The Grammy® Award-winning Los Angeles Master Chorale is “the finest-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times) and a vibrant cultural treasure. Hailed for its powerful performances, technical precision, and artistic daring, the Chorale is led by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director; Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong; and President & CEO Scott Altman. Its Swan Family Artist-in-Residence is Reena Esmail.
Created by legendary conductor Roger Wagner in 1964, the Chorale is a founding resident company of The Music Center and choir-in-residence at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Chorale reaches over 175,000 people a year through its concert series at Walt Disney Concert Hall, its international touring of innovative works, and its performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and others.
The Chorale’s discography includes the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Deutsche Grammophon recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, for which the Chorale won a Best Choral Performance Grammy with the National Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Children’s Choir and Pacific Chorale. The Chorale released The Sacred Veil by Eric Whitacre (conducted by the composer) on Signum Records in 2020. Under the direction of Grant Gershon, the Chorale has released eight commercial recordings, including national anthems / the little match girl passion by David Lang on Cantaloupe Records. The Chorale is featured on the soundtracks of many major motion pictures, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
Recently, the Chorale toured its productions of Lagrime di San Pietro and Heinrich Schütz’s Music to Accompany a Departure, both directed by Peter Sellars, earning rave reviews across the globe. Süddeutsche Zeitung called the 2019 Salzburg Festival performance of Lagrime di San Pietro “painfully beautiful,” while the Sydney Morning Herald praised Lagrime di San Pietro as “stunning … Their voices soared to the heavens.” After the Chorale performed in London, The Stage called Lagrime a “balm for the soul.” In his review of Music to Accompany a Departure, Mark Swed of the L.A. Times named the Chorale’s performance, “Transcendent” and “Incomparably moving.”
The Chorale has an industry-defining commitment to fostering new music and living composers. The list of major composers commissioned by the Chorale includes Louis Andriessen, Jeff Beal, Eve Beglarian, Gabriella Lena Frank, Reena Esmail, Shawn Kirchner, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Tania Leon, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Ellen Reid, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Derrick Skye, Moira Smiley, Dale Trumbore, Chinary Ung, and Eric Whitacre. In 2023 the Chorale launched 25 in 5, an initiative to commission 25 new works over the course of 5 seasons. Composers featured in this series to date include Doug Aitken, Billy Childs, Jason Max Ferdinand, Ernesto Herrera, Zanaida Stewart Robles, Carlos Simon, and Rufus Wainwright. The Chorale’s education programs include Voices Within residencies that encourage students to write and perform their own songs, and an expansive Oratorio Project for high school students. The Chorale also presents an annual High School Choir Festival, which brings teenagers from around the Southland to perform in Walt Disney Concert Hall. In May 2019, the High School Choir Festival celebrated 30 years as one of the longest-running and widest-reaching arts education programs in Southern California. In July 2018, the Chorale presented Big Sing California, the largest group singing event in state history, encompassing a concert in Disney Hall that was broadcast live to venues in five other cities in California and livestreamed online.
