What better way to celebrate the platinum jubilee — 70 years — of the South Korea-U.S. friendship than the convergence of two esteemed choirs? That’s the idea behind the free concert that will feature the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC) and one of Asia’s most accomplished choral groups, the Busan Metropolitan Chorus, on Aug. 18 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Presented by LAMC and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, the concert, dubbed “Voices of Unity: ROK-U.S. Alliance for the Future,” is meant to celebrate the deep connection between Korea and the United States through the countries’ shared love of choral music.
“This was the joint brainchild of the Korean Consulate in L.A.; Kisun Lee, director of the Busan group; and members of the Master Chorale community,” said LAMC Artistic Director Grant Gershon, who recently returned with the chorus from a successful series of performances in Europe. “We also have several Korean American members of the Master Chorale right now, and one of our board members, Jenny Kim, is also a brilliant concert pianist. She was one of the people on our side who spearheaded this concert and the idea of bringing these two groups together.
“And,” Gershon added, “there’s a lot of great reasons for us to come together. … The Korean community [in L.A.] is the largest outside of Seoul, and not only is it a really vibrant part of the fabric of L.A., but specifically the choral tradition in the Korean diaspora is also really strong.”
Gershon noted that uniting the choral groups felt like “it would be a wonderful opportunity to bring that tradition together with the traditions and history of the LA Master Chorale. And the fact that Busan is a sister city to L.A., there’s that connection, too. The concert is celebrating the 70-year anniversary of the founding of South Korea as an independent country.”
Gershon said that the genesis of the concert came about earlier this year, when Lee traveled to the U.S. for the American Choral Directors Association conference.
“We started to talk on the phone in January or February, and Kisun came to L.A., [where] we had a chance to introduce him to Disney Hall,” Gershon explained. “We gave him a tour of the front of house and backstage, and we decided together what we should do — present a concert where each group would present music on its own, and at the end, we would come together as one large choir. The symbolism is really, really strong.”
The concert promises to be an intriguing blend of Western and Eastern music, with the Busan choir performing works by American composer William Schuman (Prelude for Voices), Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (“Rivers of Light” and “Amazing Grace”), and Hojun Lee’s arrangement of “Don’t Ever Forget.”
The Master Chorale’s selections include Huijo Kim’s arrangement of “GyeongBokGung Tahryung,” Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque,” and Hyowon Woo’s “Cum sancto spiritu.”
Gershon pointed out that LAMC has done several compositions by Woo over the years. “We featured a work of hers on the 50th-anniversary concert of The Music Center [in 2014]. She’s one of the most prominent composers who specializes in choral music now, so we wanted to have her piece represented. The other Korean piece is a folk song and is very, very well known in Korea. It’s a piece we performed on a concert a few years back. It was great we already had some really terrific repertory in our bag.”
Also in the Master Chorale’s bag: Morten Lauridsen’s “Sure on This Shining Night,” Shawn Kirchner’s arrangement of “Bright Morning Stars,” and composer-in-residence Reena Esmail’s “TaReKiTa.”
Gershon said that in addition to presenting several Korean pieces, “we wanted to feature music by every one of our [current and past] composers-in-residence, including Morten Lauridsen and Shawn Kirchner. The concert is going to represent the history and traditions of the Master Chorale as well.”
Of the concert, Consul General Youngwan Kim said in a press release that the Korean Consulate in L.A “has been celebrating the 70th anniversary of the ROK-U.S. alliance with various events throughout the year, and this one is shaping up to be just as meaningful. With some of the greatest musical talent of two artistic worlds coming together in the name of peace and friendship, I am both honored and humbled to be given a chance to behold the fruits of their labors.”
And while the Master Chorale has a roster of 100 singers, for this performance, each of the choirs will have 32 singers. “We wanted to match that size,” noted Gershon, “and didn’t want to dwarf them.” The groups will collaborate on a trio of songs: James Erb’s arrangement of “Shenandoah”; Jojun Lee’s arrangement of “Shenandoah & Arirang”; and the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
“The plan,” said Gershon, “is that Kisun will conduct ‘Shenandoah’ — that was his suggestion, because they’ve sung it quite a bit with their ensemble. I’ll conduct the Hallelujah chorus, and we’ll both conduct ‘Shenandoah & Arirang.’”
As for sharing conducting duties, Gershon acknowledged that the challenge is making sure that he and Lee don’t “knock each other off the podium. But at the last concert the Master Chorale did — a Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams program — John Clayton and I conducted side by side, and it was fine.”
And the Hallelujah chorus — during the height of summer? “Why not have a little Christmas in August?” said Gershon. “The nerdy fact is Handel wrote it for Easter, but I just thought, ‘When these two great ensembles come together, what is the perfect iconic, celebratory piece?’”
Gershon believes that this shared concert is only the beginning. “I think it’s fair to say that this partnership can go on into the future. We’re already talking about other projects and are certainly talking about the Master Chorale visiting Korea.”
Their partnership is also indicative of the rise of choral music. “This is another sign to me,” noted Gershon, “of the renaissance that’s happening worldwide. There are so many professional choral ensembles all around the world — and there are also choral groupies and serious choral geeks.”
