Bigger and Better Scott Youngs brings excitement to Arizona Masterworks Chorale By Bridgette M. Redman
fter decades of teaching and conducting sacred chorale music, Scott Youngs is eager to be part of the Arizona Masterworks Chorale. There, he can explore the options available for a large community chorale. Youngs has taken the helm of the 42-year-old Arizona Masterworks Chorale as artistic director. This comes on the heels of a long career with All-Saint’s Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix, where he served as music director for 30 years and founded the Boy and Girl Chorister programs. Youngs left All-Saint’s three years ago and has been looking for something new. He found it with Arizona Masterworks Chorale, which, over the years, performed at the cathedral. “After a career in church music for my entire life, breaking out of that mode is interesting,” Youngs says. “It’s a fun challenge. There is so much gorgeous chorale music. It’s absolutely endless. I thought, why not? A new challenge is what I need. I don’t want to become complacent.”
Scott Youngs was the music director at All-Saint's Episcopal Cathedral for 30 years before leaving three years ago for something new. (Photo by Chris Loomis)
Focusing on American music
Youngs is launching his first season with “American Beauty,” four concerts that focus on the most melodic and beautiful of American music. The first concerts — Saturday, November 6, and Sunday, November 7 — will be music from the heartland, including “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus, “Frostiana” by Randall Thompson, and “She Walks in Beauty” by David Foltz. The second concert will be in December and is dubbed “New England Christmas.” Even after decades in Arizona, he says it still seems odd to have Christmas with 80-degree weather. He chose this theme because he misses the snow.
Valentine’s Day weekend hosts the third concert, with the theme of “Love from Sea to Sea.” Arizona Masterworks Chorale will finish the year in May with a “Made in America,” featuring tunes for choir and percussion.
Better and bigger
The chorale has two goals: being better and bigger. Founded as a 60-voice choir, Arizona Masterworks Chorale has only 36 members. It had to cut back from its usual repertoire to do chamber-size music. “They would like to go back to their 55- to 60-voice size and do larger things,” Youngs says.
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