Los Angeles Master Chorale

In 2014 the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which was founded by Roger Wagner in 1964, will celebrate its 50th anniversary. For over ten years it has been the resident chorus of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. There the Chorale also presents its own annual concert series, covering a repertoire that ranges from early polyphony to contemporary works. The Master Chorale regularly commissions new compositions and has given the world premieres of 44 works in the course of its history. The Chorale also regularly partners with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall, and they have additionally performed together at the Hollywood Bowl, the Ojai Music Festival, Lincoln Center, and the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The Chorale’s latest CD, which was released in September 2012, is a recording of three works by Polish composer Henryk Górecki. Since 2001 the Los Angeles Master Chorale has been led by Music Director Grant Gershon, who was born in Norwalk, California. He studied at Chapman College in Orange, California, and at the University of Southern California and began his career as a singing coach for the Los Angeles Opera; he was then asked to be Esa-Pekka Salonen’s assistant at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which he maintains close ties as a guest conductor. Gershon is an ardent champion of contemporary music, especially the work of John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, and Steve Reich. At Los Angeles Opera he has conducted Verdi’s La traviata, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Daniel Catán’s Il postino, and he made his debut at Santa Fe Opera conducting Vivaldi’s Griselda. Gershon’s recordings have twice been nominated for Grammy Awards.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale makes its LUCERNE FESTIVAL debut at the Easter Festival.

February 2013