TAKE YOUR BROKEN HEART, MAKE IT INTO ART.” —Carrie Fisher
way and I wrote a few things down. Matthew’s story stayed with me for a long, long time and when I began the actual writing, I really was doing it for my own heart to start with. There are some things we read in the news, or we learn about them another way and we allow them to settle into a place inside of us. I tried to compartmentalize it, but with Matt’s story I just couldn’t.” While creating the piece, Johnson says, “I did
not have a plan for the show. At first I was simply interested in completing it—getting it outside of me. Then I focused on working with my extraordinary colleagues, which has been an amazing evolution. The responsiveness from people in the audience led us to take it on the road and do some of this touring. After the premiere, there was this deep embrace, a response that was full of compassionate and it was robust.” “The piece is meaningful to all the nine voices
musical styles woven into a unified whole. With the music, I incorporated a wide range of soulful texts by poets including Hildegard of Bingen, Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Browne and Rumi. Pas- sages from Matt’s personal journal, interviews and writings from his parents Judy and Dennis Shepard, and newspaper reports are poignantly appointed throughout the work.” Johnson feels and sees music down to his very
soul, at times discussing music’s colors and emotions and how it really does come from the heart, “Back in 1998 I had a strong impulse to respond in some
of Conspirare and the eight-piece instrumental ensemble. We are so excited to sing in Los Angeles, that feels good and it is important because our L.A. concert will kick off the year. Our concert is one small effort in a part of a larger, national conversation around learning not just to tolerate, but to show love, care and respect. This is a response against a tide of incredibly huge, monstrous discourse on a national level against behavior that is being modeled right now. It is a different voice and expression that we need,” says Johnson. This year also marks another special milestone, the
25th Anniversary of Conspirare, of which Johnson is the founding artistic director. Part of the magic of Considering Matthew Shepard, is once Johnson wrote the piece, he could then tailor it with artists and soloists in mind, “I wrote the piece for what I needed to express and then once I found my way, specific movements began to reveal themselves. Then I would think, ‘Who could sing this?’ and ‘What would
be the right voice?’” Musically speaking, Johnson notes, “This is a
piece of music that has its roots in the storytelling of Matthew’s life and death. But it is really important to know the experience itself is all about us gathering there together in the theatre. That we are considering the story, the name is intentional, it is an invitation to the listener to contemplate their own journey, to come together as a community and know the power of a communal space and remember our deeper selves and the ways we are all connected.” “People have said the piece is hauntingly beautiful
and deeper and broader than Matthew’s story. It is a very diverse work that has the format design for a professional choir at its base, in classical tradition. Then this piece has a lot of deliberately placed variations from indie pop, to blues, jazz, and chants. My idea was to get the biggest cross section of music that we could get into one space…the music symbolically represents our diversity,” continued Johnson. “I really love the end of the night, there is this beautiful feeling afterwards, we all feel connected. Most the time when we do Q&A after a concert and maybe 50 or 75 stay to listen. WithConsidering Mat- thew Shepard, 500 people stay, they stay together in that space. They do not want to lose that beautiful feeling. A shared humanity--this is who we are, that is a powerful feeling for both the audience and the performers,” recalls Johnson.
Concert and other video snippets are available and a perfor- mance CD can be purchased at
conspirare.org/recordings.
Considering Matthew Shepard will have two performance nights, Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16, at Los Angeles’ John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. For tickets and more informa- tion, call 323.461.3673 or go to
fordtheatres.org/calendar/ considering-matthew-shepard.
JUNE 2018 | RAGE monthly 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
