MASTER CHORALE: A RISING VOICE

In this county of late-blooming arts organizations, the Orange County Master Chorale is, relatively speaking, an old-timer.

OK, there are some truly venerable cultural institutions in Orange County, particularly the Laguna Beach Museum of Art and Laguna Moulton Playhouse, both dating back to at least the early 1920s.

But the Orange County Master Chorale, founded in 1956 in Anaheim, prides itself on its own longevity status: It is considered the oldest performing ensemble now active in the county.

The chorale can boast of yet another significant historical credential: It was there at the beginning of the Orange County Performing Arts Center movement. Chorale leaders not only were among the founders of the Center project in 1973, they also played key roles in the initial searches for funds and a Center site.

And, supporters argue, the chorale’s rise in artistic distinction--plus recent moves to upgrade its managerial staff and strengthen its fiscal standing--make the Orange County Master Chorale an especially strong entry in the contest for the Center’s opening-season lineup.

That opening (the Center’s 3,000-seat multipurpose theater is now under construction in Costa Mesa) is approximately 1 1/2 years away, and chorale officials maintain they have been assured their performing ensemble is to be included in the 1986-87 schedule.

“With the Center (opening) just around the corner, you couldn’t ask for a more exciting time for the arts in this county. The opportunities are immense. We are certainly in the right place at the right time,” said Maurice Allard, director of the 115-voice chorale.

Since its founding in 1956 as a 30-voice ensemble then known as the Anaheim Choraleers, the organization has grown steadily, undergoing a name change (to reflect a newer countywide backing) and a succession of directors (including Dennis Houser and Sheldon Disrud).

The biggest growth has taken place since 1978, when Allard, one of the county’s best-known music educators and conductors, took over the artistic helm. (In 1968, when he was on the UC Irvine faculty, he founded the Irvine Master Chorale, which he headed for four years. He runs his own Orange County music academy and has been a vocal coach to Hollywood stars.)

One of the most ubiquitous of local performing groups, the Orange County Master Chorale has performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the late Carmen Dragon) and at virtually every large campus and municipal auditorium in Orange County.

Locally, the chorale members--unpaid volunteers who include former professional singers and music majors--have also played at the Crystal Cathedral, Santa Ana High School Auditorium, Orange Coast College’s Moore Theatre, Trinity United Presbyterian Church and Disneyland Hotel. Three performing tours of Europe have been undertaken, most recently in 1982 to West Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

The chorale’s repertoire is aimed at the widest audience range possible: classical masterworks mixed with Broadway and Hollywood show tunes, plus unabashed dashes of staging showmanship. “We like to theatricize our presentations, to make the fullest use of the resources of a theater,” explained Allard. “The lighter pops format is vital. One of our goals is to build audiences, to recognize the need for a diversity of appeal.”

The current eight-concert season is typically eclectic. Brahms, Mendelssohn and especially Bach are billed, along with medleys from Broadway and Hollywood musicals, as well as a first-time collaboration with the Gloria Newman Dance Theater. The central work in this season’s third annual Bach Festival was “The Passion According to St. John” with guest soloists Jon Humphrey and Douglas Lawrence. In the Christmas program that featured the Handel “Messiah,” the audience was invited for a “Messiah Sing-A-Long.”

The chorale--which includes a 20-member Californians unit--is also a regular on the benefit circuit, including the annual Christmas Candlelight Concert (with the Orange County Pacific Symphony) to raise moneys for the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

With its eyes on the Center in 1986-87, the Orange County Master Chorale, now based in Costa Mesa, is also picking up the beat organizationally.

The chorale recently hired its first general manager--Gerry Wakeland, the organization’s only full-time paid staff member--who is mapping out a drive to double the subscription membership. (There are now 500 season ticket-holders. This season’s attendance, according to Wakeland, is the best yet: an overall audience-capacity average of 66%.)

As part of an expanding community outreach, the chorale is continuing a music education project it started last season with the Orange County Philharmonic Society. Last season the chorale gave six concerts at three Orange County schools.

As for fund raising, the chorale faces a dilemma familiar to all arts organizations: rising programming costs and the need to find new and larger donors. This year’s operating budget of $230,000 is up from last year’s $208,000 and 1982-83’s $170,000, Wakeland reported. Concert costs range from $6,000 to the $20,000 it costs to stage a full-scale work with orchestra.

In its search for major underwriters, the chorale last year applied for its first California Arts Council grant (a $12,000 request that the state agency rejected). The chorale plans to reapply for the state support and may also seek a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. (The chorale has received municipal support, a $10,000 grant this year from the City of Costa Mesa.)

Despite a recently announced grant of $50,000 from the James Irvine Foundation, big private underwriters are still relatively few. Last year, the chorale’s corporate and foundation support were only 7% of its overall revenues (compared with 42% from individual donors, 35% from tickets and other earned income, and 13% from benefits).

As a way of boosting private fiscal support, the Orange County Master Chorale has just formed an advisory trustee panel, composed of local corporate, educational and arts figures, including an administrator with the Performing Arts Center.

However, chorale officials admit finding new private monies won’t be easy, in view of the increasing competition from other local performing groups, not to mention the Center’s own massive fund-raising efforts. (Faced with an overall goal of $85.5 million, the Center has raised more than $62 million for construction and an endowment fund. Center officials also project the need to raise an additional $4 million a year to underwrite operating and programming deficits once the complex is opened.)

“It won’t be easy, of course, to raise the necessary money. Their (Center) drive has greatly affected a lot of organizations, including ours,” said Thomas Moon, former business manager of the chorale, and also a past Center board president. “But all this arts activity is new to the county, and we’ve only begun to tap all the (fiscal) resources out there. We believe the county is capable of meeting all these (fiscal) challenges.”

The Center--beset by delays in scheduling big-name attractions and installing a new executive director--has yet to enter into negotiations with local groups. (Among the attractions being sought are the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York City Opera Co. and American Ballet Theatre and high-prestige musicals.) Also, the Center board has ruled that resident status will not be considered for any organization at this time.

In light of this, Orange County Master Chorale officials said, they have not yet made a formal proposal to the Center board--either on the issue of residency or on a performance program for 1986-87. (According to these officials, their chorale was named “resident chorale” by the Center in 1977. But a few years later, the designation was rescinded under the Center board’s new no-residency policy.)

But it is widely assumed that if and when the Center again considers naming a “resident chorale,” the contest will be a lively one between the Orange County Master Chorale and its local rival, the Pacific Chorale (formerly the Irvine Master Chorale).

“There’s no formal dialogue with them (Center) at this time. Nothing’s committed as yet with us,” said Patricia Ewald, president of the Orange County Master Chorale board. “But they (Center officials) have been extremely encouraging. They have assured us that, yes, we will be part of the opening season.”

Allard described it this way: “It’s all a matter of timing. Our task, more than ever, is to demonstrate that we are ready--financially and organizationally, as well as artistically.”

Next: Orange County Philharmonic Society seeks a role as principal presenter at the Center.