Information on:

Los Angeles Master Chorale

135 N. Grand Ave.
213-972-3110

About

The Los Angeles Master Chorale is widely recognized as the country’s leading professional choir and one of Southern California’s most vibrant cultural treasures. Hailed for its powerful performances, technical precision, and artistic daring, the Master Chorale is led by Kiki and David Gindler Artistic Director Grant Gershon and President and CEO Jean Davidson. Founded by legendary conductor Roger Wagner in 1964, it is a founding resident company of The Music Center and choir-in-residence at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Chorister positions are highly sought-after and the fully professional choir is a diverse and vocally dynamic group showcasing the many voices of L.A.

Presenting its own concert series each season, the Los Angeles Master Chorale performs choral music from the earliest writings to contemporary compositions striking a balance between innovation and tradition. To date, the Master Chorale has commissioned 51 and premiered 99 new works, of which 67 were world premieres. It has had two composers-in-residence, Morten Lauridsen (1994-2001) and Shawn Kirchner (2012-2015), with composer/conductor Eric Whitacre its current Swan Family artist-in-residence.  It has been awarded three ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming as well as Chorus America’s prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence. In 2017 it was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.

During its 54th season, nine concert programs will be presented in Walt Disney Concert Hall. The season is bookended by performances of towering choral pillars: Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana opens the season in September — paired with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms to honor the composer’s centenary — and the Brahms Requiem will close the season in June 2018 with works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers David Lang and Caroline Shaw also featured.

The Master Chorale’s Hidden Handel Project, an exploration of Handel’s great but under-presented oratorios, continues with Israel In Egypt in February. This performance will feature innovative projections by Syrian/Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad who will create imagery in real-time from the stage. In May 2018 the Master Chorale will present the world premiere of dreams of the new world commissioned from composer Ellen Reid. Inspired by westward expansions and the forging of new frontiers, the work draws upon interviews conducted in Memphis, Houston, and Los Angeles to build a compelling and personal libretto by Sarah LaBrie. This exciting new work is paired with Terry Riley’s iconic In C and both works will feature the acclaimed wild Up ensemble.

Guest conductors will helm three holiday celebrations: Renowned Venezuelan conductor, María Guinand, will lead the Master Chorale’s first-ever Día de los Muertos concert exploring a range of Latin American traditions centered around rituals of death and celebration with works by Mexican, Argentinian, and Cuban composers in October. In December, the Master Chorale’s Artist-in-Residence Eric Whitacre will lead two Festival of Carols holiday performances and Associate Conductor Jenny Wong will make her solo Disney Hall conducting debut with a rare performance of all six of Bach’s motets. December concerts also include Handel’s Messiah and the 37th annual Messiah Sing-Along.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale has performed in more than 500 concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at both Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, and has toured with the orchestra to Europe and New York City. Performances in the orchestra’s 2017/18 season include the season opening concerts featuring Mozart’s Laut verkünde unsre Freude, K. 623 and Ave verum corpus, K. 618 conducted by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel; Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream with Principal Guest Conductor Susanna Mälkki; Bernstein’s Mass with Dudamel; the U.S. premiere of Andrew Norman’s A Trip to the Moon conducted by Teddy Abrams and directed by Yuval Sharon; Beethoven’s 9th and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Dudamel; and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri conducted by Dudamel and directed by Peter Sellars.

Praised for its definitive performances, the Los Angeles Master Chorale is also committed to recording the choral repertoire. Its esteemed discography includes seven recordings under Gershon, the most recent being the national anthems/the little match girl passion by David Lang on Cantaloupe Records. Albums released under former Music Director Paul Salamunovich on RCM include the Grammy-nominated Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, a recording that helped to secure the work’s place as a modern masterpiece. The Master Chorale is also featured with Gershon on the soundtracks of many major motion pictures and is heard beyond the concert hall via broadcasts by Southern California’s Classical KUSC.

Committed to community engagement and fostering music education in schools, the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s education programs include Voices Within residencies that encourage students to write and perform their own songs, and an expansive Oratorio Project for high school students. The Master Chorale also presents an annual High School Choir Festival, which brings teenagers from around the Southland to perform in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Vision Statement

Expanding and transforming the artistry of voice.

Mission Statement

We are an independent and innovative professional vocal ensemble that shares the traditional and evolving spectrum of choral music with the widest possible audience. We advance this art through performance, community education, collaboration, commissioning and recording.


Los Angeles Master Chorale is not affiliated with AmericanTowns Media

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