Harmonic Convergence : Hall Says L.A. Ties Won’t Conflict With Master Chorale

Sitting in a chair on the deck of the 58-foot, single-mast sloop he calls home, conductor William Hall steadily eyed the calm waters off San Pedro and mused on some connections between sailing and music.

“Sailing and racing are related to the arts,” he said. “Precision and training are essential to both. In sailing, as in music, timing is essential. I lost a boat once in a race to Hawaii. It was a sad day of my life.”

Now Hall, at 53, has begun to run two races.

He continues at the helm of the Los Angeles-based William Hall Chorale, which he founded in 1956. And he recently was appointed head of the Master Chorale of Orange County, after the surprise resignation in October of Maurice Allard, the chorale’s founding music director.

How will he manage to steer this double responsibility?

“No question I have to be very careful of my time and how I divide my energy,” Hall said. “If I was 25 and just starting teaching at Chapman College (in Orange, where he has been since 1963), there would be no way I could do this.

“But I’ve performed so many of the standard great works in the repertory. The Hall Chorale has performed 390 works over 32 years. There’s no question that it’s a decided advantage. I can come in and teach (them to the Master Chorale) much more quickly.” He hopes to bring repertory to Orange County that “excites the chorale and the public.”

Hall said the boards of both organizations support him: “Both felt that it was a tremendous opportunity, with no conflicts of interest. And because both organizations are well oiled--not only artistically but also because both boards are well organized, have direction and have the same direction--I can tap these resources to reinforce both (groups) artistically and financially.

“There may be opportunities for both groups to get together, perhaps to do a giant work. There would be no conflicts in drawing audiences.”

One wonders, however, if timing will play a critical role in Hall’s new job.

His appointment takes place when merger talks have begun between the Master Chorale and the Pacific Chorale, the other major choral group in the county. (The Pacific is conducted by John Alexander.)

Hall, however, said talk of a merger may be premature: “From the standpoint of fiscal responsibility, merger talks are viable and fine. For instance, there’s a problem in identification, with companies giving money and not realizing to which chorale they give it to.

“Down the road (a merger) will make sense. But you always have to put the artistic base first. Right now, especially with the change in musical directors, it would be the wrong time for it to take place. Then it would not be a merger but a takeover.”

In any case, Hall plans to make some personnel changes in his new organization. Among other things, he said, “we need to develop another 24, 25 singers.

“The potential is staggering. This is the best time to consider that potential and make some hard decisions. It’s time Orange County awakens to a major-league concept. The singers have to work harder. That amateur attitude of yesteryear is no longer possible. Everyone should be studying voice and working to better their art and sing the best choral music possible.”

Hall actually began putting his imprint on the Master Chorale as early as Christmas when, in Allard’s absence, he was named its interim director and led a program at the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

He reconfigured the chorale, placing the women at either side and the men in the middle, in a bid to deal with acoustics that he finds troublesome (see accompanying story). Beyond that, he started dealing with what he found to be morale problems.

“When they called and asked, would I just take the Christmas concert, I found there were a lot of hurt feelings (because of Allard’s resignation), a general downer sense among so many people in an organization that has been around for 32 years. But I also sensed the same community interest as had taken all these years to build (in the Hall chorale).

“So I started to talk about the rest of the season and how they needed to shore up financial things. It sort of evolved to where I literally was telling them, this is what you need to do for the next five years, even before hiring me was mentioned. But there was no way I could do that concert without looking ahead. . . . I realized that maybe this would work, that I could do both without taking away any valuable teaching time at Chapman College.”

Hall’s counsel may be put to a major test, as he sees financial problems developing. He hopes to apply cost-saving measures in the county that worked well with his own chorale--bringing in, for instance, “outstanding young singers on the way up” instead of more costly, experienced ones.

Still, he wants to raise $300,000 (twice the budget of the Hall Chorale) and isn’t sure he will be able to do it. Ideally, he would need another 300 to 400 subscribers (there are now 1,000), and he sees hurdles.

“The major problem is that choral music is not going to attract as big an audience as orchestral music does,” he said.

“Houses like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium both have 3,200 seats. But unless it’s a blockbuster program or you spend $100,000 on publicity, you’re not going to attract 3,200 people. You’re going to average 1,500.

“And the honeymoon is over in Orange County with the (3,000-seat) Performing Arts Center. Everyone wanted to see it in the first year, but now the bloom is off . . .

“But I’m definitely optimistic, and happy. We’re planning on really expanding our grant-writing efforts and are putting together a team to do that. We also want to make use of talented kids at Chapman that need this kind of exposure, which is something we do with the Hall Chorale, too.

“This all excites me. I’d say this is a really good time.”