From Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, this artful setting of this haunting song by Annie Lennox features a soloist with choral background and percussion. This long-anticipated edition will enhance many concert programs.

Performed By: Annie Lennox

Described as brilliant and heartfelt, this is the final movement of Craig Hella Johnson's epic work Considering Matthew Shepard, a tribute to the young gay man who has become an American icon and a symbol for hope and redemption. With elements of hymnody, American folk and gospel music, this single movement will allow mixed choruses everywhere to come to understand and be lifted up by this powerful music.

With a depth and emotional range comparable to art songs, spirituals have become a powerful and significant body of work in Western art music. This pairing of two songs displays a quality of emotional directness and a fascination with the broad palette of feelings, colors and ideas inherent in the music. Duration: ca. 6:30.

Four movements from the end of the Passion section of Considering Matthew Shepard we hear from a deer. It has been well established that Matt loved the outdoors and it is fitting that a deer should sing All night I lay there beside you, I cradled your pain in my care. The women sing this delicate text accompanied by three soprano soloists who bring the breeze and the hope of redemption.

Musical: Considering Matthew Shepard

Here is the famous theme from the motion picture The Mission by Ennio Morricone in a distinctive and stunning setting written for the choral group, Conspirare. With the choir providing a rich wordless tapestry of sound, the featured duo of cello and oboe will create an atmosphere of pure magic! Duration: ca. 2:20. Recorded by Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor.

Composer: Ennio Morricone | TV/Movie: The Mission

Here is the famous theme from the motion picture The Mission by Ennio Morricone in a distinctive and stunning setting written for the choral group, Conspirare. With the choir providing a rich wordless tapestry of sound, the featured duo of cello and oboe will create an atmosphere of pure magic! Duration: ca. 2:20. Recorded by Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor.

Composer: Ennio Morricone

From the major work Considering Matthew Shepard, this is a song of comfort for Matthew's mother. As a stand alone piece it can be sung in a variety of contexts--general concert, holiday programs, memorial services. Conspirare performed this work for the interment service of Matthew at the National Cathedral where his ashes were laid to rest. The lilting 7/8 meter creates a feeling of rocking, of cradling. The violin solo represents a halo of light and took its original inspiration from the profoundly beautiful violin solo in Erbarme dich from Bach's St Matthew Passion.

Craig Hella Johnson's remarkable setting of verses by the poet Rabindranath Tagore creates a mesmerizing effect with music that is both ancient and modern. Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. Duration: ca. 4:30.

This lesser known spiritual speaks nobly and poignantly of the lifelong heartache and desperation experienced by enslaved Africans in America. In this setting that features a soprano solo, the words of the third verse are those of a nineteenth century woman whose entire life was spent in slavery. The meditative quality of the music creates a pensive atmosphere that is spellbinding. Duration: ca. 5:00.

Known for his unique pairing of songs, Craig Hella Johnson has creatively combined the early contemporary Christian song by Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill with the popular favorite from the '60s. A wonderful and inspirational closing number or encore for mixed, treble and male choirs!

Performed By: Louis Armstrong

Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare's performance of this Carly Simon hit was featured on a PBS special and was also included on their Grammy-nominated CD. Vibrant choral textures are supported by a dancing keyboard and percussion accompaniment for a spectacular choral showcase! Duration: ca. 2:10.

Composer: Carly Simon Performed By: Carly Simon

Craig Hella Johnson's setting of Dolly Parton's "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is infused with light and hopefulness as it opens with a solo soprano and gradually builds to a joyful overflowing of sound and vocal texture, then gently relaxing into a reflective conclusion.

Performed By: Dolly Parton

This creative pairing of Amanda McBrooms's The Rose with the Praetorius' Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming has become a classic at Conspirare's Christmas at the Carillon concerts. Incredibly moving! Performance time: Approx. 5:35.

As the first movement of the Epilogue, here is movement number 30 from the major work Considering Matthew Shepard. This is the singers and the listeners first chance to begin the healing process. To meet me where the old fence ends and the horizon begins. We are reminded that There's a balm in the silence, There's a joy in the singing, and We'll sing on through the darkness. This is music that easily stands alone from the major work and lifts all our spirits in every context.

Musical: Considering Matthew Shepard

Craig Hella Johnson is one of the most creative programmers, conductors and composers in America. This new work, with a text by the late young poet, Mattie Stepanek, is a simple and spacious setting of Mattie's text. Craig says that this should be sung quietly and expressively, never hurried, as if walking on hallowed ground while singing.

Singer/songwriter Eliza Gilkyson wrote Requiem as a song of grief following the Asian tsunami in December, 2004 and the song found a renewed audience after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region. This setting by Conspirare conductor Craig Hella Johnson has been long anticipated by choral groups around the world and is powerful in its emotional impact. Duration: ca. 4:10. Recorded by Conspirare - Craig Hella Johnson, conductor

Written for a commissioning consortium through Chorus America, here is a beautiful and thoughtful piece intended as a quiet call to return home to discover oneself and to rediscover our home with each other. Long flowing lines with a beautiful and soloistic piano part create a feeling of peace and hope.

Written to be sung in unison or in hymn-style harmony, this heartfelt work can be sung on any number of occasions in which the gathered community wishes to sing an expression of gratitude. Perform it as a tribute to a significant individual or for the many gifts we experience as a part of the progression of life.

The choral ensemble creates a spare and stark vocal atmosphere with steady, pulsating vocal effects as the solo lines emerge from the texture. First Soon ah will be done and then I wanna die easy, which are then combined in a powerful collage of sonority that expresses the drama and emotion of this powerful music. Duration: ca. 5:50.

Setting the words of the 14th century Persian poet Hafiz and arranging the classic My Funny Valentine creates a dialogue between the Divine and the human heart. Both texts and the music highlight the quirky and odd aspects of being human and the heart's need to know love and to be loved. Each melody is introduced separately by soloists, then harmonized alone and finally juxtaposed to lift up the dialogue and bring it to completion.

A carol of Joy - Dream every blessing we receive deep within this joy; a carol of peace - Here we are, breathing peace; and a carol of love - Love is always holding us. These are the powerful themes of the promise of Christmas and the tender moments shared in the new carol.

This 17th movement from the major work Considering Matthew Shepard is planted right in the middle of the passion. Remembering a time when life was full of promise and dreaming was an activity filled with hope, a tenor soloist opens this movement wondering where all of these promising times have gone. The full choir supports the soloist with the repeated question Where, O where? but an answer doesn't comes.

Musical: Considering Matthew Shepard

From the PBS program A Company of Voices, by Conspirare, this beloved folk tune is arranged for cello, solo soprano, mixed voices and piano in a rich and sonorous setting that is simply breathtaking. Cello part included. Duration: ca. 3:45. Recorded by Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor.

Written as part of the 50th Anniversary Tribute Concert of the Minnesota Chapter of the ACDA - to the music teachers that have inspired us, this text is expansive and can be used in any setting in which the intention is to invite awareness and recognition of the mysterious and loving tapestry of life. Woven into and between musical phrases is spoken narration, lifting up this extraordinary text by Michael Dennis Browne.

Sydney Carter (1915-2004) was a British poet, songwriter and folk musician best known for his iconic song Lord of the Dance. This spritely song was arranged by Craig Hella Johnson and recorded on the A Company of Voices - Conspirare in Concert CD. For mixed voices, soloists, piano, soprano recorder and handbells, this delightful song will be especially good for community choirs and other adult ensembles. Duration: ca. 2:40.