Los Angeles Master Chorale To Honor Grant Gershon At GALA 2022

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, the country's preeminent professional choir, will honor Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director, in celebration of his 20th anniversary season, at GALA 2022, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Gershon, who elicits technically precise and expressive performances from musicians, is committed to increasing representation in the choral repertoire, and in 2020 he announced that the Master Chorale will reserve at least 50% of each future season for works by composers from historically excluded groups in classical music.

GALA 2022 will celebrate both Grant's legacy and his vision for the future. The program will feature works of Grant's "desert island" composers like Bach and di Lasso, as well as stunning choral works by many of the L.A. based composers that Grant has championed in recent years-including Swan Family Artist-in-Residence Reena Esmail, Saunder Choi, Nilo Alcala, Eric Whitacre, Shawn Kirchner and Dale Trumbore. Highlights will include the world premiere of The Open Hand, a new commission by award-winning composer Michael Abels (Get Out, Us), and the world premiere of a never-before-heard version of Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1994 and specially arranged by the composer for the Chorale and acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. GALA 2022 will also feature "Surround Sing," the annual event's signature performance-in-the-round, and composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will give an in-person tribute to Grant.

"Grant's passion for choral music reminds us all of the joy of making music together," said Jean Davidson, President and CEO, Los Angeles Master Chorale. "His dedication to the Master Chorale and dynamic presence on the podium have inspired singers, instrumentalists and audiences throughout the world for the past two decades. It is an honor to celebrate this milestone as we look towards a hopeful future under Grant's directorship."

"It is an incredibly rewarding experience to serve as board chair of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and witness Grant's passion and commitment to celebrating a multiplicity of voices through his choice of repertoire, direction of our singers, and leadership of our education programs," said Philip A. Swan. "Throughout the past two decades, Grant has built a choral community that embraces all facets of the genre, truly embodying the power and spirit of choral singing."

During his tenure, Gershon has led more than 200 Master Chorale performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in programs encompassing choral music from the earliest writings and pillars of the repertoire through to contemporary compositions. He has led world premiere performances of major works by John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Steve Reich, Morten Lauridsen, Ricky Ian Gordon, Gabriela Lena Frank, Shawn Kirchner, Ellen Reid, and Chinary Ung, among many others.

In July 2019, Gershon and the Master Chorale opened the famed Salzburg Festival with Lagrime di SanPietro, directed by Peter Sellars. The Salzburg performances received standing ovations and rave reviews from such outlets as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called Lagrime "painfully beautiful" (Schmerzlicheschön). Gershon and the Master Chorale debuted the production in Los Angeles in 2016 and began touring the world with it in 2018. In its review of the premiere of Lagrime, the Los Angeles Times noted that the production "is a major accomplishment for the Master Chorale, which sang and acted brilliantly. It is also a major accomplishment for music history."

Gershon also founded the Master Chorale's Swan Family Artist-in-Residence position, currently held by composer Reena Esmail, and the first ever Associate Artistic Director position, held by Jenny Wong. Gershon was named Resident Conductor of LA Opera in 2012, and will step down at the end of the 2021-22 season to devote more time to the expansion of the Master Chorale. Before joining the Master Chorale as music director in 2001, Gershon served as assistant conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic from 1994 to 1997.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Gershon and the Master Chorale released several video world premieres including Shine Bright, a video triptych of Reena Esmail's TaReKiTa, Meredith Monk's Earth Seen From Above, and Derrick Skye's Ready, Bright, a Los Angeles Master Chorale commission.

His discography includes the Grammy Award-nominated recordings of Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti's Grand Macabre (Sony Classical); six commercial CDs with the Master Chorale, including Glass-Salonen (RCM), You Are (Variations) (Nonesuch), Daniel Variations (Nonesuch), A Good Understanding (Decca), Miserere (Decca), and the national anthems (Cantaloupe Music); and two live-performance albums, the Master Chorale's 50th Season Celebration recording and Festival of Carols. Gershon has also led the Master Chorale in performances for several major motion picture soundtracks, including, at the request of John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. To read Grant Gershon's complete bio, please click here.

All proceeds from GALA 2022 will benefit the Los Angeles Master Chorale's artistic and community education programs.

Generous support for GALA 2022 is provided by Platinum Table Sponsors Kiki Ramos Gindler and David Gindler, and Lillian Pierson Lovelace; and Gold Table Sponsors Judy and Thomas Beckmen, and Kristan and Philip A. Swan.

The Open Hand by Michael Abels was commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale with support from Kiki Ramos Gindler and David Gindler, and Lillian Pierson Lovelace.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale's Swan Family Artist-in-Residence is made possible by the Swan Family Trust.

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