DECCA MUSIC GROUP – PRESS RELEASE
23 JULY 2010

Decca Music Group have signed a new recording agreement with one of America’s outstanding choirs, the Los Angeles Master Chorale – described as “the most exciting chorus in the country” and “a matchlessly polished choir” (Los Angeles Times).

The choir will make their Decca debut with a recording of music by America’s hottest young composer, Nico Muhly, entitled A Good Understanding.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale is the resident chorus of the landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall, with its acclaimed acoustics, where the album was recorded in June 2010.

Particularly admired as champions of contemporary choral music, the Los Angeles Master Chorale have three times been awarded the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming, and garnered a Grammy® nomination for their recording of Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna under their former Music Director Paul Salamunovich.

Three of the works on the disc have already received West Coast premieres from the choir including Expecting The Main Things From You, a three movement work for organ and string quartet, performed by the choir in February 2009; Bright Mass With Canons and First Service. Also included are Senex Puerum Portabat for brass and voices, and Like As The Hart, for violin percussion and voice, as well as the title track A Good Understanding.

Music Director Grant Gershon, who conducts the recording, is in his tenth season with the choir. “Nico Muhly is a brilliantly eclectic composer whose tastes (much like my own) run the gamut from William Byrd to Björk, with many, many detours in transit,” states Gershon. “Nico's music is honest and sly, transcendent and earthy, radiant and austere. He writes beautifully for the voice, and his music springs off of the page with grace and unbuttoned joy. I am thrilled to be making the first major label recording of Nico's brilliant choral works, and I am especially pleased that the Los Angeles Master Chorale is creating this recording with the legendary Decca label. The partnership between Decca and the Master Chorale is a natural fit and holds exciting promise for the future.”

Paul Moseley, General Manager of Decca said, “We are proud to announce this collaboration with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and delighted their first release on Decca will be the choral music of the exciting young American composer Nico Muhly. It will both showcase this exceptional choir and their music director Grant Gershon and also highlight their very real commitment to accessible new music.”