Resentment, Optimism at Valley Master Chorale : Choir Ends Season on a Bittersweet Note

The Valley Master Chorale concluded its 10th season last weekend on divergent notes of resentment and optimism after the resignation of its director of six years and the announcement of a merger with a college choir.

The Valley-based choral group gave its last performance without Director Gerald Eskelin.

Eskelin, whose contract had not been renewed for the 1987-88 season, submitted an angry resignation letter in April after losing a struggle for control of the respected choral group.

He said he was bowing out without a “grand conclusion” as a way to protest his treatment by the board of directors.

Meanwhile, leaders of the 100-voice choir said it will take on a new look and direction as it begins its second decade in the fall with the debut as director of John Alexander, founder of the Masterworks Chorale at California State University, Northridge.

Under Alexander, a music professor at CSUN, the two choirs will merge into a single group with about 200 voices and a new name: Valley Master Chorale at Northridge.

Hal Thompson, chorale president, said the affiliation with Alexander and CSUN may enable the chorale to emerge as a regional force in music.

“We want to make a statement for choral excellence for Southern California that emanates from the San Fernando Valley,” Thompson said. “John Alexander can lead us there.”

Thompson said the change of leadership reflects the longstanding desire of the choir’s board of directors to emphasize classical rather than popular music.

The failure to reach that goal led to the board’s decision in August not to renew the contract of Eskelin, whose specialty is popular music, Thompson said.

“Jerry was very good with the popular things,” Thompson said. “But we did not feel that after five years we had advanced sufficiently in our classical reputation.”

Though his contract included last night’s performance, Eskelin, who directs the Pierce College Philharmonic Choir and is also director of the L.A. Jazz Choir, resigned in April after failing in an attempt to unseat the current board.

Board Criticized

In an angry three-page letter, Eskelin criticized the board and singers of the choir for “choosing to ignore the value of my reputation in the music world.”

Eskelin, who has recorded two albums with other groups, said in the letter that he had planned to record the Valley Master Chorale when it was “musically ready.”

“I believed that I could help you rise above your limitations in spite of yourselves,” he said. “In fact, I was doing it. There was no question that the VMC was making significant musical strides under my directorship.”

Eskelin contended that he had the support of the group’s singers, who elect the group’s board of directors. As evidence, Eskelin cited a written questionnaire he distributed to the singers in December. The results showed strong enthusiasm for his leadership, he said.

However, in a March board election, a slate of challengers backed by Eskelin failed to win a majority.

In his resignation letter, Eskelin blamed the singers for letting themselves “be campaigned into a change of mind” by Thompson.

In Eskelin’s absence at Saturday night’s concert, the board selected Davies, director for four years before Eskelin was hired, to conduct the performance of songs by American composers at John Burroughs High School in Burbank.

Thompson said the new combined choirs will continue to use the Burroughs auditorium for its major productions because CSUN does not have a large enough auditorium.