Los Angeles Master Chorale May 3, 2009

Los Angeles Master Chorale Concludes Multi-Year
“Homage to Haydn” Project with Rarely Performed Heilig Mass Conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon

Sunday, May 3, 2009, 7 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Program also Features Messiaen’s Masterpiece Trois petites liturgies

The Los Angeles Master Chorale concludes its multi-year initiative “Homage to Haydn” with Haydn’s rarely performed Heilig Mass on Sunday, May 3, 2009, 7:00 p.m., at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Haydn’s work is paired with Messiaen’s extraordinary masterpiece Trois petites liturgies, written for women’s chorus and ondes Martenot, one of the world’s first electronic instruments. Mary Chun, one of only two ondistes in the U.S., and Vicki Ray, piano, will be featured instrumentalists with this work.

“On the surface these two works couldn’t be more different,” states Music Director Grant Gershon, who conducts the concert, “but several things make them kindred sprits. Both composers are consummate craftsmen, meticulous in the skill and beauty of their compositional technique. And both pieces have a strong spiritual underpinning that is both personal and universal.”

The Chorale’s “Homage to Haydn” initiative has showcased all six of Haydn’s famous final Masses over the past three seasons in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death. He died peacefully at age 77 on May 31, 1809. Heilig Mass, a ravishingly lyrical and beautiful work in three movements, is thought to be the first of Haydn’s six late masses.

Messiaen’s Trois petites liturgies – beautiful, ethereal, emotional and quintessentially French – has earned a reputation as one of the choral masterpieces of the 20th Century and is one of the few choral works he wrote. Among its dramatic contrasts are virtuoso piano solos, long lush passages and spinning melodies.

The performance is made possible, in part, by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. The performance of Haydn’s Heilig Mass is made possible, in part, by a grant from the E. Nakamichi Foundation.

Tickets to the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s concert 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 (800) 787-5262 (outside California 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.
Event: Los Angeles Master Chorale – Haydn and Messiaen
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, Conductor
Performance Date: Sunday, May 3, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
(Listen Up! pre-concert talk with Grant Gershon, KUSC’s Alan Chapman, 6 p.m.)
Program: HAYDN Heilig Mass
MESSIAEN Trois petites liturgies
Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 S. Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ticket Prices: $19 - $124; Student Rush seats available at box office two hours before the performance
Ticket Information: 800-787-5262
outside California call 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