Artistic Director

  
The Hollywood Master Chorale is proud to introduce JEFFREY BERNSTEIN as it’s new Artistic Director! Mr. Bernstein also serves as Artistic Director of the Pasadena Master Chorale and Assistant Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. For eleven years (1997-2008) Bernstein was director of choral music at Occidental College, where he conducted the acclaimed Occidental Glee Club. During his tenure the Glee Club celebrated its centennial, undertook three international and eleven domestic tours, and gave an invitational performance at the 2006 Western Division convention of the American Choral Directors Association. Prior to his work at Occidental, Bernstein was Associate Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University where he conducted the 200-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus and the world-famous Harvard Glee Club.

Bernstein has appeared as a frequent guest conductor in Romania, with the Transylvanian State Philharmonic Chorus in Cluj-Napoca, and with the State Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Arad. In addition he has conducted the Naples Philharmonic in Florida and over a dozen concerts on the Harvard Business School’s endowed concert series, including a 2007 performance of Bach’s St. John Passion featuring baritone Sanford Sylvan. Bernstein’s vocal arrangements were featured in the 2002 film “Slackers”, and his concert compositions have been premiered in Italy, Romania, and throughout the United States. Also active as a singer, Bernstein has sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and is a founding member of The Martini Project, a quartet of men’s voices specializing in music of the 15th, 16th and 21st centuries.

Bernstein grew up in New England and holds music degrees from Harvard, Yale and UCLA. He has studied composition with Peter Lieberson, Jacob Druckman, Martin Bresnick, David Lefkowitz and Roger Bourland and conducting with Jorge Mester, Jameson Marvin and Marguerite Brooks. A recent review in Naples, Florida called Bernstein “a rising star in this country” and prognosticated “if this group is any indication of Bernstein’s ability to mold a group into a unified whole, the future bodes well for him.”

Accompanist

ERIK BELSHEIM has been parish organist at the Church of Our Savior since 1992. He also services as temple organist at Beth Hillel and performs at Temple Stephen S. Wise in Bel Air. Other churches he has been involved with include the Glendale Seventh Day Adventist Church, Emmanuel Lutheran Church and St. Andrew’s Church. He is also a sought-after accompanist for vocal and instrumental soloists, including members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Belsheim pursued his Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance from Pepperdine University after which he continued graduate work in Organ Performance at the University of Southern California. In addition, he has an active studio of piano and organ students.

Guest Soloist

Soprano LORI ANN FULLER has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, working with numerous opera companies and symphonies including the Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, L’Opera Piccola (Chicago), Pine Mountain Music Festival, Daytona Beach Symphony Orchestra and Centro Studi Italiani. Her stage credits include Jano/Jenufa (Janacek), Rose/Street Scene (Kurt Weill), Gilda/Rigoletto (Verdi), Zorika/Gypsy Love (Lehar), Lauretta/Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), Angela/Firebrand of Florence (Weill), Adina/L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti), Marian/The Music Man (Willson) and Mabel/The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert & Sullivan). Ms. Fuller is equally at home on the concert, recital and cabaret stages with memorable performances of Handel’s Messiah, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Fauré’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Cantatas No. 6 and 51. One of these performances released on CD, Kurt Weill’s Firebrand of Florence, was recorded live with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Delta Music. During the 2008-2009 season, Ms Fuller will be singing two roles in Puccini’s Il Trittico at the Los Angeles Opera. Ms. Fuller holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Stetson University and a Master of Music degree from DePaul University.

Guest Soloist

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “radiant,” American Mezzo DIANA TASH made her Los Angeles debut in 2004 with the Los Angeles Opera as Mercedes in Carmen under the baton of Placido Domingo. Ms. Tash has also performed in the Magic Flute with the San Diego Opera in 2006 and again with Opera Pacific in 2008. She performed her debut recital at Zipper Concert Hall in 2006 with pianist Armen Guzelimian. During 2008, she will make her Weill Recital Hall debut with Armen Guzelimian again as pianist. Ms. Tash will sing with the Achron Ohio Symphony’s performance of Bernstein’s Jeremiah Mass in January of 2009 and will perform in Opera Pacific’s Salome in March of 2009. A popular oratorio singer, Ms. Tash has sung with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony in Lukas Foss’ Song of Songs, the Aspen Music Festival in Mozart’s Idomeneo and Coronation Mass and the Santa Barbara Chorale Society in Bach’s Magnificat. She was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Western Regional Auditions in addition to numerous other awards. Ms. Tash is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Flora L. Thornton School of Music and holds a Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

Guest Soloist

Tenor DANIEL MONTENEGRO has traveled the world performing on stages ranging from the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Mr. Montenegro’s 2006-2007 season included several roles with the Los Angeles Opera, in addition to his onstage debut with the company, performing the role of Gastone in La Traviata alongside tenor Rolando Villazon and soprano Renée Fleming. Other recent roles with the Los Angeles Opera include Maxamino Mendez in the world premiere of Lee Holdridge’s opera Concierto para Mendez, Liberto in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Anibal in Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda opposite Placido Domingo. Mr. Montenegro has just returned from the Portland Opera where he sang the role of the Steumann in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer. He has also performed other leading roles with such companies as the Minnesota Opera and Arizona Opera. He is a featured member of The American Tenors who appeared on national PBS in their own special, followed by concert performances throughout the United States and parts of Europe. They have also made a debut CD and DVD recording with Sony. Mr. Montenegro is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Guest Soloist

With over seventy roles to his credit, baritone ROBERTO PERLAS GOMEZ has performed extensively throughout California with the Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera and San Francisco Opera, and in Michigan with the Michigan Opera. Most recently, Mr. Gomez made his Italian and European debut for the Arena di Verona Foundation, playing the Chinese Prime Minister Chou en-lai in the Italian premiere of John Adam’s Nixon in China. As a member of San Diego Opera’s touring ensemble, Mr. Gomez concurrently performed main stage roles in Rusalka, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Carmen and Turandot. He was also the Artist-in-Residence, performing a series of outreach recitals throughout the county. As an Opera San Jose resident artist, Mr. Gomez performed the roles of Escamillo in Carmen, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia and created the role of the Drosselmeier in the premiere of The Tale of the Nutcracker. He has performed what has become his signature role of Figaro with the Nevada Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Accorde Opera in Mexico, Sacramento Opera and Opera Idaho. His next Figaro is scheduled for January 2009 with the Stockton Opera