L.A. Master Chorale Announces 39th Season

The Los Angeles Master Chorale has announced programming for its 2002-03 season. The 39th season of the choral group, one of the Los Angeles Music Center’s resident performing arts companies, marks its final year at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion before moving to the new Walt Disney Concert Hall, which opens in 2003.

The season, which opens Sept. 29 at the Chandler Pavilion, will be highlighted by a Nov. 10 performance at another new downtown architectural landmark: the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, designed by Rafael Moneo. The concert, part of the subscription series, will be the first professional performance at the cathedral, currently under construction and scheduled to open in September.

The chorale also is expanding the subscription series to eight concerts, all to be directed by chorale music director Grant Gershon. Four concerts will be accompanied by the Master Chorale Orchestra.

The subscription programs feature works by eight living composers, including the world premiere of Tania Leon’s “Rezos” (Prayers) in an all-Latin American program on March 8. Other subscription season offerings include Verdi’s “Te Deum,” Britten’s “Cantata misericordium,” Stravinsky’s “Les Noces” (The Wedding), Gorecki’s “Amen” and Reich’s “The Desert Music.” The final subscription concert of the season, on June 7, 2003, is titled “It’s a Wrap!” and features choral music from the movies.

The Dec. 15 concert, “Sounds of the Season,” marks the first concert in a six-year cycle of cantatas from Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio.” The chorale will present its 22nd annual nonsubscription Messiah Sing-Along on Dec. 16, conducted for the first time by Gershon.

In March, the chorale will make its first East Coast appearances since 1986. The schedule includes performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in fully staged performances of John Adams’ “El Nino” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Lincoln Center Great Performances series, as well as an a cappella concert of Latin American music at a venue to be announced.

For a season brochure or information, call (213) 972-7282 or visit www.lamc.org.