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Conspirare has toured

Considering Matthew Shepard

to several universities, including Ole Miss earlier this year.

The oratorio includes texts from Shepard’s journal not only in its libretto, but also in onstage projections.

integrity and accessibility. I had an

advantage in that I was not labeled early

on as a composer, so I didn’t have pres-

sure to see what my ‘voice’ was. I tried to

serve this story, and I tried to honor that

in the musically pluralistic world we are

living in, having grown up with the iPod

shu e becoming everybody’s norm. So

nothing I do here is unusual in terms of

how people listen. It is maybe unusual in

the concert hall for purists, but I wanted

to preserve a naturalness.

“ is may sound unusual, but when-

ever I had ego involved in the com-

position and would think maybe this

would be clever or this would make an

impression—when I felt that coming up,

I would think, no, I am going to try to

avoid self-interest. I just want the story

to be told. I had a real hope that this

would honor Matt Shepard.”

Getting the oratorio on its feet was

an emotional time for all involved. “ e

story is a lot to hold. To ask a row of ten-

ors and basses to sing those awful words

in the movement “A Protestor”—‘ e

only good fag is a fag that’s dead’—those

were challenging things. I was incred-

ibly moved by the singers’ dedication

in bringing this forth. It was one of the

most extraordinary experiences of my

life, and I still feel it today. e way they

have carried this with such care is be-

yond what I can ever adequately express

my thanks for.

“I love the experience of this piece.

Every bit of investment I made has been

paid back by the connection with the

singers, and particularly by the audi-

ence. e response has been beautiful. I

think of the LGBTQ things, but for me

this is a larger consideration. is pro-

jection we do, this pushing out against

that which we are fearful of, this way we

distance ourselves from one another,

that is just a human trait. I am moved

that people are receiving this beyond

just the LGBTQ aspect; that it is a re-

membrance of who we are more deeply.”

Although Johnson has attend-

ed Ravinia as a “happy listener,” this

performance of

Considering Matthew

Shepard

marks his formal festival debut.

“I feel so fortunate to be coming there at

all with my cherished colleagues in Con-

spirare

,

but to be coming to share this

piece is beyond special. I think people

are naturally a little fearful of a concert

about Matthew Shepard and fear it will

be a downer. But I think that presenting

this piece at Ravinia is also an invitation

for them to contemplate their own story.

And it is actually a piece that o ers a

great deal of hope. We always leave the

experience, audience and singers alike,

li ed up and joyous. is has been a

remarkable aspect.”

Visitors to the University of Wyo-

ming can nd a bench on campus ded-

icated to Matthew Shepard, inscribed

with the words “He continues to make

a di erence.” He does, whether through

the intense conversation I had with a

pair of strangers on an airplane or in the

creative consciousness of an artist like

Craig Hella Johnson.

“I o en refer to Judy and Dennis as

‘warriors for love.’ ” Johnson’s tone is

gentle, yet resolute. “I am putting a stake

in the ground that I want to lay claim

to that myself. Not that I do that in any

shape or form like they do. But I de -

nitely claim that whatever I am partici-

pating in, whether it’s a concert of Bach

motets or

Considering Matthew Shepard,

I hope it can be an o ering to create an

expansive experience that can help us to

wake up and come home to ourselves, to

understand ourselves more deeply, and

to love one another.”

Mark Thomas Ketterson is the Chicago correspondent

for

Opera News

. He has also written for the

Chicago

Tribune

,

Playbill

,

Chicago

magazine, Lyric Opera of

Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington

National Opera at the Kennedy Center.

MARLEE CRAWFORD/UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 – MAY 11, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE

17