hu-Man is a choral autobiography; an exploration of the very people who make up ECMC. It is the product of many hours of private interviews between every current member of the chorus and Artistic Director, Vince Peterson. The aim is to use music programming in conjunction with video interviews to show an intimate portrait of real human beings from

hu-Man is a choral autobiography; an exploration of the very people who make up ECMC. It is the product of many hours of private interviews between every current member of the chorus and Artistic Director, Vince Peterson. The aim is to use music programming in conjunction with video interviews to show an intimate portrait of real human beings from a wide array of backgrounds and interest who all come together every week for a common musical goal - and how that musical goal continues to put joy and goodness into the community around us.

ECMC has spent several years now using choral music to examine the state of manhood in the world during our chaotic and ever-changing times. Men of all identities and backgrounds are facing a true and just reckoning in the world for the abuse of power that they as a gender group have long wielded over certain other groups in the world. Having said this, not every man is made this way. Not every man believes in his own superiority to others on the basis of gender expression. Many men have the capacity to be vulnerable, tender, abiding in love and gentility, and emotionally expressive with a range reflective of their full spectrum of life experiences. Many men were brought up under harsh expectations and societal norms about toughness, strength, and bodily constitution. Still, a large number of men don’t find these stereotypical traits to be resonant within them. These men often face true adversity. Being in a choir is more than just making vocal music in tandem with others. A choir is a microcosm of an ideal society where everything works together harmoniously. This, in turn, fosters a tight-knit community among a choir’s members and these people learn things about each other and learn about life from each other. The more different each member is, the more beautiful the whole sound portrait of the choir becomes.

ECMC performs Conrad Susa's iconic work Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest in its iteration for men's chorus with harp, guitar, and marimba under the baton of Artistic Director, Vince Peterson, a widely-known expert on Susa's life and music. Also included on this album are Susa's arrangement of the classic carol Fum Fum Fum and his

ECMC performs Conrad Susa's iconic work Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest in its iteration for men's chorus with harp, guitar, and marimba under the baton of Artistic Director, Vince Peterson, a widely-known expert on Susa's life and music. Also included on this album are Susa's arrangement of the classic carol Fum Fum Fum and his long-forgotten derivative work The Midnight Clear for double choir and piano. Get into the spirit of the season ECMC style through the brilliant compositional mind and manuscripts of the late, celebrated composer, Conrad Susa.

Conrad Susa was resident composer for the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and served as dramaturge for the O'Neill Center in Connecticut. He also wrote numerous scores for documentary films and PBS television productions, choral and instrumental works and operas (Transformations, Black River and The Love of Don Perlimplín) commissioned by the Minnesota Opera Company, San Francisco Opera and Pepsico. His church opera The Wise Women, was written for the American Guild of Organists and The Dangerous Liaisons, for the San Francisco Opera.

Mr. Susa served as staff pianist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and as assistant editor of Musical America magazine. He won numerous awards, including Ford Foundation fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts grants and a National Endowment Consortium grant. He earned a B.F.A. from Carnegie Institute of Technology and received an M.S. from The Juilliard School, where he studied with William Bergsma, Vincent Persichetti, and P.D.Q. Bach.