Coming Soon! The Craig Hella Johnson Series

Coming Soon!

The Craig Hella Johnson Series

ECS Publishing Group is proud to announce the new Craig Hella Johnson Series that will debut in 2024. Johnson has been an advocate for creative, newly-written works for decades, and we are excited to collaborate to bring choirs repertoire cultivated by Johnson.

Meet Craig Hella Johnson

Craig Hella Johnson is the GRAMMY®-winning founding artistic director and conductor of Conspirare. Known for crafting musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners, Johnson is beloved by audiences, revered by singers, and lauded by critics and composers. The Wall Street Journal praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare wrote that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.” Johnson is a published composer and arranger, in-demand guest conductor, and educator. He teaches and conducts as Artist-in-Residence at Texas State University and is also Music Director of the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble and Conductor Emeritus of the Victoria Bach Festival.

Johnson’s concert-length composition Considering Matthew Shepard was premiered and recorded by Conspirare in 2016. Considering Matthew Shepard has been performed by more than 30 choirs around the world and selected songs are sung by high school and college choirs, sharing the work’s message of compassion and understanding.

Johnson’s accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards and honors. Notably among them, he and Conspirare won a 2014 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance, Chorus America awarded him the Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art in 2015, and the Texas State Legislature named him Texas State Musician for 2013. In 2021, the Matthew Shepard Foundation recognized him with the Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership.

A Minnesota native, Johnson studied at St. Olaf College, the Juilliard School, and the University of Illinois and earned his doctorate at Yale University. As the recipient of a National Arts Fellowship, Johnson studied with Helmuth Rilling at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, Germany. He and his husband Phil live with their rescue dog in Austin.