Texas Choir Wins Grammy for Recording of Russian Spiritual Music

On Sunday the Austin-based choral group Conspirare was awarded a Grammy for Best Choral Performance for “The Sacred Spirit of Russia,” the 2014 release on Harmonia Mundi, the group announced in a press release. The recording was made in 2013 at Austin’s at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church and features Christmas liturgical from the Russian Orthodox Church and featured basso profundo Glenn Miller as a soloist. Conspirare founder and artistic director Craig Hella Johnson conducted. 

“Although many Russian composers … wrote more or less complete settings of the Divine Liturgy, on a typical Sunday in parishes of the Russian tradition one is not likely to hear the works of just one composer. The practice, rather, is to sing an eclectic mix of settings by various composers,” Vladimir Morosan, a leading expert in Russian liturgical music and consultant to Conspirare for the performances and recording, wrote in Orthodox Arts Journal. “This was the approach used to build the program [recorded] by Conspirare … Several works on this program are North American (and perhaps world-wide) premieres, brought to life some hundred years after their Conspirare is a family of vocal ensembles known for delivering uniquely beautiful and transformative musical experiences. 

The only Russian contender for a Grammy last night was 23-year-old pianist Daniil Trifonov of Nizhniy Novgorod. His album “The Carnegie Recital” nominated for Grammy for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo”. However, the award went to Jason Vieaux of Cleveland, Ohio, for his new album ‘Play’.