Brahms Requiem & Works by Caroline Shaw & David Lang to Close the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2017/18 Season at Walt Disney Concert Hall June 9 & 10

Saturday, June 9 at 2 PM
Sunday, June 10 at 7 PM

 Conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director

 Soprano Jeanine De Bique and baritone Justin Hopkins guest soloists for the Brahms Requiem

 West Coast premiere of David Lang’s where you go and Caroline Shaw’s Fly Away I to open concerts

 TICKETS START AT $29 | PHONE 213-972-7282 | LAMASTERCHORALE.ORG

(Los Angeles, CA) May 14, 2018 – A pillar of the choral repertoire, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, is paired with contemporary works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers David Lang and Caroline Shaw in the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s final concerts of its 2017/18 season on Saturday, June 9 at 2 PM and Sunday, June 10 at 7 PM at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concerts will feature the West Coast premiere of Lang’s where you go and open with Shaw’s Fly Away I. The performances will be conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director, and feature the full 100-voice chorus and LA Master Chorale Orchestra.

Gershon said he decided to program the short, a cappella choral works as a prelude to the Requiem, suggesting a contemporary context to then hear Brahms’ score.

“The two works by Caroline Shaw and David Lang are both relatively brief, seemingly simple, and quietly devastating. They each sing of love, solace, and commitment to those we cherish in both life and death. I can’t think of a more poignant way to lead into Brahms’ opening statement in his Requiem: ‘Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted’. I believe that this will be an extraordinarily moving concert experience—we’re very proud to present these three composers together on our final concerts of the season.”

Caroline Shaw won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2013 for her a cappella work Partita for 8 Voices. Fly Away I dates from 2012 and was written for the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco. The piece begins with an improvisatory, intimate sequence of solo voices singing the phrase “I’ll fly away,” followed by the altos’ repeated chanting (“I went the way”) — to be sung “almost like speaking, very naturally, like one of those late-night conversations.” At full force, Shaw instructs the ensemble to create a sound “like velvet concrete.” This will be the first time the Los Angeles Master Chorale has performed a work by Shaw.

David Lang won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2008 for his composition the little match girl passion, part of the Master Chorale’s concert and recorded repertoire. He composed where you go for chamber choir in 2015 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center. Writing about the work, Lang said where you go: “is a rewriting of what I remember as my favorite part of the biblical Book of Ruth, the famous lines where Ruth tells [her mother-in-law] Naomi that she will stay with her forever. I say ‘what I remember’ because in my memory the book is a beautiful statement of love, friendship, and devotion, from one person to another. I always forget that the book is mostly a series of legal arguments, about how someone claims land, or an inheritance, or a wife, or a family. Ruth’s simple desire to follow her heart sets in motion an examination of a complicated chain of interlocking obligations and overlapping responsibilities. That pretty much describes my piece as well.”

Soloists for the Brahms Requiem are the acclaimed Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique and American baritone Justin Hopkins, both making their Master Chorale and Walt Disney Concert Hall debuts. De Bique is currently making her Dutch National Opera debut reprising her role as Annio in Peter Sellars’ acclaimed Salzburg Festival production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. In August 2017 she made her BBC Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra performing works by Handel, and in March she performed a solo recital for the Ravinia Festival.

Justin Hopkins made his Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra debut last season, performing as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with conductor Jeffrey Kahane in a performance that also featured the Master Chorale. He also performed the role of Stephen Kumalo, in LACO’s production of Kurt Weill’s Lost In the Stars. In his review of the Beethoven concert, Mark Swed of the LA Times called him a “gifted young bass” with a “stirring voice and commanding presence.” In the fall of 2018 he will make his debut with Opera Vlaanderen in Gent, Belgium as Lord Krishna and Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha.

These Los Angeles Master Chorale performances of the Brahms Requiem are supported by Dr. Annette Ermshar and Mr. Dan Monahan, Jane and Edward McAniff, Jenny Soonjin Kim and Chip Baik.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE

CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT:

BRAHMS REQUIEM

Program:

Caroline Shaw | Fly Away I
David Lang | where you go (West Coast premiere)

Johannes Brahms | Ein deutsches Requiem

Program performed without an intermission

Grant Gershon, conductor
Jeanine De Bique, soprano
Justin Hopkins, baritone

100 singers, full orchestra

WHEN:

Saturday, June 9, 2 PM

Sunday, June 10, 7 PM

WHERE:

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave.

TICKETS & BOX OFFICE INFORMATION:

Tickets are available now, starting from $29:

Online: lamasterchorale.org

Phone: 213-972-7282

Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Box Office Monday – Saturday, 10 AM – 6 PM.

On concert days, box office staff can be reached at 213-972-7282 beginning at 10 AM and the Disney Hall Box Office will be open for will call and sales beginning 2 hours prior to curtain time. Group rates are available. Los Angeles Master Chorale offers $10 Student Rush Tickets at the box office 2 hours prior to the performance, subject to availability. Student ID required; 1 ticket per ID. Please call for additional details.

Please note: children under the age of six are not admitted to Los Angeles Master Chorale concerts.

LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE MEDIA CONTACT:

Jennifer Scott, Director of Public Relations

jscott@lamasterchorale.org | 213-972-3142 office; 702-510-4363 cell

High resolution photos are available from our online Press Room.