Grant Gershon
The 110-member Los Angeles Master Chorale continues its vital role of expanding the choral music repertoire when Artistic Director Grant Gershon conducts two highly anticipated world premieres based on the theme of ascension by Swan Family Composer in Residence Shawn Kirchner and distinguished Korean-American composer Nackkum Paik on Sunday, March 8, at 7 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
They include Kirchner’s most ambitious piece to date, Songs of Ascent, a lyrical seven-moment work for voices and strings set to the Psalms pilgrims sang on their journey to Jerusalem. Paik’s work, Succession, written for triple choir, features the Chorale with special guest the Los Angeles Chamber Choir. Paik employs the story of Elijah as a parable for the relationship between first- and second-generation Korean-American immigrants and the tensions, conflicts and hopes for prosperity they share. The program also features Eric Whitacre’s Her Sacred Spirit Soars, set to a poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri, and Brahms’ three-movement a cappella piece Fest und Gedenksprüche.
Succession is the Chorale’s sixth “LA Is the World” commission, an ongoing initiative conceived by Gershon as a collaboration among American composers, master musicians and the choir to expand the choral repertoire with works that mirror LA’s vibrant multi-cultural fabric.
Tickets range from $29 to $129. Group rates are available. For tickets and information, call (213) 972-7282, or visit www.lamc.org. (Tickets cannot be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting two hours prior to the performance.) Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 S. Grand Ave. at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.