“I didn’t want conducting to be only about telling people what to do and they respond. I’ve been in situations like that, and it’s sometimes very effective, but it wasn’t something that I felt I could ever do naturally. I can bring my full artistry to something even when everyone else in the room is attempting to bring their full artistry. We get their imaginations and their color spectrum. If they’re just fitting into my ideas only, it’s a one-dimensional kind of experience.”

Acclaimed for crafting thought-provoking musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners, Craig Hella Johnson is the founding artistic director and conductor of Conspirare, a GRAMMY®-winning choir and nonprofit performing arts and music education organization that believes in the power of music to change lives, inspire peace, and foster belonging. Founded in 1991 in Austin, Texas, by Johnson and a band of dedicated supporters, Conspirare has become a force for musical and human connection.

Johnson has held leadership roles as Music Director for the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Creative Partner at the Oregon Bach Festival, and currently serves as Artist in Residence at Texas State University. A celebrated guest conductor of choral and orchestral works, he is also a published composer, arranger, and educator, recognized with the 2022 Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities at Texas State University.

His concert-length composition Considering Matthew Shepard, premiered and recorded by Conspirare, continues to reach audiences nationally and internationally. Johnson’s accomplishments have been honored with numerous awards, including a 2015 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance with Conspirare, Chorus America’s Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, Texas State Musician of the Year, the Matthew Shepard Foundation’s Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership, and Wartburg College’s 2023 Graven Award.

To get in touch with Craig, you can email him through Conspirare (info@conspirare.org) or find him on Facebook (@CraigHellaJohnson).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Thank you for listening to our show this season!!

Here are the favorite choral pieces from our guests in the sixth season:
Christ lag in Todesbanden by Johann Sebastian Bach
Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber
Missa Solemnis - Ludwig van Beethoven
Chichester Psalms - Leonard Bernstein
Ein Deutsches Requiem - Johannes Brahms
Os Justi - Anton Bruckner
A Jubilant Song - Norman Dello-Joio
Requiem - Maurice Duruflé
“Kyrie” from Requiem - Maurice Duruflé
All Things New - Elaine Hagenberg
The Seasons - Joseph Haydn
Dirait-on - Morten Lauridsen
Sure on This Shining Night - Morten Lauridsen
Requiem - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
All-Night Vigil - Sergei Rachmaninoff
I Will Lift Thine Eyes - Jake Runestad
At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners - Williametta Spencer
Dum Transisset Sabbatum - John Taverner
Perhaps - Dale Trumbore - 2x
Dona Nobis Pacem - Ralph Vaughan Williams
I Thank You God for Most This Amazing Day - Eric Whitacre
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine - Eric Whitacre
Annelies - James Whitbourn
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - arr. Mack Wilberg

Here are the composers that our guests suggested you check out:
Kim André Arnesen
Alex Berko
Margaret Bonds
Johannes Brahms
Jennifer Lucy Cook
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
Kate Crellin
Kenter Davies
Norman Dello Joio
Laura Farnell
Robert Gibson
Matt Goldstein
Anthony Gray
Joseph Haydn
Cyrillus Kreek
David Mailman
Joanna Marsh
Felix Mendelssohn
Darius Milhaud
MaryAnne Muglia (our guest on Choir Fam Ep. 124)
Nyi Nyi Myin
Stephen Paulus
Henry Purcell
Judy Rose
Moira Smiley
Diana Syrse
Timothy Takach (our guest on Choir Fam Ep. 34-35)
Patrick Vu

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels

“It’s not until you’re leading an ensemble that you really figure out how to make the music happen and how to motivate the people around you. It’s humbling in a lot of ways, and it’s so gratifying. As a conductor, you’re providing the framework for musicians to do their best work. Both in the way that you structure rehearsal and the gestures that you are showing the music through, you’re creating a scaffolding, inviting people in, and collaborating together. Ideally, you’re creating a situation where everybody has ownership of the musical process and the musical result as well.”

Grant Gershon currently celebrates his 25th season as the Kiki and David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which he has turned into the "best-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times). Earlier in 2026, Grant and the Chorale were honored to receive their second Grammy™ Award for Best Choral Performance, and they have been nominated 3 times in the last 5 years in this category. In 2025 the Chorale was featured on the Academy Awards ceremony, broadcast to over 19 million viewers around the world.

A champion of new music, Grant led the world premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at the San Francisco Opera. He also conducted its European premier at the Dutch National Opera. As Resident Conductor of LA Opera, Grant conducted the West Coast premiere of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha, and he led the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino, subsequently released on Sony Classical Records.

Among the highpoints of his tenure with the LA Master Chorale, he twice opened the famed Salzburg Festival—with Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro in 2019 and Heinrich Schütz’ Music to Accompany a Departure in 2023. He and the Chorale also performed these works to enormous acclaim in London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago and New Zealand.

Grant’s discography with the Chorale includes recordings of music by Billy Childs, Nico Muhly, Henrik Gorecki, David Lang, and Steve Reich. He has also led the Chorale in performances for motion picture soundtracks, including, at the request of John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

In New York, Grant has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Trinity Wall Street. Other major appearances include performances at the Ravinia, Aspen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Salzburg, and Vienna festivals; Teatro Colon in Buenos Aries, the Barbican in London and the Paris Philharmonie. He has worked closely with numerous legendary conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, and his mentor, Esa-Pekka Salonen.

To get in touch with Grant, you can email him at ggershon@lamasterchorale.org or find him on Instagram (@the_gershmeister).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

Podcast music from Podcast.co
Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson