd Bradley Luna Kenneth Beal

BASS Keith Cox Emil E. Matula Willord Simmons Richard Kessler

Dr. Marylynn Fletcher, rehearsal pianist

VICTORIA BACH FESTIVAL ORCHESTRACraig Hella Johnson, conDuctor

VIOLIN I Stephen Redfield, concertmaster

Corinne Stillwell, principal

Paula BirdBeth BlackerbyKaren ClarkeBruce ColsonAlejandro Ferriera Jackson Guillen Juan JaramilloKerri LayElise Winters

VIOLIN II Katie Wolfe, principal

James Anderson Helen Bravanec Joan CarlsonJennifer Dalmas Susan DoeringKorine FujiwaraBoel GidholmGesa KordesAnna LuceNina Mavrinac

VIOLA Bruce Williams, principal

Ames AsbellMelissa BrewerMartha CarapetyanJann CosartSuzanna Giordano-GignacGreg LuceJill Van Gee

CELLODouglas Harvey, principal

Chris HaritatosFrank JenkinsShawn SandersGreg SauerDieter Wulfhorst

DOUBLE BASS Melanie Punter, principal

Joseph FarrisAndrew PotterRicardo Zuniga

FLUTEAdah Toland Jones, principal

Adrienne InglesRita Linard, piccolo

OBOEIan Davidson, principal

Michael Johnson Jennifer Bernard, enGlish horn

CLARINETVanguel Tangarov, principal

Alan OlsonMary Schani, Bass clarinet

BASSOON Nathan Koch, principal

Laura Miller Daniel Chrisman,

contraBassoon

William Hilbert

HORNTom Hale, principal

Jill RodriguezMargaret AyerAnneMarie Cherry

TRUMPETShelby Lewis, principal

Louie EckardtKeith WinkingRon Ledbetter

TROMBONENathaniel Brickens, principal

Owen Homayoun, assistant principal

Phil Arno

TUBARaul Rodriguez

PIANO Faith DeBow

HARP Elaine Barber

TIMPANI Matt Teodori

PERCUSSIONGraeme Francis, principal

Adam Bedell Sean Harvey

ARTISTS

CONSPIRARE SYMPHONIC CHOIR CONSPIRARE COMPANY OF VOICESCraig Hella Johnson, artistic Director anD conDuctor

Rick Gabrillo, assistant conDuctor

Cina Crisara, rehearsal conDuctor

ARTISTS

SOPRANOErika BaconAmy Crouch ColemanCina Crisara*Amber Deem-MullikinVirginia ElizondoRebecca EllisSusan Fernandez*Lori FisherGwen FloryCaroline FrommholdEstelí GomezMargaret HendersonJen HittMelissa Huebsch-StroudMillicent JardineCharlotte Shivers JohnsonMonica L JohnsonJulie KeimKatie KuhnEva LaskarisZoe LittletonCynthia LuxKari McDonaldSuzanne MitchellElizabeth MoyleRebecca Muñiz*Angela PadillaSara PavliscakBrittany RoachLena SalhaSenaida San MiguelBrittany SpongJen TillerAllison TuckerKirsten Watson*

ALTOAnna Morman WelchLouise AvantBrooke BeasleyWendy BloomJanet Carlsen CampbellFran CollmannMary Anne ConnollyKatie De La VegaAlicia DenneyMelissa J. EddyKaren FincherCheryl FullerGlenda Goehrs

Kristen GraeterHelen HaysHelen KarloskiLou Ann LasherKathy LeightonNancy LeschKatie LessleyKendra Lipman*Beverly McCune Julia McDonaldRebecca MillerMorgan MingleLindsay NelsonCourtney NevaBarbara A. O’BrienSusan Ohlrich*Andrea L. PobanzLinda Blair Ramsey*Flo Ann RandleHeather RosenDeborah RuppChristy SalinasGabrielle SanchezDiana Sanchez-BushongSteven SerpaMary SimonAgatha TorkuLauren VickChandi Wagner

TENORAnne BertholfChris BoverouxHoward BurkettJ.D. BurnettBob ClagettDaniel CooperPaul D’ArcyBodie GilbertAdam GonzalezLoel GraberTimothy HissamCarr HornbuckleWilliam N. Hulsey IIIJon KellyRobbie LaBancaBill LasherJon-Michael LeesDavid LindquistJim MaxwellKer Medero

Jos MiltonWilson NicholsPaula PriourLouis RenaudDick RewJonathan Riemer*Miguel RobertsEli SalazarAsher StreetsChris TuggeyRaymond Votolato

BASSRoland BarreraCameron BeauchampCaleb Bennetch*Paul ByarsLarry CollmannMarshal CrenshawRick Gabrillo*Bradford GleimGary GodfreyShawn HamptonRobert Harlan*Bruce HauflerDoug HaunspergerRobert HaydenRobert HaysJackson HoltkampHarris IpockJake JacobsenRobert KarliBen R. King*Michael Kriese*Jack LeiferJoseph LoukotkaGabriel Lucio-MartinJohn ProftGary W. PyleDuane RothEric SchellThann ScogginSteven SifnerChristian Taylor

Faith DeBow, rehearsal pianist

*section leaDer

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Latin con + spirare = to breathe together

Inspired by the power of music to change lives, Conspirare engages audiences in extraordinary musical experiences through

world-class choral performances and recordings.

Conspirare is an internationally recognized, professional choral organization now in its twenty-second season. Led by founder and artistic director Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare includes two adult performing ensembles and an educational program. Our flagship ensemble Conspirare (also known as Company of Voices) is a fully professional, Grammy® award-winning chamber choir of extraordinarily talented singers from around the country. Company of Voices performs an annual concert series in Austin and other Texas communities, and also tours in the U.S. and abroad.

Three other ensembles complete the Conspirare family. Conspirare Symphonic Choir, a large ensemble of both professional and volunteer singers, performs choral/instrumental works, and Conspirare Youth Choirs is an educational program for singers ages 9-18, who learn and perform in two separate ensembles, Kantorei and Allegro.

The Conspirare Symphonic Choir, featured in today’s performance, is now in its sixteenth season as an auditioned chorus of both professional and volunteer artists. Most reside in the greater Austin area, though several commute to

CONSPIRARE rehearsals and performances from as far away as the Hill Country, Victoria, and San Antonio. All are highly skilled singers with significant choral experience, and they sing choral masterworks with orchestra as well as new works for voices and instruments. The Symphonic Choir performs as part of the Conspirare season, collaborates with other major arts organizations such as the Austin Symphony, Ballet Austin, and Victoria Bach Festival, and hosts Conspirare’s popular Big Sings.

Company of Voices’ 2014 album The Sacred Spirit of Russia, released on the distinguished Harmonia Mundi label, won the 2015 Grammy® for Best Choral Performance. The ensemble’s complete discography to date includes eleven commercial albums and eleven self-produced live recordings of its popular holiday concerts. Conspirare made its first commercial recording through the green fuse in 2004. Its second album Requiem was released in 2006 and received two Grammy® nominations, followed in 2008 by Threshold of Night (Conspirare’s first recording for Harmonia Mundi), which also received two nominations. Harmonia Mundi’s international re-release of Requiem in 2009 won the Netherlands’ prestigious 2010 Edison Award for choral music, the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy. Conspirare’s 2009 PBS television special “A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert,” available on both DVD and CD, received one Grammy nomination.

The Conspirare organization and ensembles have received numerous honors and awards. All four ensembles have received local awards from Austin Critics Table. In 2005 Conspirare received the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from national service organization Chorus America. In 2007, as one of the select choral organizations to receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts under its American Masterpieces initiative, Conspirare presented a four-day festival with a distinguished gathering of composers and conductors, three world premieres, and a gala closing concert with a 600-voice choir.

In July 2008 Company of Voices represented the U.S. at the Eighth World Symposium on Choral Music in Copenhagen, joining invited choirs from nearly forty countries. The choir has performed at the American Choral Directors Association annual convention and for several regional ACDA conventions. Conspirare received the 2010 Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America to support the commission of a new work by Seattle composer Eric Banks, premiered in May 2015. In February 2011 Company of Voices gave three invited performances in New York City under auspices of the Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall, and in fall 2012 traveled to France for six invited performances at the Polyfollia Festival and a public concert in Paris. Conspirare became a Resident Company of the Long Center for the Performing Arts in 2013.

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Grammy®-winning conductor Craig Hella Johnson brings unparalleled depth of knowledge, artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to his programs. As Conspir-are’s founder and artistic director, Johnson assembles some of the finest singers in the country to form a world-class ensemble. In addition to his work with Con-spirare, Johnson is artistic director of the Victoria Bach Festival, a major regional summer festival that attracts audiences from all over the state, and music director of the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble. He has also served as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and many others in Texas, the U.S., and abroad. Through these activities as well as Conspirare’s recordings on the inter-nationally distributed Harmonia Mundi label and performances in multiple Texas communities and beyond, Johnson brings national and international recognition to the Texas musical community.

CRAIG HELLA JOHNSON

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Beloved by audiences, lauded by critics and composers, and revered by vocal and instrumental musicians, Johnson is known for crafting musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. A unique aspect of Johnson’s programming is his signature “collage” style: programs that marry music of many styles from classical to popular to create profoundly moving experiences. The Wall Street Journal has praised Johnson’s ability to “find the emotional essence other per-formers often miss.” Distinguished composer John Corigliano wrote, “I believe that [Johnson] has understood my music in a way that I have never experienced before. He is a great musician.” Composer and collaborator Robert Kyr observed, “Craig’s attitude toward creating a community of artists … goes beyond technical mastery into that emotional depth and spiritual life of the music.” Johnson was Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Austin (1990-2001) and remains an active educator, teaching and giving clinics statewide, nationally, and internationally at conferences and universities. In fall 2012 he be-came the first Artist in Residence at the Texas State University School of Music. As composer, arranger, and music editor, Johnson works with G. Schirmer Publishing and Alliance Music Publications; his works have sold thousands of copies.

Johnson’s accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards and honors. Notably among them, he and Conspirare won a 2015 Grammy® for Best Choral Performance and the Texas State Legislature named him the Texas State Musician for 2013. Other honors have included 2008 induction into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, Chorus America’s 2009 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal, and the 2011 Citation of Merit from international professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon. Johnson studied at St. Olaf College, the Juilliard School, and the University of Illinois, and earned his doctorate at Yale University. He has been a Texas resident since 1990.

PERFORMING NOTEConspirare has the privilege of performing in a variety of beautiful venues that

best enhance choral performances. While our performing venues and the texts

of some of our repertoire may be representative of specific traditions, it is in

no way intended to be exclusive of any individual whose experience or set of

beliefs is not represented. Conspirare respects and celebrates the great diversity

of religious, artistic, and human experiences represented among our singers and

audience members. The audience creates the space in which the music is held.

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CONSPIRARE BOARD & STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORSRobert J. Karli, CHAIR

Toya Cirica Bell, VICE CHAIR

Mary Anne Connolly, SECRETARY

Larry Collmann, TREASURER

Fran Collmann, CHAIR-ELECT

Ken Beck William C. Bednar Michael BlairSusanna Finnell Robert Harlan Dan SeriffDavid C. SmithMarion Lear Swaybill Patrick WillisSheila Youngblood

ADVISORY BOARDStephen Aechternacht John Aielli Sue Barnes Mark Bierner Ray Brimble David Burger David Claflin Tom DriskollVirginia Dupuy Maydelle Fason JoLynn Free Billy Gammon Vance George Helen Hays Dan Herd William B. Hilgers Wayne Holtzman Judith Jellison Bob Murphy Lynn Murphy Gayle Glass Roche Nancy Scanlan Angela Smith Bernadette Tasher Louann Temple Eva Womack

ARTISTIC &ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Craig Hella JohnsonArtistic Director

Paul MelroyManaging Director

Camille AtkinsFinancial Manager

Tamara BlankenOnline Services Manager

Kelly BrownleeDirector of Foundation Relations & Annual Fund Manager

Christy ButlerMarketing Manager

Mela Sarajane DaileySpecial Gifts Officer

Melissa J. EddyPublications Manager

Rick GabrilloAssociate ConductorManager, Conspirare Youth Choirs

Wravan GodsoeOffice Manager

Robert HarlanProduction Consultant

Ben R. KingProduction Assistant

Meri KruegerArtist Relations

Kathy LeightonHouse Manager

Ann McNairExecutive Assistant to the Artistic DirectorDirector of Program Fulfillment & Artistic Operations

Nina ReveringDirector, Conspirare Youth Choirs

Christina TannertAdministrator, Conspirare Youth Choirs

Meredith ThomasDirector of Development

This project is funded and supported in part by a grant from the National

Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the City of

Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, believing an investment in the

arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit NowPlayingAustin.com.

SUPPORTERS

MEDIA SPONSORS

BUSINESS & FOUNDATION SUPPORTERS

PUBLIC FUNDING AGENCIES

SEASON SUSTAINING UNDERWRITER

The Still Water Foundation

The Aaron Copland Fund for Music

Butler School of Music, University of Texas

The Ann & Gordon Getty

Foundation

The Keating Family Foundation

The Kodosky Foundation

The Mattsson McHale Foundation

The Rachael & Ben F. Vaughan

Foundation

The Shield-Ayres Foundation

Sessi, Chamberlain & Stewart, LLP

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which he still maintains a serious interest. However, he remembers a summer evening at camp when he was struck by an intense realization that working with people is what he should be doing, and that pastoral work would help him reach people in in a way that scientific study could not.

So after college, he enrolled in the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, stepping out in a different direction. Though achieving ordination required hard work, let it be noted – lest Bob seem too nose-to-the-grindstone – that he was then driving a cherry red 1967 Mustang. The passion for small, sporty cars, top down, has not left him to this day.

After ordination, Bob held pastoral positions in Kentucky and Indiana, then moved to Austin where he served First English Lutheran Church for twenty-three years. Now retired, he serves occasionally as a visiting pastor, enjoying the beauty and satisfaction of the liturgy and ritual he loves.

Although in his early career Bob worked diligently and had little time to be outdoors, he and Trish took their two sons camping, hiking and touring the country whenever possible. Bob also began running, which became a lifetime habit, and he now has run eleven marathons – the first when he was fifty years old – including the Boston, Chicago, and Disney (aka Goofy) marathons. Until recently, Bob often ran with a companion who has very limited sight and even guided her through a marathon. He is also a hiker, often leading friends and family up the trail. Anything that nature has to offer – plants, animals, mountains and sea – Bob accepts gratefully.

Then there is music. Bob met Craig Hella Johnson in 1992 and began singing in the Symphonic Choir a few years later; he continues to sing with them to this day. He relishes learning and singing music under Craig’s baton. In 1999 Bob joined the Conspirare board of directors where he has served diligently and enthusiastically. Several years ago he became the board chairman, a natural progression for someone so dedicated and capable. He has been an equitable and intelligent leader, always working to build consensus. He and Trish are also consistent financial supporters of Conspirare. The presence of music in his life feeds Bob, as does his love of the natural world. He finds self-expression in all he does, his spiritual life is full and active, and his family gives him comfort and joy. He lives his beliefs and unifying principles.

If the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic were still wandering about the world with his lamp held high, looking for an honest man, he would set it down when he met Bob Karli.–mary stephenson, former member of Conspirare Board of Directors

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

Bob Karli: An Intentional Life

Being with Conspirare’s board chair Bob Karli, one looks into intense blue eyes and feels completely at ease with a welcoming, remarkable human being.

Most people who contemplate being human see us as being made of three essential elements – body, mind, and spirit – each of which is influenced by one’s experiences and responses. Bob is a fully integrated man, aware of the demands each element makes and how our experiences shape us. He also is a man who relishes life, and his pleasure in it is infectious. His curiosity is boundless, his willingness to test himself admirable, and his scope of interests wide and eclectic.

Bob grew up on a South Dakota farm where hard work was a reality and he developed a comfortable relationship with the natural world. He worked at a summer camp when he was in college, enjoying the outdoors and the youngsters. He met his future wife Trish there, and they married after Bob finished school.

Bob studied science and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Initially he had hoped to earn a PhD in brain science, a field in

Today’s concert is dedicated with deepest gratitude and love to Bob Karli for his joyous and loyal service to Conspirare as a singer, supporter, and board member.

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DONORSWe thank each individual, foundation, business, government and city agency for your investment in Conspirare and in our mission to change lives through the power of music. This list represents gifts made in this fiscal year between July 1, 2014 and May 21, 2015. When we make music, we make it together.

MAESTRO CIRCLE ($25,000+)AnonymousCity of Austin Cultural Arts DivisionFran & Larry CollmannLynne Dobson & Greg WooldridgeEstate of Lewis HoffackerThe Kodosky Foundation, Gail & Jeffrey KodoskyThe Mattsson-McHale FoundationThe Shield-Ayres FoundationSouth Texas Money Management

IMPRESARIO CIRCLE ($15,000-$24,999)AnonymousEstate of Jerry CraftDanna & Crutch CrutchfieldLara & Robert Harlan Mike & Gayle Glass RocheSheila & Ryan Youngblood

BENEFACTOR CIRCLE ($10,000-$14,999)Anonymous (2)Dixie CampEric Leibrock & Ellen JusticeTexas Commission on the ArtsThe Rachael & Ben Vaughan Foundation

PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE ($5,000-$9,999)Joyce & Ken BeckWilliam BednarCatherine ClarkSusanna & Richard FinnellThe Getty FoundationTrish & Robert KarliCarolyn & Marc SeriffKerry Tate & Dawn MooreJulia & Patrick WillisThe Rachael & Ben Vaughan Foundation

GOLDEN BATON CIRCLE ($2,500-$4,999)Toya Cirica Bell & Stephen BellGinger & Michael BlairPat & Robert BrueckMary Anne ConnollyPaula D’ArcyJoanne & John EarlsJim FergusonMary Nell FrucellaJeanne & Donald GranthamHelen & Bob HaysThe Keating Family FoundationLee Manford & Casey BlassStefanie Moore & Todd KeisterHope Morgan & Mike TabornWilliam NemirCyndee & David RustDaniel SeriffDavid C. SmithMarion Lear SwaybillSandi Aitken & Bob TomlinsonJoni WallaceEva & Marvin Womack

SILVER BATON CIRCLE ($1,000-$2,499)Austin Community FoundationNancy & Randy BadenSuzanne & Eric BatchelderMargaret & Robert BerdahlMark BiernerAnn & Jeff BomerJudy & John BushSarah & Ernest ButlerAlice & Gary ChildressJanis & David ClaflinJohn CullenRena & Richard D’SouzaJeanne & Rick FarleighAnn FieldsSusan & R. John FoxJolynn & Gregory FreeFrost BankGlenda Goehrs Chris HarteJeanne & Van HoisingtonIBM Matching Grants ProgramMary M. Kevorkian & Tom HolzbachKaren Kibler & Tom GrimesAngie & Steve LarnedEmily LittleSusan & Craig LubinSheila LummisMarcia ManhartVirginia McDermott & William Schleuse

Debe & Kevin McKeandBonnie MillsSuzanne Mitchell & Richard ZansitisMelissa & Dan MormanElizabeth & Jerele NeeldGenie & Randy NorrisCynthia & Lip NorvellE. Stuart PhillipsRebecca & Phil PowersLinda & Robert RamseyKimberly & Dan RennerLynn & Dick RewJudy & Douglas RhodesSusan & Jack RobertsonElizabeth & Duff StewartJames StolpaBernadette TasherTescom, Inc.Anne & William WagnerKathleen & Jim Wicoff

SPONSORS ($500-$999)Shannon ArmstrongMargaret & Robert AyresPhyllis Bourque & Madge TaylorPatricia & Richard BlackKay & Harold BrumleyJames Bryant & Greg EasleyShawna ButlerRichard CampbellCarl CaricariChris & J. Dennis CavnerRobin & Malcolm CooperChristopher CrossNancy & Jimmy DavisTracy & Michael DiLeoMaydelle & Sam FasonGwen & Bruce FloryCheryl FullerEvelyn & Rick GabrilloGiant NoiseMary GiffordTom HatchMegan HelmbrechtSusan & John HintonMegan Johntz & Heath SchlesserBridgette KershnerJanie Keys & Ivan MilmanKaren & Donald KirmisClaire KoriothDina KuntzRoberta & Richard LangBonnie & Sidney LanierKathy & Henry LeightonKathrin LewisNancy & John LovgrenRobert MartinJennene & K. Ray MashburnLeigh McalisterVance McMahanJames MonkChandra MullerBeverly Newsom

Emily O’ConnellRon & Isabel Ross OgdenStanya & Jim OwenMichael PedersonAnn Phipps & Michael CannattiJoel QuadeFlo Ann RandleLouise N. ReeserKarin RichmondBeverly RossDuane RothKaren Saadeh & David MatthisNancy ScanlanMarilyn SharrattBrigid Shea & John UmphressBea Ann SmithHolly SmythAnna & Don SorensonFlint SparksAlyson & Paul StoneRoy TruittLinda & Nick Van BavelLois Vanlaningham

PATRONS ($250-$499)Cynthia & Robert AbramsAnna & Robert BertholfKlaus Bichteler & Mary ParseKyle & Amy BrysonJim CopelandLisa & Eric CravenSuzanne & Louie DanuserDell Giving ProgramNina & Jeffrey DiLeoMelissa J. Eddy & Tracy SchiemenzMarnie & Brian GlaserGlenn HaluskaCarolyn Harris HynsonMeta Hunt & Trent MillerKaren & Peter JakesJudith Jellison & Robert DukeCraig Hella Johnson & Philip OverbaughJames KettlewellAnn & Bill KleinebeckerCharles LandgrafLou Ann & Bill LasherEva & Chris LaskarisJack Leifer & Carr HornbuckleMarge & Moe JohnsonMarion LewinAlaire & Thomas LowryMarsha McCaryRobert MckeeAnn McNairPhyllis MillerFran & Steven MossSusan Nash FeketyJoyce & Jim ParrishStephen PruittJoanne & Jerome RavelKevin ReynoldsJoanne & Hamilton RichardsMichal Rosenberger

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Augustin RubioValerie SansingJackie & Bob ShapiroCarole & Charles SikesTiki2Michael TwomeyCarol WalkerDoreen WheelerCatherine & David WildermuthLynda Young & Harris KaffieMeg YoungbloodSusan Zolla-Pazner

SUSTAINERS ($100-$249)Anonymous (2)Karen & Mark AamotJonnet & Peter AbelesCynthia & Robert AbramsEva King AndriesDoug & Stacy BainSally BeaudetteTaja BeekleyNancy & Leonard BejtlichMary Jo BertaniPat BlackJanet BogueCaroline Boudreaux & Ed GobleSarah BrahamJack Brannon & Brian MillerKelly & John BrownleeNeil BubkeBetsy BusbyViera BuzgovaMarsha & Tom CavenElizabeth & Nathaniel ChapinJanie CookBonnie CoplinMaria CorbettLisa CowanNancy CrichlowPatricia CulverPaul CummingsKarel DahmanMela Dailey & Peter BayAngela Davis & Scott DickersonRichard DavisPamela Elrod HuffmanRobert EmeryJill FatzerMelinda & Robert FloydJill & Terry FrisbieCaroline FrommholdKelly FultonRoberto GarciaNelsa GidneyCynthia GonzalesRay GreenburgGary GreenblumNicole GriffinMary Louise & James GwynnMichelle HarroshDeborah HayWayne & Joan Holtzman

Liz & Kenny HowardAmy HuberMelissa Huebsch-StroudPam HuffmanDavid HuntTodd JermstadBeth & Greg JuddJulie KeimFrana KeithCharles KileyKathleen KinneyKLRU-TVRichard KnoxBarbara KrauterWendy KuoNancy LevackDiana LinderMary Lockwood CrouchJoseph J. LoukotkaAnn & Tim LowryDorothy & Edward McInerneyDana MacLarenJane-Elizabeth MadisonSue MahanJanet McCullarKaren McLaughlinRobin & Paul MelroyNancy Noret MooreToni & Joseph MurgoChristopher NovosadKaren OlsonOne Skye Foundation, Ray & Karen BrimbleMargaret OverbaughThomas OverbaughAnne PalmerDeeAnne & Steven PaulsonJoan & Gary PopeCheryl & Gary PyleRobert RadebaughEdwin RamosBev & Milbrey RaneyDaniel RayTeresa RecarMichael ReevesJohn ReynoldsLeilani RoseLinda Rowold & George BrownDeborah RuppDaniel RusthoiDonna & Arthur RutherfordSafeway, Inc.Deborah SarosdyPeter Schram & Harry UllmannClaudia & Tom SchurrJoy & Dan SelakBarbara Fiorito & Michael ShimkinJeffrey SmithSofterware, Inc.Jim SotirosJ’Lane & John SpenceVirginia StottsRobert SudelaPeg SyversonMeredith Thomas & Walter Stroup

Teresa Tice-BoggsAndrea TolePatricia TollisonMJ VanderwalleShirley & Fred ViehwegValerie WengerCathy WhiteJohn WhiteVirginia & Geoff WilligPatricia WilsonLucia WoodruffFred WoodyCarey Youngblood

Conspirare also thanks all donors of gifts under $100 and regrets that space does not permit listing of each name. Your support is equally appreciated. We strive to publish an accurate donor list. If an error or omission is noted, please let us know.

LEGACY OF SOUNDDONORSAnonymous (2)William Bednar Stephen & Toya Cirica BellGinger & Michael BlairPat & Robert BrueckCatherine ClarkFran & Larry CollmannMary Anne ConnollyDanna & Crutch CrutchfieldSusanna & Richard FinnellLara & Robert HarlanRichard Hartgrove & Gary CooperHelen & Bob HaysThe Kodosky Foundation, Gail and Jeffrey KodoskyEllen Justice & Eric Leibrock Trish & Robert KarliRobert KyrWendi & Brian KushnerLou Ann & William Lasher Craig & Susan LubinThe Mattsson-McHale FoundationLouise MorseElizabeth and Jerele NeeldE. Stuart PhillipsNancy Quinn & Thomas DriscollSusan & Jack RobertsonNancy ScanlanDan SeriffBea Ann SmithDavid C. SmithThe Still Water FoundationMarion Lear SwaybillAnne & William WagnerJulia & Patrick WillisSheila Jo WojcikSheila & Ryan Youngblood

HONORS AND MEMORIALSSpecial thanks to these donors who made their gifts in honor or memory of someone special.

Peter & Jonnet Abeles in honor of Marion SwaybillAndrea Black in honor of Marion SwaybillJanet Bogue in honor of Paula NewbergSarah Braham in honor of Suzanne MitchellDashon Burton in honor of Lisa ShorterBetsy Busby in memory of Mary & Barbara Judy Bush in honor of Beverly RossJudy Bush in memory of Jo BrownCatherine Chereches in honor of Bob and Trish KarliThe Clamons Family in honor of Jessie LucasEle Clay in honor of Fran & Larry CollmannMalcolm & Robin Cooper in honor of Nancy Scanlan Kim Copley in honor of Leighton CopleyNancy Crichlow & Mark Ball in honor of Kathlene RitchMary Lockwood Crouch in honor of Bryce Johnson Mela Sarajane Dailey in honor of Craig Hella Johnson Dick Davis in honor of Donna HerschlebFaith DeBow in memory of George William DeBowRay Greenberg in memory of Suzanne’s Grandmother Amy Huber in honor of Nina ReveringPam & Rick Huffman in honor of Craig Hella JohnsonArie and Arza Funk in honor of Suzanne MitchellThe Gabrillo Family in honor of Craig Hella JohnsonCeleste & Martin Hubert in honor of Philip Overbaugh

and Craig Hella JohnsonCraig Hella Johnson in honor of Amazing Conspirare Staff Charley Landgraf in honor of Suzanne MitchellKatherine Marion in memory of Helen DeanJames Monk in honor of Linda MonkDr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Murgo in honor of Joanie DavisBeverly Beil Newsom in memory of Jack KringsCatherine Nottebart in honor of Suzanne MitchellAngela Padilla in memory of Ofelia A. RegaladoAnne Marie Palmer in honor of Mary WallaceKaren Pope in honor of Craig Hella JohnsonJoel Quade in memory of Jerry and Mary Ruth QuadeCory Reeves in memory of Martha Luigi Dan & Kimberly Renner in honor of Patrick and Julie WillisDonna Rutherford in honor of Craig Hella JohnsonDonna Rutherford in memory of Art RutherfordShelley Scott in honor of Bob RamseyGabrielle Sigel in honor of Richard ZansitisPatricia Tollison in memory of Michael LarveyCheryl & Chris Travis in memory of Elaine PattersonDebra Winegarten in memory of Ruthe Winegarten

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it’s on us

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featuring performances by:

Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins and Anaïs Mitchell / Los Lobos with Ballet Folklorico Mexicano Twyla Tharp / Jake Shimabukuro / Fifth House Ensemble’s Black Violet III

Introducing the

Texas Performing Arts 2015/2016 Season

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Featured 2015/2016 Season Artist:Regarded as one of the finest vocal chamber ensembles in the world, New York Polyphony applies a modern

touch to repertoire ranging from medieval melodies to contemporary compositions.

Save 20%on subscriptions of five or more performances!

Full calendar at texasperformingarts.org

#seeitlivehere

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The Poet Sings: Emily DickinsonSEPTEMBER 13Jessen Auditorium, university of texAs

A recital of settings from the revered poet’s work, featuring soprano Sonja DuToit Tengblad, tenor Eric Neuville, and pianist Michelle Schumann. Two world premieres!

Conspirare ChristmasDECEMBER 5 (donor exclusive)the cArillon on exposition

DECEMBER 6 (two shows)the cArillon on exposition

DECEMBER 7 long center

Signature holiday concert with special guest Matt Alber.

AnneliesJANUARY 8-9university presbyteriAn church

Choral story-telling by James Whitbourn, based on The Diary of Anne Frank. Featuring Conspirare Symphonic Choir, soprano Stefanie Moore, and chamber ensemble.

Considering Matthew ShepardFEBRUARY 20-21Aisd performing Arts center

World premiere of the long-awaited con-temporary Passion by Craig Hella Johnson.

Stephen Paulus TributeMAY 12-13st. mArtin’s lutherAn church

Rarely performed works by the late beloved composer, including a Conspirare commission.

PLUS

Conspirare Symphonic Choir with Austin Symphony Orchestra

NOVEMBER 20 & 21 long center

Gloria by Francis Poulenc & Daphnes et Chloé by Maurice Ravel.

tickets At Austinsymphony.org

Conspirare Youth ChoirsDECEMBER 11-12 and APRIL 29-30 st. mArtin’s lutherAn church

Hidden Music Spring GalaAPRIL 9 – sAve the dAte

Big Sings – dAtes to be Announced

SANITY

HEAR THE BEST IN CLASSICAL MUSICFROM A TRUSTED AUSTIN SOURCE

LISTEN TO

AVAILABLE ONLINE

SANITY

HEAR THE BEST IN CLASSICAL MUSICFROM A TRUSTED AUSTIN SOURCE

LISTEN TO

AVAILABLE ONLINE

CONSPIRARE 2015-16 SEASONJoin Conspirare for some magical, musical story-telling. Be moved by the words of a beloved American poet, the famous diary

of a young German girl, and the imagined last thoughts of a Wyoming youth – all set

to transcendent vocal music. Fill your heart with beautiful sounds from composers around

the world, and be the first to experience a compelling new Passion by our own Craig

Hella Johnson. Hear the virtuoso singers of Company of Voices perform as soloists and as the impeccable ensemble that brought home

a Grammy®, and admire the artistry of our Symphonic Choir and Youth Choirs.

Our musical stories can be complete only with your presence. Come and

create your own Conspirare story!

TICKETS GO ON SALE MID-SUMMER! NEW SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES AVAILABLE.

conspirAre.org

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