San Diego Spotlight : SummerPops Star Wright Is Synonym for Versatility

Baritone Martin Wright ought to be cited in the dictionary definition of versatility. Not many singers plan a season in which they move from soloing in J. S. Bach’s “B Minor Mass” to performing a program of show tunes at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

“I’m counting on my picture being put up between Julio Iglesias and Diana Ross at Ceasar’s Palace,” Wright quipped with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Wright returns to the San Diego SummerPops as a soloist in an all-Broadway offering conducted by frequent symphony guest conductor Murry Sidlin. With mezzo-soprano Kristen Hurst-Hyde and the San Diego Master Chorale, Wright will sing excerpts from “Man of La Mancha,” “Music Man” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” But Wright’s versatility goes beyond his varied singing gigs. Since 1984, Wright has been San Diego Opera’s resident chorus master, where his work has gained him frequent critical bouquets. And, for the last two years, he has conducted the chancel choir of the La Jolla Presbyterian Church.

Although Wright has arranged his career around conducting and singing, he intended to be a pianist.

“I started out as a piano major in college. I was earning my way though school (Brigham Young University) accompanying the school’s opera program. Then I decided that the singers could use another baritone in their ranks. I started conducting even earlier. When I was 12, I conducted the school band at football games.”

Wright has discovered that cobbling several musical careers together simultaneously requires ingenuity and a willingness to accept some compromises. Although Wright enjoys opera and has sung operatic roles, he has had to limit his performing to concerts and oratorios.

“When I sing in an oratorio, that may take three days out of my schedule. Singing in an opera, however, takes three or four weeks, and it’s usually too difficult to get that amount of time away from my duties at San Diego Opera. For example, I was offered to sing the role of Don Alfonso at (Norfolk’s) Virginia Opera last season, but it would have taken six weeks right in the middle of the San Diego Opera season.”

Ironically, it was Wright’s work as San Diego Opera chorus master that brought him back to singing. The year before he came to the local opera company, a serious illness caused him to give up singing entirely.

“I was ill for about a year, and it took a long time for me to build up my stamina to sing again. When I came here as chorus master, I began to sing again by helping to cover in rehearsal for singers who were ill at the opera. I was given a lot of encouragement to get back into singing.”

Looking back over the changes in San Diego’s music scene since he arrived at San Diego Opera, Wright praised the new-found stability of both the symphony and opera, but lamented the lack of local chamber opera performance as well as opportunities for younger singers to perform on stage.

“In particular I regret that we lost Pacific Chamber Opera, which was a good proving ground for local singers. It would be great to see some chamber opera nicely presented, something between the college opera workshop level and San Diego Opera’s full-scale Civic Theatre productions.”

New kid on the block. San Diego Choral Artists, a newly formed 32-voice professional vocal ensemble under the direction of Ron Gillis, has announced its inaugural season. The group’s opening concert will be given Oct. 5 at San Diego’s Temple Beth Israel, followed by an interfaith program on Dec. 7 at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. The December program, which will celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, will combine Gillis’ group and Beth Israel cantor Sheldon Merel. The series continues with William Byrd’s “Mass for Four Voices “ at the University of San Diego’s Founders Chapel on Feb. 15, 1992. The season ends on April 4 with a concert at La Mesa’s First United Methodist Church, where Gillis is music director.

Piano al fresco. Pianist Peter Gach will join the summer exodus of classical musicians to outdoor settings. Gach will play a recital of Chopin, Gershwin and Joplin in the patio of Palomar College’s music department at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday. Gach’s outdoor piano recital, “Music for a Summer Evening,” has been a regular North County summer event since he joined the faculty in 1983.

Replacement. Due to a finger injury, Constance Geanakoplos has been replaced on the San Diego Symphony’s July 24-25 SummerPops program by Israeli pianist Ilan Rechtman. The 28-year-old musician, who has also performed with the London Symphony and the Boston Pops, will perform the Allegro movement of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. Also on this program featuring young soloists, Frank Almond will solo in the Enesco Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, and symphony principal trumpet Calvin Price will play the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto.