Maurice Allard Dies; Led O.C. Master Chorale : Obituary: The founder of a performing-arts academy had also been a department head at UCI.

Maurice Allard of Costa Mesa, who led the Master Chorale of Orange County from 1978 to 1987, died Wednesday morning en route to a hospital after he collapsed at Edgewood Private School here, moments before he was to guest-conduct a music workshop. He was 64.

Allard, born in Illinois, studied voice at Indiana University and New York University and received a doctorate from USC. In 1965 he assisted Roger Wagner at UC Irvine’s newly established choral department. A year later, Allard was named department head.

In 1968, he founded the Irvine Master Chorale and led it for four years; the group eventually became the Pacific Chorale. Allard then moved to Hollywood and founded the Allard Academy, a private school specializing in the performing arts. He returned to Orange County in 1978 to take over the Anaheim Choraleers. That same year, he joined the Master Chorale.

He resigned after a dispute with the group’s board of directors over the status of the Californians, a pops ensemble within the chorale that, he felt, was assuming too much prominence. He was replaced by William Hall, who since has changed the name of the group to the William Hall Master Chorale.

In recent years, Allard worked at his academy, which he had moved to Costa Mesa. He also hosted an arts talk show on local cable TV and studied acting.

Survivors include his sister, Vivian Allard Crommett of Orange; three nieces, Marcy Small Devine of Corona del Mar, Marla Russell Patterson of Villa Park and Mrs. Allen Troop of Newport Beach; and one nephew, Kelly Allard Small of Anaheim Hills.

Funeral arrangements are pending. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Maurice Allard Scholarship Fund for Young Singers in care of Opera Pacific, 9 Executive Circle, Suite 190, Irvine, CA 92714.