Master Chorale Invites 3 Regional Symphonies to Join 1990-91 Season

On the heels of a season in which the Master Chorale of Orange County amassed a $37,000 debt to the Pacific Symphony, the chorale will engage the Pasadena and Long Beach symphonies during its 1990-91 four-concert season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The concerts with the Pasadena Symphony on Sept. 22 and with the Long Beach Symphony on April 14, 1991 mark the first time these orchestras have appeared with the chorale, and also their first performances at the Center.

The Pacific, however, has been invited to accompany the chorale for its Dec. 8 program, but the orchestra has not responded to the offer, chorale board chairman John Rhynerson said Monday.

“It’s our 35th season and a big season,” chorale Music Director William Hall said Monday. “I thought it would be nice to feature the three major regional symphonies.” Hall said the costs for the various orchestras would be “essentially the same.” Exact costs cannot be specified, however, until numbers of rehearsals and musicians have been spelled out, officials at the Pasadena and Pacific symphonies said.

Since Hall took over as music director in 1988, the Master Chorale regularly has used the Pacific Symphony. But last year the Costa Mesa-based chorale mounted a $37,000 debt, which prompted the orchestra to withdraw from one concert in February. According to Rhynerson, the debt to the Pacific will be paid off by June 30.

The four-concert season, led by Hall, will open Sept. 22 with Verdi’s Requiem. Soloists for the 8 p.m. concert will include soprano Elizabeth Biggs, mezzo-soprano Leslie Richards, tenor Jonathan Welch and bass Louis Lebherz.

The season will continue:

* Dec. 8, 8 p.m.: Holiday program, including the first West Coast performance of John Rutter’s Magnificat. (The work had been commissioned by the Master Chorale for the 1985 season, but the premiere was delayed by the composer’s serious illness, according to Hall.)

* April 14, 1991, 7:30 p.m.: Mozart program, including Overture to “The Magic Flute,” “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” the Horn Concerto No. 4, with soloist Richard Todd, and the Requiem, with soprano Jennifer Trost, mezzo-soprano Bernice Brightbill, tenor Jonathan Mack and bass Lebherz.

* June 15, 1991, 8 p.m.: Gershwin program, including excerpts from “Porgy and Bess,” with soprano Henrietta Davis and bass-baritone Mic Bell.

Admission to post-concert parties will be additional.

Subscription tickets: $50 to $140. Single tickets, $12.50 to $35, will go on sale Sept. 1. Information: (714) 556-6262.