Tickets for the High School Choir Festival will be available beginning Monday, March 15, 2010, 10 am.

Founded by the Master Chorale Associates in 1989, the Festival brings together more than 25 schools and 900 students for a day of singing under the baton of Music Director Grant Gershon.

The Festival includes a year-long mentoring process between the choir directors and the Master Chorale’s Music Director. Participating ensembles prepare the Festival selections on their own throughout the year. In the spring, students attend an area rehearsal where they rehearse the selections with fellow students as well as participate in a masterclass facilitated by members of the LAMC Chamber Singers. On the Festival Day, all participating ensembles arrive at the Walt Disney Concert Hall where they rehearse the selections as a massed chorus of voices. In the morning, the students are also treated with a special performance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale Chamber Singers.

NEW: This year we are excited to announce the 21st Annual High School Choir Festival will be a part of the “Americas and Americans” Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall. As part of this Festival, Grant Gershon will share the stage with acclaimed international conductor, María Guinand, Conductor of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela as a guest conductor on several selections during of the Festival Concert. In addition, during the Festival Concert, Ms. Guinand will conduct an honor choir of singers representing all of the participating Festival choirs. We are also happy to announce that our dear friend Morten Lauridsen will accompany the singers of the Festival Chorus on his gorgeous composition, Dirait-on.

 

Festival Concert, April 16, 2010, 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Grant Gershon, Conductor and María Guinand, Guest Conductor

Greetings and Introductions
Recognition of Choir Directors

 

Festival Chorus (Combined High School Choirs)

• Hanacpachap cussicuinin, Juan Pérez Bocanegra
• Salmo 150, Ernani Aguiar
• Alleluia, Randall Thompson
       Conducted by Ms. Guinand
• Dirait-on, Morten Lauridsen
       Accompanied by Morten Lauridsen, piano
• Muié Rendêra, C.A. Pinto Fonseca
       Conducted by Ms. Guinand

 

Festival Honor Choir

• María Guinand, Guest Conductor
• Arroz con Leche, Carlos Guastavino
• Zion’s Walls, Aaron Copland/Glenn Koponen
• Joy, Ricky Ian Gordon

 

Festival Chorus – Finale

• Conducted by Grant Gershon
• Good News, The Chariot’s Comin’, Moses Hogan

 

2010 High School Choir Festival Participants

• Agoura High School, Agoura Hills
• Alhambra High School, Alhambra
• Arroyo High School, El Monte
• Baldwin Park High School, Baldwin Park
• Birmingham High School, Van Nuys
• California High School, Whittier
• Covina High School, Covina
• Culver City High School, Culver City
• Eagle Rock High School, Los Angeles
• Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills
• Grant High School, Valley Glen
• John Marshall Sr. High School, Los Angeles
• Loyola High School, Los Angeles
• Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra
• Montebello High School, Montebello
• Norwalk High School, Norwalk
• Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estates
• Rancho Cucamonga High School, Rancho Cucamonga
• Renaissance High School for the Arts, Long Beach
• San Gabriel High School, San Gabriel
• Sierra Vista High School, Baldwin Park
• Susan Miller Dorsey High School, Los Angeles
• Taft High School, Woodland Hills
• Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks
• Torrance High School, Torrance
• Wilson Classical High School, Long Beach