L.A. Master Chorale's "Choral Soundscape" April 11, 2010

Los Angeles Master Chorale’s “Choral Soundscape” to Feature West Coast Premiere of Meredith Monk’s WEAVE, Co-Commissioned by Chorale and St. Louis Symphony

Sunday, April 11, 2010, 7 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Concert also Includes Monk’s Night and Selections from Songs of Ascension
as well as Arvo Pärt’s Miserere

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Grant Gershon, creates a rich choral soundscape with the West Coast premiere of WEAVE for two voices, chamber orchestra and choir by “visionary” Grammy-nominated interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk and Arvo Pärt’s spare but powerful Miserere on Sunday, April 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m., at Disney Hall. Other works include Night and selections from Songs of Ascension by Monk, a one-of-a-kind vocalist who has been called a "magician of the voice" and "one of America’s coolest composers." She performs with the choir. Her new work was co-commissioned by the Chorale and the Saint Louis Symphony, which gave the world premiere on March 13, 2010, just one month prior to the Chorale’s performance.

The Chorale hosts a pre-concert talk “Listen Up!” with Gershon and KUSC’s Alan Chapman at 6:00 p.m.

“Meredith Monk and Arvo Pärt are both introspective composers who have very personal and timeless soundscapes that rely on the purity of the human voice,” Gershon says. “It’s an honor for the Chorale to co-commission a piece from Meredith and to work with her again after our rewarding partnership two years ago.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says of WEAVE, the 40-voice choir and 32-member chamber orchestra act “as warp and woof on the sonic loom of Monk’s creation. It builds, then tapers, in a moment, with fascination that holds the audience suspended.” Weave begins with a solo male voice, then a woman joins him, followed by the chorus. The solo voices are mezzo-soprano Katie Geissinger and baritone Theo Bleckmann, members of Monk’s vocal ensemble.

Monk – widely known as a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary performance, in effect, discovering and weaving together new modes of perception – said, “The new work is a continuous, woven form in which layers that seem part of the texture are gradually revealed, take on their own life, and then are modified by the next layer that appears.”

Night, with its tragic and ominous sound, is “a musical tour de force” written by Monk in 1996 in reaction to the Balkan conflict. It pairs four of Monk’s ensemble – soprano Allison Sniffin, Geissinger, tenor Tom Bogdan and Bleckmann – with four members of the Chorale, soprano Emily Lin, mezzo-soprano Adriana Manfredi, tenor Matthew Brown and baritone Melvir Ausente.

Monk, recipient of the prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Award, composed Songs of Ascension in 2008 for eight voices, string quartet, percussion, woodwinds, Shruti and chorus. Regarding Songs of Ascension, the Los Angeles Times notes, “the piece moves from dead silence to borderline cacophony…(it) embodies the cross-religious tradition of worship songs and, in that way, is one of Monk's many manifestations of ‘art as spiritual practice.’”

In 2006, the Chorale performed Monk’s hauntingly beautiful and intricate Invisible Light, the a cappella conclusion from her opera Atlas, which is loosely based on the travel writings of a Victoria adventurer and follows the journey of an everywoman whose passion for spiritual self-discovery takes her to the ends of the earth and beyond. One critic noted, “It was the most human musical performance I have attended.”

Five soloists from the Master Chorale will be featured in Pärt’s Miserere: Claire Fedoruk, soprano; Kim Switzer, alto; Michael Lichtenauer, tenor; Shawn Kirchner, tenor; and Scott Graff, bass.

The concert is made possible, in part, by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts.

Concert tickets to range from $19 to $124. Student Rush seats are $10 and are available at the box office two hours before the performance. For tickets and information, please call (213) 972-7282, or visit www.lamc.org. (Tickets can no longer be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.) The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.
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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Calendar Listing
Event: Los Angeles Master Chorale – Meredith Monk/Arvo Pärt
Grant Gershon, Conductor
Meredith Monk
Performance Date: Sunday, April 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
(Listen Up! pre-concert talk with Grant Gershon and KUSC’s Alan Chapman, 6 p.m.)
Program: MEREDITH MONK excerpts from Songs of Ascension

MEREDITH MONK Night
Allison Sniffin, soprano
Katie Geissinger, mezzo-soprano
Tom Bogdan, tenor
Theo Bleckmann, baritone
Emily Lin, soprano
Adriana Manfredi, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Brown, tenor
Melvir Ausente, baritone

MEREDITH MONK WEAVE
for two voices, chamber orchestra and choir - West Coast Premiere (Co-commission with Saint Louis Symphony)
Katie Geissinger, mezzo-soprano
Theo Bleckmann, baritone

ARVO PÄRT Miserere

Claire Fedoruk, soprano 

Kim Switzer, alto 

Michael Lichtenauer, tenor 

Shawn Kirchner, tenor 

Scott Graff, bass
Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 S. Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ticket Prices: Concert Tickets: $19 - $124; Student Rush seats available at box office two hours before the performance
Ticket Information: 213-972-7282 www.lamc.org
(Tickets can no longer be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except
on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.)

Artists, program and ticket prices subject to change.

Official Website: http://www.lamc.org