The San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for 2021-22 were just announced and Pacific Chorale has received 2 of the coveted honors for:
© Christian Amonson/Arts Laureate
Pacific Chorale was on comfortably contemporary ground for this March 2022 program, which combined a modernist masterpiece, Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Chorus, with a selection of shorter works by living composers. The Orange County ensemble under Artistic Director Robert Istad has a penchant for new music, and you took note, voting the choir to the top spot for “Best New Music Performance” as well.
Learn more about the program “Songs of the Soul.”
Tarik O’Regan © Frances Marshall Photography
Long relationships with composers pay off. Tarik O’Regan, Pacific Chorale’s former composer-in-residence, wrote The Stillness Chained for the ensemble back in 2020, and the chorus finally gave the premiere as part of its first program post-pandemic in October 2021.
Thank you to all who voted for us! See the full list of winners on SF Classical Voice here.
After a three-day intensive rehearsal schedule with Artistic Director Robert Istad, Pacific Chorale’s Festival Chorus performed in a free concert at Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on Sunday, August 14, 2022.
Dedicated to our beloved friend, Southern California composer Morten Lauridsen, the program featured a world premiere of Hommage à Lauridsen, an organ solo composed and performed by Dr. Jung-A Lee, a stunning duet of Prayer (On a Poem by Dana Gioia) performed by soprano Rebecca Hasquet and baritone Jared Daniel Jones, with Dr. David Clemensen on piano, and closed with the Festival Chorus singing Sure on This Shining Night and Lux Aeterna.
Enjoy a few highlights! Photos © Natalie Hunter/Pacific Chorale
Yesterday evening, members of Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale came together for a concert of healing at Geneva Presbyterian Church – Laguna Woods. The Rev. Dr. Steven Marsh from Geneva Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Dr. Albany Lee from Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church offered words of comfort and hope.
“There are so many ripples that pass through the fabric of Orange County when something like this happens,” Pacific Symphony Music Director Carl St.Clair said. “We need to do all we can with the strengthening and healing powers of music.”
The program included a world premiere (“Hymn of Healing”) and works by Haydn, Mozart and former Pacific Symphony composer-in-residence Frank Ticheli.
Read more about the Concert of Healing on Voice of OC: “A Concert Helps Heal the Wounds of a Senseless Tragedy at Laguna Woods Church”.
Photos © Doug Gifford Photography
Choral Camp 2022 is a wrap! We had such a great time with all of our singers and amazing faculty at Cal State Fullerton School of Music
All images © Jason Pano
Learn more about Pacific Chorale’s Choral Camp program and faculty here.
Press Contact: Libby Huebner, libbyhuebner562@gmail.com, 562.799.6055
COSTA MESA, CA (June 21, 2022) – Pacific Chorale’s 2022-2023 Season, announced today by Artistic Director Robert Istad and President & CEO Andrew Brown, features five wide-ranging programs of enthralling choral masterworks and contemporary works spanning six centuries, including the West Coast premiere of Florence Price’s newly discovered anti-war piece set to poetry about Abraham Lincoln and Jocelyn Hagen’s stunning multi-media work inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. The Grammy-winning choir, whose performances have been hailed as “ethereal” (LA Opus), “thrilling” and “sublime” (Classical Voice), also embarks on its first international tour in seven years, taking its artistry to leading venues in Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom during summer 2023. Istad will conduct all five programs as well as the tour performances.
The chorus’ 55th season opens with Jocelyn Hagen’s The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, a mesmerizing multi-media work for choir, orchestra and projections inspired by the writings and art featured in the iconic Renaissance artist’s personal notebooks. Composed to honor da Vinci’s remarkable legacy on the 500th anniversary of his death in 2019, the nine-movement piece is set to text from his notebooks, which draw on themes of art, science, nature, and technology. The concert also features Duruflé’s Requiem, widely considered to be the composer’s greatest work, which blends Gregorian chant and 20th century musical concepts, creating a transcendent choral tapestry of emotions. (Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8:00 pm, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.)
Pacific Chorale displays its considerable vocal dexterity when special guests Bach Collegium San Diego, one of the country’s premier early music ensembles, and its founder, organist Ruben Valenzuela, join the choir for a historically-informed performance of Monteverdi’s “Vespers of 1610,” a pillar of the Baroque music canon whose splendor and virtuosity has captivated audiences for centuries. (Saturday, March 4, 2023, 8:00 pm, Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach.)
In the season finale, Istad leads the West Coast premiere of groundbreaking composer Florence Price’s newly discovered Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a setting of Springfield, Illinois-native Nicholas Vachel Lindsay’s ardent anti-war poem of the same name. The long-lost manuscript by Price, one of the first American women to be widely recognized as a symphonic composer, was recovered from an abandoned house in Illinois in 2009 and is thought to have been completed sometime between 1914 and 1949. Her work is paired with Haydn’s masterpiece Missa in Angustiis (Mass in Time of Anxiety) “Nelson Mass,” composed in 1798, at a time of tremendous turmoil when the citizens of Austria feared defeat by Napoleon’s troops. These works, although grounded in the new and old worlds respectively and composed more than a century apart, both address the futility of war. (Saturday, May 20, 2023, 5:00 pm, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.) The Chorale will also host its annual Gala immediately following the concert, to celebrate and benefit the upcoming European tour.
Pacific Chorale’s signature holiday programming returns with two performances of “Carols by Candlelight” – spotlighting timeless traditional and contemporary holiday music, including a choir-commissioned world premiere by noted LA-based Filipino composer Saunder Choi, a tenor in the chorus whose work has been described as “fresh and earnest” (San Francisco Classical Voice). (Saturday, December 3, 8:00 pm, and Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 8:00 pm, Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach.)
The choir also presents two performances of its delightful family favorite “Tis the Season!,” celebrating the holidays with festive carols, seasonal gems, and a visit from The Man in Red, Santa Claus. (Sunday, December 18, 5:00 pm, and Monday, December 19, 2022, 7:30 pm, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.)
During its European tour, July 12-24, 2023, the chorus performs alongside several regional orchestras the two pieces from its season finale, Price’s rediscovered masterwork, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. The choir is slated to appear at such iconic venues as the Salzburg Cathedral, which holds one of Austria’s most important music archives, and, in the U.K., Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of only four original copies of the Magna Carta known to exist, and Oxford University’s Sheldonian Theatre. Pacific Chorale also tours to Munich and Bath, among other locales.
“It is incredibly moving to begin and end Pacific Chorale’s season with major choral works inspired by two seminal historical figures – Leonardo da Vinci and Abraham Lincoln – both remembered for their indelible contributions to humanity,” says Istad. “They are extraordinary pieces by two exceptional female composers, and I am thrilled to be able share them with our audience. It promises to be a tour de force season as we showcase our outstanding singers on those important newer pieces as well as the enduring choral masterworks of Duruflé, Haydn and Monteverdi and other significant repertoire.”
“We are deeply grateful for the steadfast leadership of our Board of Directors, the generosity of our donors, and the enthusiasm and support of our audience members for helping to make possible a season of this scope as well as our upcoming international tour,” says Brown. “We also proudly recognize the outstanding talent and dedication of our singers and look forward to sharing Pacific Chorale’s remarkable artistry with audiences locally and abroad, sparking joy and passion as only music can and further cementing Pacific Chorale’s remarkable legacy.”
In addition to presenting its own concert series, the Chorale appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “Amadeus Live in Concert,” conducted by Sarah Hicks at the Hollywood Bowl (August 23, 2022). The choir also makes guest appearances on five Pacific Symphony programs this season at the Reneé and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. They include Holst’s The Planets led by Karen Kamensek (November 17-19, 2022); Handel’s Messiah conducted by Pacific Chorale’s own Robert Istad (December 4, 2022); three presentations under the baton of Carl St.Clair – A Lunar New Year program (January 28, 2023), Verdi’s Rigoletto (April 20-25, 2023), and “Cathedrals of Sound,” featuring St.Clair conducting the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Fiat Lux, commissioned by Pacific Symphony for Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony, as well as Istad guest-conducting Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus (June 15-17, 2023).
With the health and safety of its patrons, artists, and community continuing to be a top priority, Pacific Chorale remains committed to flexibility and transparency in its ticket policies, including no-cost exchanges and refunds. For information on Pacific Chorale’s most current health and safety protocols, please visit https://www.pacificchorale.org/covid-returning-to-live-performances/.
Season tickets are available in packages of 3 to 5 concerts, ranging in price from $64 to $498. Single tickets to individual performances, beginning at $25, go on sale on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. All Pacific Chorale concerts are presented in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, CA, except for “Carols by Candlelight” and “Monteverdi Vespers,” which are presented in Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach, CA. For tickets and information, visit www.pacificchorale.org or call 714-662-2345.
ROBERT ISTAD, a Grammy Award-winning conductor who “fashions fluent and sumptuous readings” (Voice of OC) with his “phenomenal” artistry (Los Angeles Times), was appointed Pacific Chorale’s Artistic Director in 2017. Under his leadership, the chorus continues to expand its reputation for excellence for delivering fresh, thought-provoking interpretations of beloved masterworks, rarely performed gems and newly commissioned pieces. His artistic impact can be heard on two recent recordings featuring Pacific Chorale, including the 2020 Grammy Award-winning “Mahler’s Eighth Symphony” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on Deutsche Grammophon (2021), for which he prepared the chorus. It won Best Choral Performance and also garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Classical. Additionally, Istad conducted the Pacific Chorale’s recording “All Things Common: The Music of Tarik O’Regan” released on Yarlung Records (2020). Istad has prepared choruses for such renowned conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Williams, John Mauceri, Keith Lockhart, Nicholas McGegan, Vasilly Sinaisky, Sir Andrew Davis, Bramwell Tovey, Carl St.Clair, Eugene Kohn, Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, George Fenton, and Robert Moody. He regularly conducts and collaborates with Pacific Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Sony Classical Records, Yarlung Records, Berkshire Choral International, and Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. An esteemed educator, Istad is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Fullerton, where he was recognized as CSUF’s 2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year. He conducts the University Singers and manages a large graduate conducting program, in addition to teaching courses on conducting and performance practice. Istad, who is on the Executive Board of Directors of Chorus America and serves as Dean of Chorus America’s Conducting Academy, is in demand as guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician.
PACIFIC CHORALE, a Grammy Award-winning Orange County “treasure” with a “fresh viewpoint” that “can sing anything you put in front of it, with polish, poise and tonal splendor” (Orange County Register) has “risen to national prominence” (Los Angeles Times) since its inception in 1968. Hailed for delivering “thrilling entertainment” (Voice of OC), the resident choir at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is noted for its artistic innovation and commitment to expanding the choral repertoire. It has given the world, U.S., and West Coast premieres of more than 35 works, including numerous commissions, by such lauded composers as John Adams, Jake Heggie, James Hopkins, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Ravel, Tarik O’Regan, Karen Thomas, Frank Ticheli, András Gábor Virágh, and Eric Whitacre. In addition to presenting its own concert series each season, Pacific Chorale enjoys a long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, with whom the choir made its highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut in 2018. The chorus also regularly appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which it won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Classical, for its contribution to the live classical recording of “Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of A Thousand,’” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson and Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus and Pacific Chorale. The choir has performed with such leading orchestras as the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Musica Angelica, among others. Pacific Chorale has garnered international acclaim as well, having toured extensively to more than 19 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia, and through collaborations with the London Symphony, Munich Symphony, L’Orchestre Lamoureux and L’Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l’Île of Paris, National Orchestra of Belgium, China National Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Estonian National Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina, among others. Deeply committed to making choral music accessible to people of all ages, the organization, which has a discography of 14 self-produced recordings and an extensive collection of exceptional free digital offerings, places a significant emphasis on choral music education, providing after-school vocal programs for elementary school students, a choral summer camp for high school students, and an annual community-wide singing event at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. www.pacificchorale.org
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Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8:00 pm
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
Pacific Symphony
Isaac Gale and Joseph Midthun, film makers/video projections
DURUFLÉ Requiem
Jocelyn HAGEN The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Saturday, December 3, 2022, 8:00 pm
Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 8:00 pm
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
Piano & Guest Instrumentalists TBA
Saunder CHOI World Premiere
+ timeless traditional and contemporary seasonal repertoire
Sunday, December 18, 2022, 5:00 pm
Monday, December 19, 2022, 7:30 pm
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
Members of Pacific Symphony
Southern California Children’s Chorus
A family-friendly program replete with festive carols, holiday favorites and a visit from The Man in Red, Santa Claus
Saturday, March 4, 2023, 8:00 pm
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach
Robert Istad, conductor
Members of Pacific Chorale
Ruben Valenzuela, organ
Bach Collegium San Diego, Ruben Valenzuela, Artistic Director
MONTEVERDI Vespro della Beata Vergine “Vespers of 1610”
Saturday, May 20, 2023, 5:00 pm
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
Pacific Symphony
HAYDN Missa in Angustiis “Nelson Mass”
PRICE Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight (West Coast Premiere)
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church
2100 Mar Vista Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Season subscriptions available; single tickets, beginning at $25, go on sale September, 2022
www.pacificchorale.org
714-662-2345
Artists, dates, programs and venues subject to change
# # #
A Night with Mozart and Salieri, and the Amazing Pacific Chorale
By Truman C. Wang for classicalvoice.org Read the full review here.
“The Pacific Chorale deserved the highest accolade of the evening, giving thrilling accounts of Dies irae and two reconstructed fugues by Levin (the Osanna fugue and the Amen fugue at the end of Lacrimosa). But they were most memorable in the simple motet Ave verum corpus, in a sublime reading of peace, serenity and otherworldly beauty that, for three minutes at least, delivered the listener from the pains and sufferings of worldly existence.”
Pacific Chorale performs in Pacific Symphony’s Mozart & Salieri concert under the baton of Maestro Carl St.Clair © Doug Gifford Photography
Pacific Chorale regularly performs with Maestro Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony.
Learn where you can see Pacific Chorale in concert here.
We waited a long time to present this concert, which was the first Pacific Chorale performance to be cancelled due to pandemic closures in 2020, and were so excited to finally share this breathtaking music in performance. Music has the power to heal and this concert, to its audience and musicians alike, was no exception. Enjoy these highlights from Songs of the Soul, March 19, 2022 at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach.
All Photos © Christian Amonson – Arts Laureate
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE: https://tinyurl.com/PCMay7photos
Press Contact: Libby Huebner, libbyhuebner562@gmail.com, 562.799.6055
Saturday, May 7, 2022, 5:00 pm
at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa
Ticketholders Required to Show Proof of Vaccination and
Wear Masks Inside Venues
COSTA MESA, CA (March 14, 2022) – The remarkable stylistic range and exceptional musical artistry of the Grammy-nominated Pacific Chorale, led by Artistic Director Robert Istad, will be on full display in its season finale on Saturday, May 7, 2022, 5:00 pm, at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Istad conducts the choir’s first-ever performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ masterwork Dona Nobis Pacem, a sublime setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry, with renowned guest artists soprano Deanna Breiwick, a “vocal trapeze artist” hailed for her “sweet sound and floating high notes” (The New York Times), and Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Dashon Burton, who delivers “the kind of top-shelf performance that has sealed his reputation as one of today’s most compelling performers” (The Boston Globe). Pacific Symphony joins the chorus for the eclectic program as well, which opens with the world premiere of The Quickening, a new choral fanfare by Grammy-nominated former Pacific Chorale Composer-in-Residence Tarik O’Regan, and also showcases the West Coast premiere of Frank Ticheli’s Until Forever Fades Away, a poetic meditation on the elusive nature of time. Other works include Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw’s playful Music in Common Time for choir and orchestra and Jake Runestad’s exuberant setting of Whitman’s “Proud Music of the Storm,” evoking the spirit of adventure.
“Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem is an extraordinary work that pleads with us to consider choosing peaceful resolutions to conflicts,” says Istad. “Filled with haunting modal melodies amidst brilliant orchestrations, the work weaves anti-war poetry by Walt Whitman with Biblical references to peace-making, creating a narrative that is both extremely moving and profound. I’ve paired it with works by four other composers with whom I feel a deep connection.”
O’Regan, a musical “chameleon” with “shifting styles” (Texas Classical Review), is collaborating on his new choral-orchestral fanfare for Pacific Chorale with Orange County-based poet and activist Marcus Omari to create a work brimming with energy and power. Omari is a critically acclaimed purveyor of verse, six-time National Speech and Debate Award winner and founding member of the San Diego Slam Poetry Team.
Shaw – hailed as a “classical sensation” (The Guardian) for whom the “voice becomes a visceral embodiment of shape and texture” (New York Times) – at age 30 became the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music. Music in Common Time, her imaginative post-minimalist work without text, explores the variety of sounds the human voice can create.
Ticheli’s vibrant and thought-provoking Until Forever Fades Away includes both text and music by the “optimistic and thoughtful” (Los Angeles Times) composer, who is also a composition professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music, and a long-time collaborator with Pacific Chorale.
Istad states, “Featuring on our season finale Jake Runestad’s Proud Music of the Storm, which is cinematic in scope and deeply emotional, is especially meaningful to me because we both grew up in the same northern Illinois town of Rockford.” Proclaimed a “choral rockstar” (American Public Media), Runestad is one of the most frequently performed and commissioned composers of choral music in the world, having “a particular knack for marrying powerful music to texts that speak to some of the most pressing and moving issues of our time” (Star Tribune).
Directly following the concert, Pacific Chorale will hold its annual gala, this year themed “A Celebration of the Voice” and honoring Pacific Chorale singer and philanthropist, Lenora Meister with the Entrepreneur of the Arts Award, and Pacific Symphony Music Director Carl St.Clair with the Lifetime Achievement for Artistic Excellence, in honor of his three decades of artistic collaboration with the Chorale. All proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Chorale’s artistic and educational programming.
Pacific Chorale’s 2021-22 Season is made possible by generous support from Platinum Season Sponsor Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons, Silver Season Sponsor Charles and Ling Zhang, and Silver Season Corporate Sponsor Salt-Away Products.
Single tickets for “Dona Nobis Pacem” range from $25-$135. The Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall is located at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Audience members must show proof of vaccination and wear masks inside the venue (COVID protocols detailed below). For tickets and information, visit www.pacificchorale.org or call 714-662-2345. For tickets and information about the Pacific Chorale Gala, visit www.pacificchorale.org/gala.
ROBERT ISTAD, who “fashions fluent and sumptuous readings” (Voice of OC) with his “phenomenal” artistry (Los Angeles Times), was appointed Pacific Chorale’s Artistic Director in 2017. Under his leadership, the chorus continues to expand its reputation for excellence for delivering fresh, thought-provoking interpretations of beloved masterworks, rarely performed gems and newly commissioned pieces. His artistic impact can be heard on two recent recordings featuring Pacific Chorale: “Mahler’s Eighth Symphony” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on Deutsche Grammophon (2021), for which he prepared the chorus, and “All Things Common: The Music of Tarik O’Regan,” which he conducted, on Yarlung Records (2020). Istad has also prepared choruses for such renowned conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Williams, John Mauceri, Keith Lockhart, Nicholas McGegan, Vasilly Sinaisky, Sir Andrew Davis, Bramwell Tovey, Carl St.Clair, Eugene Kohn, Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, George Fenton, and Robert Moody. He regularly conducts and collaborates with Pacific Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Sony Classical Records, Yarlung Records, Berkshire Choral International, and Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. An esteemed educator, Istad is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Fullerton, where he was recognized as CSUF’s 2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year. He conducts the University Singers and manages a large graduate conducting program, in addition to teaching courses on conducting and performance practice. Istad, who is on the Executive Board of Directors of Chorus America and serves as Dean of Chorus America’s Conducting Academy, is in demand as guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician.
PACIFIC CHORALE, an Orange County “treasure” with a “fresh viewpoint” that “can sing anything you put in front of it, with polish, poise and tonal splendor” (Orange County Register) has “risen to national prominence” (Los Angeles Times) since its inception in 1968. Hailed for delivering “thrilling entertainment” (Voice of OC), the resident choir at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is noted for its artistic innovation and commitment to expanding the choral repertoire. It has given world, U.S., and West Coast premieres of more than 35 works, including numerous commissions, by such lauded composers as John Adams, Jake Heggie, James Hopkins, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Ravel, Tarik O’Regan, Karen Thomas, Frank Ticheli, András Gábor Virágh, and Eric Whitacre. In addition to presenting its own concert series each season, Pacific Chorale enjoys a long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, with whom the choir made its highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut in 2018. The chorus also regularly appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, earning two 2022 Grammy Award nominations – Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical – for its contribution to the live classical recording of “Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of A Thousand,’” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson and Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus and Pacific Chorale. The choir has performed with such leading orchestras as the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Musica Angelica, among others. Pacific Chorale has garnered international acclaim as well, having toured extensively to more than 19 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia, and through collaborations with the London Symphony, Munich Symphony, L’Orchestre Lamoureux and L’Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l’Île of Paris, National Orchestra of Belgium, China National Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Estonian National Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina, among others. Deeply committed to making choral music accessible to people of all ages, the organization, which has a discography of 14 self-produced recordings and an extensive collection of exceptional free digital offerings, places a significant emphasis on choral music education, providing after-school vocal programs for elementary school students, a choral summer camp for high school students, and an annual community-wide singing event at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. www.pacificchorale.org
# # #
WHAT:
Pacific Chorale Presents
Dona Nobis Pacem
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
Deanna Breiwick, soprano
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Pacific Symphony
PROGRAM:
Tarik O’REGAN The Quickening (World Premiere)
Caroline SHAW Music in Common Time
Frank TICHELI Until Forever Fades Away (West Coast Premiere)
Jake RUNESTAD Proud Music of the Storm
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Dona Nobis Pacem
WHEN:
Saturday, May 7 2022, 5:00 pm
WHERE:
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Hall
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
TICKETS/INFORMATION:
$25 – $135
www.pacificchorale.org
714-662-2345
COVID PROTOCOLS
Pacific Chorale continues to make the health and safety of its patrons, artists and community its top priority and has adopted the requirement that all audience members attending indoor performances be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In order to be considered fully vaccinated, patrons must confirm that at least 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose of FDA or WHO authorized double-dose vaccines or that at least 14 days have passed since receiving the sole dose of FDA or WHO authorized single-dose vaccines. Audience members may display proof of vaccine on a smartphone or by showing a physical copy of their vaccination card or official vaccination record. Children under 12 and those who are unvaccinated due to a medical or religious reason must provide proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours prior to attending. Rapid or antigen tests will not be accepted. All guests, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear masks while inside the concert venue. These safety protocols will be re-assessed on an ongoing basis and may be adjusted as public health circumstances evolve. The Chorale is closely monitoring industry and government guidance regarding the COVID-19 virus, including information supplied by the State of California, California Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Orange County Department of Public Health. For information on Pacific Chorale’s most current health and safety protocols, please visit https://www.pacificchorale.org/covid-returning-to-live-performances/.
Artists, date, program and venue subject to change
# # #
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE:
https://tinyurl.com/songsofthesoul
Press Contact:
Libby Huebner, libbyhuebner562@gmail.com, 562.799.6055
Saturday, March 19, 2022, 8:00 p.m.
at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach
Program Includes Galina Grigorjeva’s On Leaving, Martin’s Mass for Double Choir,
Caroline Shaw’s and the swallow; Dale Trumbore’s Spiritus Mundi,
Edie Hill’s We Bloomed in Spring and Paul Fowler’s Calling
Ticketholders Required to Show Proof of Vaccination and Wear Masks Inside Venues
COSTA MESA, CA (February 2, 2022) – Grammy-nominated Pacific Chorale, considered one of the nation’s leading choirs, continues its season with a program of transcendent choral works by six contemporary composers anchored by Estonian composer Galina Grigorjeva’s profound vocal symphony On Leaving, a contemplation on the soul’s release from the mortal body, and Frank Martin’s stunning Mass for Double Choir, a masterful setting of the Latin Mass, on Saturday, March 19, 2022, 8:00 p.m., at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach. Led by Artistic Director Robert Istad, the program, entitled “Songs of the Soul,” also features Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw’s and the swallow, a setting of Psalm 84 inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis, and Spiritus Mundi, Dale Trumbore’s hymn of gratitude for the fruits of the earth, which she says, “explores the idea of trust in something greater than oneself.” Additionally, Pacific Chorale performs Paul Fowler’s wordless, hypnotic Calling and Edie Hill’s poignant We Bloomed in Spring, a setting of the words of St. Teresa of Avila.
“These six extraordinary choral works explore the concept of spirit from multiple perspectives,” says Istad. “For example, On Leaving by Grigorjeva, who has been hailed as the First Lady of Estonian Choral Music, is a gorgeous meditation on death and the afterlife that captures the mystery of the hereafter with neo-Gothic chant lines and enigmatic bells, revealing a modern approach to Slavonic chant that creates a kaleidoscope of sound rich with overtone. Swiss composer Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Chorus is a tour de force that balances his respect for the Mass with a proclivity for vocal fireworks.”
Each of the composers is celebrated for the transcendent quality of their work. Grigorjeva is described as “the mistress of cadential suspense, a modernist who respects the past” (Gramophone). Martin’s music is imbued with “beauty, mystery and power” and is noted for its “heartfelt sensitivity” (The New York Times). Shaw, who at age 30 became the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2013, creates music that “grows ever more mystic” (The New Yorker) and is “proof that classical music has an exciting future” (The Atlantic). Fowler integrates old and new into “emotionally intense” (Washington Post) works that are “radiant, ghostly and shimmering” (The New York Times). Hill’s music has been applauded as “flat out beautiful” and ”full of mystery” (Stereophile Magazine). Trumbore, considered “a rising star among modern choral composers” (AXS), creates “soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies” (The New York Times).
Pacific Chorale’s 2021-22 Season is made possible by generous support from Platinum Season Sponsor Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons, Silver Season Sponsor Charles and Ling Zhang, and Silver Season Corporate Sponsor Salt-Away Products.
Single tickets for “Songs of the Soul” range from $20-$60. Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Audience members must show proof of vaccination and wear masks inside the venue (COVID protocols detailed below). For tickets and information, visit www.pacificchorale.org or call 714-662-2345.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ROBERT ISTAD, who “fashions fluent and sumptuous readings” (Voice of OC) with his “phenomenal” artistry (Los Angeles Times), was appointed Pacific Chorale’s Artistic Director in 2017. Under his leadership, the chorus continues to expand its reputation for excellence for delivering fresh, thought-provoking interpretations of beloved masterworks, rarely performed gems and newly commissioned pieces. His artistic impact can be heard on two recent recordings featuring Pacific Chorale: “Mahler’s Eighth Symphony” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on Deutsche Grammophon (2021), for which he prepared the chorus, and “All Things Common: The Music of Tarik O’Regan,” which he conducted, on Yarlung Records (2020). Istad has also prepared choruses for such renowned conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Williams, John Mauceri, Keith Lockhart, Nicholas McGegan, Vasilly Sinaisky, Sir Andrew Davis, Bramwell Tovey, Carl St.Clair, Eugene Kohn, Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, George Fenton, and Robert Moody. He regularly conducts and collaborates with Pacific Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Sony Classical Records, Yarlung Records, Berkshire Choral International, and Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. An esteemed educator, Istad is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Fullerton, where he was recognized as CSUF’s 2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year. He conducts the University Singers and manages a large graduate conducting program, in addition to teaching courses on conducting and performance practice. Istad, who is on the Executive Board of Directors of Chorus America and serves as Dean of Chorus America’s Conducting Academy, is in demand as guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician.
PACIFIC CHORALE, an Orange County “treasure” with a “fresh viewpoint” that “can sing anything you put in front of it, with polish, poise and tonal splendor” (Orange County Register) has “risen to national prominence” (Los Angeles Times) since its inception in 1968. Hailed for delivering “thrilling entertainment” (Voice of OC), the resident choir at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is noted for its artistic innovation and commitment to expanding the choral repertoire. It has given world, U.S., and West Coast premieres of more than 35 works, including numerous commissions, by such lauded composers as John Adams, Jake Heggie, James Hopkins, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Ravel, Tarik O’Regan, Karen Thomas, Frank Ticheli, András Gábor Virágh, and Eric Whitacre. In addition to presenting its own concert series each season, Pacific Chorale enjoys a long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, with whom the choir made its highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut in 2018. The chorus also regularly appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, earning two 2022 Grammy Award nominations – Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical – for its contribution to the live classical recording of “Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of A Thousand,’” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson and Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus and Pacific Chorale. The choir has performed with such leading orchestras as the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Musica Angelica, among others. Pacific Chorale has garnered international acclaim as well, having toured extensively to more than 19 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia, and through collaborations with the London Symphony, Munich Symphony, L’Orchestre Lamoureux and L’Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l’Île of Paris, National Orchestra of Belgium, China National Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Estonian National Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina, among others. Deeply committed to making choral music accessible to people of all ages, the organization, which has a discography of 14 self-produced recordings and an extensive collection of exceptional free digital offerings, places a significant emphasis on choral music education, providing after-school vocal programs for elementary school students, a choral summer camp for high school students, and an annual community-wide singing event at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. www.pacificchorale.org
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EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
WHAT:
Pacific Chorale Presents
Songs of the Soul
Robert Istad, conductor
Pacific Chorale
PROGRAM:
Paul FOWLER Calling
Edie HILL We Bloomed in Spring
Galina GRIGORJEVA On Leaving
Caroline SHAW and the swallow
Dale TRUMBORE Spiritus Mundi
MARTIN Mass for Double Choir
WHEN:
Saturday, March 19, 2022 – 8:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach
2100 Mar Vista Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
TICKETS/INFORMATION:
$20-$60
www.pacificchorale.org
714-662-2345
COVID PROTOCOLS
Pacific Chorale continues to make the health and safety of its patrons, artists and community its top priority and has adopted the requirement that all audience members attending indoor performances be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In order to be considered fully vaccinated, patrons must confirm that at least 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose of FDA or WHO authorized double-dose vaccines or that at least 14 days have passed since receiving the sole dose of FDA or WHO authorized single-dose vaccines. Audience members may display proof of vaccine on a smartphone or by showing a physical copy of their vaccination card or official vaccination record. Children under 12 and those who are unvaccinated due to a medical or religious reason must provide proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours prior to attending. Rapid or antigen tests will not be accepted. All guests, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear masks while inside the concert venue. These safety protocols will be re-assessed on an ongoing basis and may be adjusted as public health circumstances evolve. The Chorale is closely monitoring industry and government guidance regarding the COVID-19 virus, including information supplied by the State of California, California Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Orange County Department of Public Health. For information on Pacific Chorale’s most current health and safety protocols, please visit https://www.pacificchorale.org/covid-returning-to-live-performances/.
Artists, date, program and venue subject to change
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“The return to the Segerstrom Concert Hall platform of the Pacific Chorale under their Artistic Director Robert Istad could not have been more warmly welcomed, and their performance of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil Op. 37 that was the main item, filling the second half (and with the bass Ryan Thomas Antal in the first, mezzo-soprano I-Chin Betty Feinblatt in the second, and tenor Nicholas Preston in the fourth and fifth of the work’s 15 movements), showed the Chorale to have lost none of its security of pitch, clarity of articulation, and control of dynamic and rhythmic nuance, despite the long Covid-enforced absence.”
“(Tarik O’Regan’s The Stillness in Chains’) soft bitonal clashes and slowly shifting harmonies were delivered with devoted poise and accuracy by the Chorale, the sense of unresolved, poignant ache reminiscent of the work of Morten Lauridsen.”
“The concert program notes by Dr John Koegel of CSU Fullerton (are) a model of their kind”
Enjoy David Brown’s LA Opus review in it’s entirety:
David Brown, LA Opus, November 6, 2021
https://www.laopus.com/2021/11/choral-contemplations-and-visions-at.html
The San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for 2021-22 were just announced and Pacific Chorale has received 2 of the coveted honors for: Best Choral Performance: Pacific Chorale, “Songs of the Soul” Pacific Chorale was on comfortably contemporary ground for this March 2022 program, which combined a modernist masterpiece, Frank Martin’s Mass for
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After a three-day intensive rehearsal schedule with Artistic Director Robert Istad, Pacific Chorale’s Festival Chorus performed in a free concert at Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on Sunday, August 14, 2022. Dedicated to our beloved friend, Southern California composer Morten Lauridsen, the program featured a
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Yesterday evening, members of Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale came together for a concert of healing at Geneva Presbyterian Church – Laguna Woods. The Rev. Dr. Steven Marsh from Geneva Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Dr. Albany Lee from Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church offered words of comfort and hope. “There are so many ripples that
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Choral Camp 2022 is a wrap! We had such a great time with all of our singers and amazing faculty at Cal State Fullerton School of Music All images © Jason Pano Learn more about Pacific Chorale’s Choral Camp program and faculty here.
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GRAMMY-Winning Pacific Chorale, Led by Artistic Director Robert Istad, Announces 2022-2023 Season! Read for highlights and details.
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A Night with Mozart and Salieri, and the Amazing Pacific Chorale By Truman C. Wang for classicalvoice.org Read the full review here. “The Pacific Chorale deserved the highest accolade of the evening, giving thrilling accounts of Dies irae and two reconstructed fugues by Levin (the Osanna fugue and the Amen fugue at the end
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The first Pacific Chorale performance to be cancelled due to pandemic closures in 2020, we were so excited to finally share this breathtaking music in performance. Enjoy these highlights from Songs of the Soul, March 19, 2022 at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach.
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DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE: https://tinyurl.com/PCMay7photos Press Contact: Libby Huebner, libbyhuebner562@gmail.com, 562.799.6055 Pacific Chorale, Led by Artistic Director Robert Istad, Concludes Season with Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Featuring Soprano Deanna Breiwick and Bass-Baritone Dashon Burton, plus Tarik O’Regan World Premiere Program also Includes West Coast Premiere of Frank Ticheli’s Until Forever Fades Away and
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Pacific Chorale continues its season with a program of transcendent choral works by six contemporary composers anchored by Estonian composer Galina Grigorjeva’s profound vocal symphony “On Leaving,” a contemplation on the soul’s release from the mortal body, and Frank Martin’s stunning Mass for Double Choir, a masterful setting of the Latin Mass, on Saturday, March 19, 2022, 8:00 p.m., at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach.
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“It was a masterfully dramatic opening for the Pacific Chorale’s return to the concert platform.” “The return to the Segerstrom Concert Hall platform of the Pacific Chorale under their Artistic Director Robert Istad could not have been more warmly welcomed, and their performance of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil Op. 37 that was the main item, filling
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