News | L.A. is the World in three commissioning projects

“America is a place filled with diversity, unsettled histories, images impinging on one another and spawning different shapes. Its polyphony of voices, its constant eddying of claims to identity is one of the things that makes America, America.”— Robert Hughes, Time magazine, 2001

In our increasingly multicultural society, Hughes argues that in some ways the future of America rests squarely on the shoulders of people “who can think and act with informed grace across ethnic, cultural, linguistic lines.” In the world of choral music, Music Director Grant Gershon is the embodiment of this ideal. Gershon has been “keenly interested in nontraditional collaborations that can broaden the definition of what ‘choral music’ means in this era of global interconnections.” Already admired for the inclusivity and diversity of his programming, Gershon is exploring new collaborative territory with his innovative multi-year commissioning project, L.A. is the World.

In conceiving L.A. is the World, Gershon echoes Hughes’ vision for America, but places it squarely in our own backyard — the wonderfully diverse melting pot of cultures that make up the city of Los Angeles. L.A. is the World brings together gifted American composers with Los Angeles-based master musicians to create new choral work based in non-western traditions.

“Los Angeles, with its vibrant and sophisticated immigrant communities, is the perfect place to explore this new type of collaboration,” says Gershon. “I am keenly aware of and inspired by the many world-class musical artists who have immigrated to Los Angeles recently and who represent an array of traditions with deep roots in their communities and cultures. One of the links in all these traditions is the power and eloquence of the human voice, and I have felt that there must surely be a way to connect these various non-western traditions to the Master Chorale’s own musical heritage through the artistry of the members of our ensemble.”

“Of all the meaningful work that the Master Chorale does, L.A. is the World is the project that is closest to my heart right now,” admits Gershon. “It allows our singers to explore and our audience to experience some of the vital and sophisticated traditions that make our city alive. The works that are created in these kind of collaborations will help ensure that choral music remains a living, evolving and vibrant art form.”

Next: Decussation: the process of becoming or condition of being crossed in the form of an X