LA Master Chorale Presents All-British concert 1/30

The Los Angeles Master Chorale explores England's grand choral tradition through the ages with "London Bridges," an all-British program conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon featuring the music of William Byrd, Judith Weir, John Tavener and Benjamin Britten, as well as a selection of English madrigals, on Sunday, January 30, 2011, 7:00 p.m., at Disney Hall. Lesley Leighton, appointed Assistant Conductor of the chorus in July 2010, makes her Los Angeles Master Chorale conducting debut leading Hymn to St. Cecelia, one of two Britten works to be spotlighted. Organist Paul Meier is the guest artist.

"No other country has such as rich a choral heritage as Great Britain," states Gershon, a self-professed "choral geek" from a young age who was drawn, in particular, to British choral works as a high school student. "Resonant sound, rich harmonic elements and overtones are among the music's hallmarks. The English were the first to embrace major and minor chords and thirds, giving tremendous dimension and emotional range to their early musical compositions. I'm delighted to share conducting duties for this concert with my colleague Lesley Leighton."

The program includes John Tavener's hauntingly beautiful Song for Athene, heard at Princess Diana's funeral and first performed by the Chorale at Disney Hall in January 2005. Known as the Dean of Mysticism, Tavener - who draws from Elizabethan, Middle-Eastern and New Age influences - is a leading figure in the world of 20th-century British music. Providing a musical contrast are Elizabethan composer William Byrd's Four-Part Mass in D, Britten's Missa Brevis, a selection of English madrigals and Judith Weir's Two Human Hymns, written in 1995 for six-part choir and based on poems by 17th Century English poets George Herbert and Henry King. In addition, Leighton leads Britten's lyrical Hymn to St. Cecilia, an homage to St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, set to W.H. Auden's poem "Anthem for St. Cecilia's Day."

Concert tickets to range from $19 to $124. Student Rush seats are $10 and are available at the box office two hours before the performance. For tickets and information, please call (213) 972-7282, or visit www.lamc.org. (Tickets can no longer be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.) The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.

EVENT/ARTISTS:
Los Angeles Master Chorale presents "London Bridges" - All-British Program
Grant Gershon, Conductor
Lesley Leighton, Assistant Conductor
Paul Meier, Organ

WHEN:
Sunday, January 30, 2011, 7 PM

PROGRAM:
WILLIAM BYRD Four-Part Mass
Judith Weir Two Human Hymns
Benjamin Britten Hymn to St. Cecilia
conducted by LA Master Chorale Assistant Conductor Lesley Leighton
Missa Brevis in D
JOHN TAVENER Song for Athene
SelectEd English Madrigals, Including:
THOMAS TOMKINS Music Divine
See, See the Shepherds Queen
John Bennett All Creatures Now
THOMAS MORLEY April Is in My Mistress' Face
MICHAEL EAST Poor Is the Life
THOMAS GREAVES Come Away Sweet Love
ORLANDO GIBBONS The Silver Swan
THOMAS WEELKES Sing We at Pleasure

VENUE:
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

TICKETS PRICES:
Concert Tickets: $19 - $124;
Student Rush seats available at box office two hours before the performance

TICKETS/INFORMATION:
213-972-7282
www.lamc.org
(Tickets can no longer be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except
on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.)
# # #

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Giving a voice to Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Grammy-nominated LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE (LAMC), considered one of the world's leading choirs, is led by Music Director Grant Gershon. The Los Angeles Times proclaims, "Under Gershon, the Master Chorale seems to be able to master anything," The New York Times calls the choir "inspired," and The New York Observer declares it "a superb vocal ensemble." The Chorale is currently in its 47th season as a resident company of the Music Center of Los Angeles County and its 8th as the resident chorus at Disney Hall. Presenting its own concert series each season, it has performed more than 480 concerts, featuring choral music from the earliest writings to the most recent contemporary compositions. The choir has commissioned 25 and premiered 63 new works, of which 41 were world premieres, and has been awarded the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming three times - in 1995, 2003 and 2010. Additionally, the Chorale has performed in more than 280 concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at both Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl and has also appeared at the Ojai Festival, the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center, and at Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in leading venues throughout the Southland. Its discography includes four CDs under Gershon's baton, A Good Understanding, an all-Nico Muhly disk recorded at Disney Hall and released by Decca in September 2010; Daniel Variations by Steve Reich, released in spring 2008 on Nonesuch Records; You Are (Variations) by Steve Reich, released in September 2005 on Nonesuch Records; and an RCM recording featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen's first choral work, Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jäderlund, and Philip Glass' Itaipu. LAMC previously released three CDs under Music Director Emeritus Paul Salamunovich on RCM, including the Grammy-nominated Lauridsen-Lux Aeterna. The Chorale is also featured with Gershon on the soundtracks of such major motion pictures as Charlie Wilson's War, Lady in the Water, License to Wed, and Waterworld. Serving more than 40,000 audience members of all ages annually, the Los Angeles Master Chorale also provides education outreach to approximately 6,000 children each year. In 2008, the Chorale's highly successful outreach program "Voices Within" earned the coveted Chorus America Education Outreach Award.

GRANT GERSHON, who was named Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2001 and also serves as LA Opera Associate Conductor/Chorus Master, has garnered tremendous critical acclaim. The Los Angeles Times proclaims that the Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon." During his tenure with the Chorale he has led over 75 performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, including virtually all of the major choral works. Also well known as a champion of new music, Gershon has led world premiere performances of works by Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, and Chinary Ung among many others. His discography includes two Grammy Award-nominated recordings: Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti's Grand Macabre (Sony Classical); as well as four CDs with the Chorale: Glass-Salonen (RCM), You Are (Variations) (Nonesuch), Daniel Variations (Nonesuch), and A Good Understanding (Decca), which the Chorale recorded in Disney Hall in June for release later this season. In New York he has appeared on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center and on the Making Music series at Zankel Hall. Other major appearances include performances at the Ravinia, Aspen, Edinburgh, Helsinki and Vienna Festivals. He has worked closely with many leading conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 2007, Gershon conducted the Minnesota Opera's world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera The Grapes of Wrath, which was recorded live for PS Classics. In 2008, he made his highly acclaimed Los Angeles Opera debut leading eight performances of Verdi's La Traviata. In September 2010. This fall he conducted LA Opera's critically acclaimed production of Daniel Catán's Il Postino featuring Plácido Domingo, and in 2011, he conducts "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" in a co-production with LA Opera and Gloria Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center featuring the Mark Morris Dance Group, and makes his Santa Fe Opera debut conducting Peter Sellars' new production of Vivaldi's Griselda. Gershon was named Outstanding Alumnus of the USC Thornton School of Music and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Thornton School and the Board of Directors of Chorus America.

LAMC Assistant Conductor LESLEY LEIGHTON, a native Angeleno, she sang with the Chorale from 1991 to 1997, when she moved to New York City where, in addition to her accomplishments as a freelance professional musician, she was Director of Development for the Office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She rejoined the Master Chorale in 2007. Since June 2008, Leighton has served as Artistic Director of the 85-voice Los Robles Master Chorale and its newly formed Consort Singers, in addition to conducting USC Thornton School's Oriana Women's Chorus. Leighton studied with LAMC Music Director Emeritus Paul Salamunovich at Loyola Marymount University, where she earned her BA in choral conducting. She subsequently obtained her Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Southern California, where she is currently working on a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral music with her mentor and nationally recognized choral conductor, Jo-Michael Scheibe. She has performed with many of the world's most eminent conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Loren Maazel, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Her opera credits include principal appearances with New York City Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Köln Opera, and Glyndebourne. In 2009 and 2010, Leighton conducted the 240-voice choir at the annual Hollywood Bowl Easter Sunrise Service. The recipient of a two-year teaching assistantship from the Thornton School of Music at USC, Leighton was also honored in 2009 by the university's Remarkable Women Awards, in recognition of her "outstanding accomplishments and endless dedication" in the area of choral music.

PAUL MEIER is Associate Organist of St. James Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He previously served as organist of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, Christ the King Lutheran Church and the Bach Society in Houston and also played services at the cathedrals of Canterbury, Wells, St. George's Chapel in Windsor and Westminster Abbey, and has performed with the Pacific Symphony, among others. Meier studied mainly with Patricia Churchley, Clyde Holloway and Cherry Rhodes, as well as with Harald Vogel at the Norddeutschen Orgelakademie. He holds degrees from Rice University and the University of Southern California, and is currently a doctoral candidate at USC, where he received the award for outstanding Master's Degree graduate in organ performance.

Artists, program and ticket prices subject to change.

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