It was my privilege last summer to interview Craig Hella Johnson, founder and conductor of
Conspirare. This music group is one of Austin’s live music
organizations that you won’t see on ACL, but one that actually won a Grammy Award. (They made a cameo appearance at Life in the City a few months ago.) Mr. Hella Johnson developed a unique presentation style that has revolutionized
the concept of choral music, no mean fete.
During my years of service on the
Austin Arts Commission, I encountered many artists struggling to express their
individual artistic visions. Usually they were focused on their own self expression.
I heard a very different story from Craig Hella Johnson. He told about facing a
concert in which he knew his music would not connect with his audience, his
despair at facing the possibility, and his determination to find some way to
bridge the gap between Renaissance art and contemporary audiences. Johnson knew
in his heart the gift this music had to give, and from personal experience, he understood
the barriers that stood between the audience and that gift. He went into
retreat at Galveston, determined not to return until he had found a solution.
The answer came from his own experience of feeling alienated from a performance
of “high art.” Here is his story.
Although he had been well taught as a high school student,
when he arrived at St. Olafs University, Johnson was sometimes overtaken with
what he terms “museum fear,” a feeling of reticence about his ability to
embrace “high music.” This feeling was particularly strong when the campus en masse was attending a performance of
Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. “Everyone
on campus was attending. I stayed in my dorm room. However, the performance was
broadcast live on radio, so I turned it on to listen.” He noted with proper respect the impressive
opening chords, the recitatives and vocal excellence. Then came the chorale, familiar
from years of playing organ in a Lutheran church. “Bach in his wisdom and
generosity had included an old familiar chorale in this magnificent work.” That
moment of touching the familiar in the midst of the grandeur of the Bach
oratorio broke through his emotional barrier. “I found myself crying. I threw
on my clothes and ran across the campus to the concert.”
From this experience,
and his determination to bridge the gap between the audience and the music, Johnson
developed a unique style that combines contemporary popular music with the
highest of high art, and incidentally put him and his organization on the
international map. For Johnson however, it’s all about the invitation, never
about himself or his artistic expression.
As stewards of
the kingdom of God, what do we need to do to remove the barriers between unchurched
people and the wonderful gift of the grace of God?
