Ravinia_2018_Issue_7_Week

Rod Caspers,

co-producer & stage director

Rod Caspers served as the executive director

of university events at the University of Texas–

Austin, creating and producing special events.

Prior to that, he served as the executive director

of creative services for the UT system, where he

and colleagues received ve Lone Star Emmy

Awards for creating/producing the PBS series

State of Tomorrow

. In New York, Caspers served

as associate director of GreenPlays, creating and

directing several new musicals and cabarets,

and in Texas he produced/directed the Tex-

as Performing Arts Center’s

th-anniversary

gala and the We’re Texas Milestone Celebration.

Caspers has directed numerous productions,

including

Big River

e Secret Garden

Honk!

Ordinary People

Assassins

Close Ties

e Lara-

mie Project

Holes

, and

e Rivers and Ravines

He also directed

e Bat

, Austin Lyric Opera’s

adaptation of Strauss’s

Die Fledermaus

. Stage

management credits include

e Radio City

Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes

(seven seasons) and

Jim Henson’s Musical World

at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, the

Muppets, and the casts of

Avenue Q

and

Sesame

Street

. Caspers staged the original production

of Conspirare’s

Considering Matthew Shepard

and, recently, a production with the Louisiana

State University A Cappella Choir for the Na-

tional Collegiate Choral Organization’s national

conference.

Elliott Forrest,

co-director & projection designer

Elliott Forrest is a Peabody Award–winning

broadcaster, director and producer. He is the

director of the upcoming PBS TV special of

Considering Matthew Shepard

and co-director

of its live tour. Elliott is the a ernoon host on

New York’s WQXR, host of the radio concerts of

the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center,

and has hosted more than concerts onstage at

Carnegie Hall. He is the author of the new clas-

sical work for families,

e Babbling Orchestra

He regularly produces/directs and designs sym-

phony concerts for such ensembles as the Los

Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Houston

and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, Philadelphia

Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Pasadena

Pops, and the Little Orchestra Society at venues

from the Hollywood Bowl to Lincoln Center.

Forrest is the executive and artistic director or

ArtsRock.org of Rockland County, NY, which

brings professional concerts and conversations

to its community. He has narrated performances

of Saint-Saëns’

Carnival of the Animals

, Proko-

ev’s

Peter and the Wolf

, Stravinsky’s

Soldier’s

Tale

, and Britten’s

Young Person’s Guide to the

Orchestra

. For years, he was on A&E Televi-

sion as host of

Breakfast with the Arts

, and he

appeared on the original

Gong Show

on NBC.

CRAIG HELLA JOHNSON,

composer, conductor, and piano

As Conspirare’s founder and artistic director,

Craig Hell Johnson is known for cra ing musical

journeys that create deep connections between

performer and listener. A unique aspect of his

programming is his signature “collage” style:

marrying music of many styles from classical to

popular to create moving experiences. Johnson is

also music director of the Cincinnati Vocal Arts

Ensemble and conductor emeritus of the Victoria

Bach Festival. He has served as a guest conductor

with Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony,

Oregon Bach Festival, Harvard University, and

many other ensembles throughout Texas, the

United States, and abroad.

rough these activ-

ities, as well as Conspirare’s many recordings on

the internationally distributed Harmonia Mundi

label, Johnson brings international recognition

to the Texas musical community. Johnson was

director of choral activities at the University of

Texas–Austin from

and remains an

active educator, teaching workshops and clinics

internationally. In fall

, he became the rst

artist-in-residence at the Texas State University

School of Music. As a composer and arranger,

Johnson works with G. Schirmer Publishing on

the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series, featur-

ing specially selected composers as well as some

of his own original compositions and arrange-

ments. His music is also published by Alliance

Music Publications. Johnson’s rst concert-length

composition,

Considering Matthew Shepard

, was

premiered and recorded by Conspirare for a

CD release. Johnson’s accomplishments have

been recognized with numerous awards, includ-

ing a

Grammy for Best Choral Performance

with Conspirare. Chorus America granted him

the Michael Korn Founders Award for Devel-

opment of the Professional Choral Art in

and the Texas state legislature named him Texas

State Musician for

. Other honors include

induction into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in

, Chorus America’s

Louis Botto Award

for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal,

and the

Citation of Merit from internation-

al professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon.

Johnson studied at St. Olaf College, e Juilliard

School, and the University of Illinois, and earned

his doctorate at Yale University.

Conspirare gratefully acknowledges

the following supporters of

Considering Matthew Shepard

Season Sustaining Underwriter:

Agent of Change Sponsors:

Anonymous, Fran & Larry Collmann, Legacy

of Sound, One Skye Foundation Inc., e

Fetzer Institute, e Kodosky Foundation

Advocate Sponsors:

Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Casey

Blass & Lee Manford, Eric Copper, Crutch and

Danna Crutch eld, Beverly Dale, Dee Garcia,

Johanna & Mitch Vernick

Catalyst Sponsors:

Anonymous, Jim Arth, Ginger & Michael

Blair, Carl Caricari & Margaret Murray Miller,

Chris & Dennis Cavner, Catherine Clark, Mela

Sarajane Dailey & Peter Bay, David Bohnett

Foundation, Virginia & Robert Dupuy, Susanna

& Richard Finnell, Sandy & Bill Fivecoat, Mary

Nell Frucella, Evelyn & Rick Gabrillo, Karen

& Paul Galindo, Deborah Glusker, Danny

Hamilton & Paul Hilliard, Lara & Robert

Harlan, Richard Hartgrove & Gary Cooper,

Carr Hornbuckle & Jack Leifer, Ron Jernigan,

Carolyn J. Keating, Tina & Dale Knobel, Angie

& Steve Larned, Emily Little, omas Lukens,

Stefanie Moore & Todd Keister, Toyota Motor

N.A., Linda & Robert Ramsey, Susan & Jack

Robertson, Dr. Joni Wallace, Julia & Patrick

Willis, James Wood, and individuals too

numerous to list here.

Support also comes from

the National Endowment for the Arts,

Texas Commission on the Arts, and

the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin

Economic Development Department.

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 10 – SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

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