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Los Angeles Master Chorale launches 2007|08 Season with A German Requiem by Brahms and Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage by Beethoven

Sunday, October 14, 2007, 7 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Soprano Elissa Johnston and Baritone Stephen Powell Featured Guest Soloists

Launching its 2007|08 season, symbolically, with a voyage, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon, opens its concert series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday, October 14, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., with Beethoven’s choral gem Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. The seven-minute cantata, which features an impressionistic setting of two poems by Goethe, is followed by the program’s centerpiece — A German Requiem by Brahms, considered his greatest choral composition and one of the most beautiful and touching pieces in the vocal repertoire. Adding to the work’s rich choral layering are guest soloists Elissa Johnston, soprano, and Stephen Powell, baritone. “Listen Up!”, a pre-concert talk in BP Hall hosted by KUSC’s Alan Chapman and featuring Gershon will be held at 6 p.m.

Although A German Requiem, which will be sung in German, deals with the subject of death, it is warm and consoling, offering a very human perspective and a message of hope that transcends religious beliefs. Just 33 years old when he completed the bulk of his magnum opus, Brahms himself wrote, “As for the title, I must admit I should like to leave out the word ‘German’ and refer instead to ‘Humanity.’” Seeking to comfort the living in the face of death, he used the text of Martin Luther’s German vernacular translation of the Bible rather than the traditional Catholic liturgical text for the requiem mass, which connotes images of the terror of the Last Judgment. The work’s melodic orchestral and choral palettes, arranged in seven movements that are ripe with intimacy and hope, continue to resonate with audiences today, nearly 150 years after Brahms conducted its debut in the Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday 1869.

Tickets to the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s concert range from $19 to $114. Student Rush seats are $10 and are available at the box office two hours before the performance. For tickets and information, please call (800) 787-5262 (outside California call 213-972-7282), log on to www.lamc.org or visit the box office at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Conductor Grant Gershon is equally at home with symphonic and choral music, opera, and musical theater. Since 2001, he has been Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and was recently appointed LA Opera Associate Conductor/Chorus Master. During his tenure with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, he has expanded the choir’s repertoire considerably, conducting dozens of world, U.S., West Coast and Los Angeles premieres. His Nonesuch recording with the L.A. Master Chorale of Steve Reich’s You Are (Variations) was honored with the WQXR Gramophone America Award for 2006. The New York Times, Washington Post and Newsday, among others, selected it as one of the top ten classical recordings of 2005. In 2002 he made his first CD with the Master Chorale, featuring the world premiere recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s first choral work as well as Philip Glass’s Itaipú (RCM 12004). Gershon has also served as chorus master on two Grammy Award-nominated CD’s, Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti’s Grand Macabre (Sony Classical). He recently appeared on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center leading the LA Master Chorale, and on the Making Music Series at Zankel Hall. He received his bachelor of music degree cum laude in piano performance from USC, and currently serves on the USC Thornton School of Music Board of Councilors.

Soprano Elissa Johnston has appeared in a wide range of repertoire. Her orchestral engagements include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen and Miguel Harth-Bedoya, the Atlanta Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony and the San Francisco Contemporary Players. She has performed numerous times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s New Music Group both in Los Angeles and at the Ojai Festival with conductors Tan Dun, David Zinman, Daniel Harding, and Steven Stucky. She recently made her Lincoln Center debut singing Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes with the New York City Ballet and also premiered with the ballet Morgen!, a set of ten orchestral songs by Richard Strauss, choreographed by Peter Martins. Johnston also appeared in the New York Philharmonic’s Copland Festival and Lincoln Center’s Stravinsky Festival. Her recital appearances include programs at the Aldeburgh Festival in England and at the Aspen Festival’s Winter Music Series with composer Ricky Ian Gordon. Also in Aspen she sang the role of “Pat Nixon” in the world premiere of John Adams’ The Nixon Tapes, with the composer conducting. Johnston’s operatic engagements include “Pamina” in Die Zauberflöte at the Snape Proms in England, the role of “Female Chorus” in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the Aldeburgh October Britten Festival, and “Marzelline” in concert performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio at both the Aspen Festival, and with the Wheeling Symphony. With the Los Angeles Opera, she has appeared in Il Trovatore, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria.

The dynamic American baritone Stephen Powell brings his handsome voice, elegant musicianship, and robust stage presence to a wide range of music, from Monteverdi and Handel through Verdi and Puccini to Sondheim and John Adams. The Wall Street Journal lauded his "rich, lyric baritone, commanding presence, and thoughtful musicianship." Powell's reputation was solidified, and a major career was launched when, on opening night of New York City Opera's 1995-96 season, he created a sensation, substituting on short notice to sing the title role in Hindemith's Mathis der Maler. He has since performed with such leading opera companies as the Metropolitan Opera, Cleveland Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, L'Opéra de Montréal and Lyric Opera of Chicago. On the concert stage, he has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Milwaukee Symphony, and Rochester Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony orchestras, among others.

The Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale, currently celebrating its 44th Season, has been cited as a national leader for its innovative and dynamic programming. Recognized as one of the city’s cultural treasures and one of the world’s premier choruses, the Chorale, a founding resident company of the Music Center, has played a leading role in the ongoing resurgence of interest in choral music. Los Angeles Times proclaims the Los Angeles Master Chorale “has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon.” The Chorale’s most recent recording with Grant Gershon, Daniel Variations, will be released on Nonesuch in September 2007.

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Program, prices and artists subject to change.
7-12-07