Expect big choruses, breathtaking pianissimos and seat-rumbling organ swells for opening night of LA's Master Chorale, led by music director Grant Gershon.
Special guests include Paul Meier and Kimo Smith, on organ, and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC). The program features the West Coast premiere of Nico Muhly’s choral tapestry, A Good Understanding, performed with the LACC, and Judith Weir’s Ascending Into Heaven. The repertoire also includes mystic Arvo Pärt’s The Beatitudes, Tarik O’Regan’s Dorchester Canticles, Kurt Weill’s Kiddush, Gerald Finzi’s God Is Gone Up, and Sr. David Willcocks’ Psalm 150 performed by the LACC.
A pair of royal anthems rounds out the concert: British composer Hubert Parry’s I Was Glad, conducted by LAMC associate conductor Lesley Leighton, as well as noted contemporary Welsh composer Paul Mealor’s Ubi caritas, which was originally composed for the nuptials of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton.
A pre-concert talk with Gershon, KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen and composer Paul Mealor, for Listen Up!, begins at 6 pm. And a post-concert dinner gala (an additional $500 per person) will be held in BP Hall, with entertainment provided by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Tony Award-winning composer/pianist/playwright Jason Robert Brown.