Kevin Puts: To Touch the Sky / If I Were a Swan / Symphony No. 4 Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare Chamber Players

• Kevin Puts (1972): If I Were a Swan (2012)
• 1If I Were A Swan06:31
• To Touch the Sky (2012): Nine Songs for Unaccompanied Chorus on Texts by Women
• 2I. Annunciation (Magnificat)03:13
• 3II. Unbreakable02:23
• 4III. The Fruit of Silence01:20
• 5IV. Falling Snow01:17
• 6V. At Castle Wood05:43
• 7VI. Epitaph01:07
• 8VII. Who has seen the wind?00:52
• 9VIII. With my two arms01:27
• 10IX. Most noble evergreen07:38
• Symphony No. 4 From Mission San Juan (2007)
• 11I. Prelude Mission San Juan Bautista, ca.180005:51
• 12II. Arriquetpon (the diary of Francisco Arroyo de la Cuesta, 1818)08:03
• 13III. Interlude06:12
• 14IV. Healing Song08:23
• Total Runtime01:00:00

Info for Kevin Puts: To Touch the Sky / If I Were a Swan / Symphony No. 4

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts (b. 1972) is known for his distinctive and richly coloured musical voice. Making their label début, Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra perform Kevin Puts’ Symphony No.4 (From Mission San Juan), inspired by Native American melodies. Opening this programme of world première recordings, Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare in two choral settings of texts by women poets: 'To Touch the Sky' and 'If I Were a Swan'.

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for 'Silent Night', an opera commissioned by Minnesota Opera and co-written with librettist Mark Campbell, Kevin Puts has been hailed as one of the most important composers of his generation. His work has been commissioned and performed by leading orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the New York Philharmonic, Tonhalle-Orchester (Zurich), the Saint Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra, and by soloists and chamber ensembles such as Evelyn Glennie, Yo-Yo Ma, Jeffrey Kahane, the Eroica Trio and the Miro Quartet.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he received his training as a composer and pianist at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. Since 2006, he has been a member of the composition department at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

“Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra make persuasive champions for Puts's Symphony No. 4...The real delight of the disc, though, is the choral cycle To Touch the Sky...Conspirare's straight upper-voice sound sets the tone for delivery that balances simplicity with quiet virtuosity.” (Gramophone)

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Conspirare: Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (tracks 1–10)
Marin Alsop, conductor (on tracks 11-14)

Craig Hella Johnson
Renowned as one of today’s most influential voices in choral conducting, Craig Hella Johnson brings unparalleled depth of knowledge, artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to his programs. As founder and artistic director of Conspirare, Johnson assembles some of the finest singers in the country to form a world-class, award-winning ensemble committed to creating dynamic choral art. Beloved by audiences, lauded by critics and composers, and revered by singers, Johnson is known for crafting musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. The Wall Street Journal praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare wrote that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.” 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 who understands everything about the music he conducts.” Composer and collaborator Robert Kyr observed, “Craig’s attitude toward creating a community of artists who work together to interpret the score … goes beyond technical mastery into that emotional depth and spiritual life of the music.” Of Johnson’s performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, the San Antonio Express-News wrote: “Through all the amazing ebbs and flows of dynamics, the radiant balances, the seamless connection of episodes, the theatrically astute tempo relations, the unified structural arc, the music shone forth with organic naturalness. Nothing sounded fussed over. Everything just sounded right.”

Johnson is also artistic director of the Victoria Bach Festival, an annual event that draws musicians and critical praise from around the country. He was artistic director of San Francisco-based Chanticleer (1998-1999) and has served as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, Berkshire Choral Festival, Taipei Male Choir, and Oregon Bach Festival.

As the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Austin from 1990-2001, Johnson led the graduate program in choral conducting. He remains an active educator, teaching nationally and internationally with professionals and students at conferences and universities. He is also a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association. In Fall 2012, he became the first Artist in Residence at the Texas State University School of Music.

A composer and arranger, Johnson works with G. Schirmer Publishing on the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series, featuring specially selected composers as well as some of his original compositions and arrangements. His works are also published by Alliance Music Publications. A unique aspect of Johnson’s programming is his signature “collage” style: through-composed programs that marry music and poetry to blend sacred and secular, classical and contemporary, classical and popular styles. In 2006 he was engaged to create a special peace-themed collage program for the North Central ACDA convention, and in 2007 by the famed St. Olaf Choir to create and conduct a collage program during a five-week residency.

Johnson has been honored with numerous awards, including 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 professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon, the organization’s highest honor for a non-member. In 2012 he was an invited speaker for TEDxAustin. He was one of seven panelists for the Fetzer Institute and Eranos Foundation’s “Love and the Musical Arts” gathering in Switzerland in 2011. In April 2013 Johnson was designated the official Texas State Musician for 2013 by the Texas Legislature. The designation was recommended by the Texas Commission on the Arts after a competitive nomination process, and he is only the second classical musician to receive the honor in its eleven-year history. A Minnesota native, Johnson studied at St. Olaf College, the Juilliard School, and the University of Illinois and earned his doctorate at Yale University. As the recipient of a National Arts Fellowship, Johnson studied with Helmuth Rilling at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, Germany.

Booklet for Kevin Puts: To Touch the Sky / If I Were a Swan / Symphony No. 4