Hall, Master Chorale Merger Applauded by Arts Community

Leaders of the county’s musical community reacted positively to Tuesday’s announcement that the William Hall Chorale of Pasadena would be merged into the Master Chorale of Orange County, forming a 150-member “superchorale” under Hall’s direction.

At the same time, they held out hope that the newly strengthened organization might still merge with Orange County’s other choral organization, the Pacific Chorale.

“This is clearly a forward step,” said Thomas R. Kendrick, president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, who was present for the announcement. “It clearly strengthens both the financial and the artistic base of the Master Chorale.”

Louis Spisto, executive director of the Pacific Symphony, who also attended the meeting at which the merger was announced, agreed that it “is a very good thing. I’m pleased to see Master Chorale is strengthening its forces. I look forward to much success for the chorale.”

At the same time, he said: “My personal hope continues to be that both the Pacific Chorale and the Master Chorale could eventually merge, providing one extraordinary group of singers which would truly be Orange County’s ensemble.”

The symphony has performed with the Pacific Chorale for the past 10 seasons and is committed to performing with it through next season, Spisto said. Any future decisions regarding joint performances, he added, would have to involve the symphony’s incoming new music director.

Last year, after 10 months of negotiations, talks between the Master and Pacific chorales collapsed when members of the Pacific insisted that their longtime musical director, John Alexander, head the merged organization.

Alexander said yesterday that “the great sadness of the announcement is the demise of the William Hall Chorale,” which has “provided a major chorale force in Southern California.”

Alexander added that his organization is “on a very firm footing” and “stronger than we’ve ever been. Any arts organization is sustained by the enthusiasm of its supporters. The Pacific Chorale has that. We can live side by side as long as the organizations respect each other.”

“Hopefully, we’ll retain our subscription base and augment it,” said Anne Nutt, who chairs the Pacific Chorale.

Pacific’s development director, Bonnie McClain, predicted that the merger is “not going to affect our funding,” since “our subscription base it pretty well set.” She noted that the Pacific Chorale’s repertoire is strictly classical, where the Master Chorale appeals to those who “want to go to pops and Broadway concerts.”

The question of whether the county can support two choral organizations remains open, as far as the Pacific Chorale is concerned.

“I personally think it would be better if there was one chorale,” McClain said. “Things would be more cohesive. We’ll see.”