INWARD AND UPWARD

The Los Angeles Master Chorale finds new ways to lift voices and spirits.

BY LIBBY SLATE

“AS A CHORAL organization, we are Exhibit A in the mind of the public as superspreaders,” Los Angeles Master Chorale artistic director Grant Gershon says so ruefully that one cannot help but laugh, even if just a little. The subject, COVID-19, could not be more serious—but Gershon joins in. “You have to laugh,” he says, “otherwise you’ll cry.”

Indeed, after a rehearsal by a choir in Washington state led to many members’ infections, experts realized that the force of singing propels the virus.

The chorale would have in any case stopped concertizing when performing arts venues shut down. The 2020-21 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall has been postponed a year, but Gershon is in no mood for tears: There are too many positive developments, he says.

Upcoming alternative programming includes digital premieres of commissioned works by composers Derrick Spiva Jr. and Doug Aitken. Chorale singers will be recorded individually and possibly in small groups outdoors.

Also online: what Gershon calls a “karaoke Christmas,” blending elements of the group’s Christmas concerts and Messiah sing-along; its High School Choir Festival; and its weekly Sundays at Seven release of archival recordings.

The postponement also lays the foundation for an endeavor reflecting the social-justice movement.

“It gives us an opportunity to look inward and examine our own practices and biases,” Gershon says, “to listen very intently to the voices that are calling for change.

“We’re making a commitment that in future seasons, at least 50% of our programming will be by composers from historically unrepresented groups in classical music.”

Gershon has just extended his contract through the 2024-25 season, and associate conductor Jenny Wong has been promoted to a newly created position, associate artistic director. Together with chorale president and CEO Jean Davidson and artist-inresidence Reena Esmail, he says, “we are restructuring the leadership.”

“We are a team of artistic leaders that represent the multiplicity of viewpoints that is the hallmark of the Master Chorale,” Gershon says. “It’s a microcosm for what we want the whole organization to be.”