The Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the world’s preeminent professional choirs acclaimed for its profound versatility, pairs two intimate Bach motets with two contemporary works influenced by the Baroque composer Sunday, November 13, 2011, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Music Director Grant Gershon conducts an expanded choral version of David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘the little match girl passion,’ which is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and also borrows text from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and the U.S. premiere of James Newton’s jazz-tinged Mass, flavored by Charles Mingus, Messiaen and Bach.  Rounding out the program are two Bach motets for double chorus – Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied and Fürchte dich nicht.
“This is the most intimate concert in an intimate season,†Gershon says.  “It’s also wonderfully symmetric in its musical arch with elements of Bach woven throughout the program.â€
Critics across the country have hailed “the little match girl passion’ as one of the most original choral compositions of the new century since its riveting premiere in Carnegie Hall.  The Los Angeles Times described the piece as a “missive from heaven…a stunner†and credits Lang with finding “a radiantly hip spiritual core to a maudlin story that stubbornly refuses to go out of fashion.† The New York Times proclaims, “With this work – one of the most moving and original scores of recent years – Lang has solidified his standing as an American master.† The Washington Post declares, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so moved…(it) is unlike any music I know.â€
Composer, flutist, conductor and professor James Newton, who has shared the stage with Gershon to co-conduct the Chorale in Disney Hall on three occasions and has composed some sixty works for orchestra, chamber orchestra, choir and jazz orchestra, crafted his heartfelt Mass with influences ranging from Medieval counterpoint and Bach to the hard bop and free jazz of Charles Mingus. Â Premiered in Italy as a vocal quartet, the dense, spare and reflective piece is performed with seven instruments, four soloists and 32 members of the Chorale.
Concert tickets range from $19 to $134. Â Student Rush seats are $10 and may be purchased at the box office two hours before the performance, if available. Â For tickets and information, please call (213) 972-7282, or visit www.lamc.org. Â (Tickets cannot be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting two hours prior to the performance.) Â The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.
