FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Jenine Baines
818.416.7066
 jeninebaines@gmail.com

HOLLYWOOD MASTER CHORALE PRESENTS

“A PORTRAIT OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN”

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Sunday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church in Los Angeles

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. According to Jeffrey Bernstein, Artistic Director of the Hollywood Master Chorale (HMC) composer Benjamin Britten’s music “is unsurpassed in the depth and originality of its emotion and in its immediacy for modern audiences.” So it is perhaps no coincidence that Britten was born on the feast day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and church music. On Sunday, March 20 at 7 p.m., music lovers will have an opportunity to hear several of Britten’s greatest works – many inspired by the Christian faith – when Hollywood Master Chorale presents “A Portrait of Benjamin Britten” in Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.

“St. Cecilia is often depicted playing the organ,” says Chorale President Lyndia Lowy, “and several of the works we are presenting – Rejoice in the Lamb, Festival Te Deum and Jubilate Deo – are accompanied by organ. First Congregational Church is famous for its organs and the one in Shatto Chapel, the Hildreth Memorial Organ, is considered one of the finest in Los Angeles. We’re thrilled to perform in such an ideal space.”

 HMC will also perform “Choral Dances,” an a cappella work from Britten’s opera Gloriana. “Although Britten was very much a product of the twentieth century, he revered the musical and literary traditions of his native England, and his music echoes the glory of English music from the 16th and 17th centuries,” Bernstein explains. “England having a very strong tradition of choral singing, Britten wrote a great deal of choral music – all of it immanently singable and rewarding. This concert showcases some of the greatest gems of Britten’s choral output.”

Tickets for “A Portrait of Benjamin Britten” are $20 and are available through Tix.com and at the Chorale’s website: www.hollywoodmasterchorale.com.

“Purchase tickets early,” Lowy advises. “The chapel is not as large as spaces in which we’ve performed in the recent past. I’m afraid that we’ll sell out and some of our regular patrons will be unable to hear us. It’s also a good idea to arrive at the concert early in order to be assured of seating.”

First Congregational Church is located at 540 South Commonwealth Avenue; Los Angeles 90020. For more information about the Hollywood Master Chorale, visit www.hollywoodmasterchorale.com or call 323.960.4349.

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD MASTER CHORALE

The Hollywood Master Chorale (HMC) currently celebrates its 15th season of outstanding music. Founded in 1995, the Hollywood Master Chorale is a non-profit vocal organization comprised of men and women who share a passion for the art of choral music and a dedication to service in their community. The volunteer Chorale is known for its ability to perform a diverse repertoire, including Baroque, Classical and contemporary music.

A recognized and respected ensemble, the Hollywood Master Chorale offers three major concerts with pre-performance discussions and an intimate Cabaret annually throughout the greater Los Angeles region. In addition, the HMC regularly performs at private, community and civic functions. Highlights of recent performances include:

• LA Composers Concerts, featuring works by twenty composers in the Los Angeles region. More than half the pieces presented were premiers for the artists.
• “All Ye Who Music Love,” with members of the Calabasas Chamber Orchestra and showcasing works by Bach, Purcell and other Baroque favorites.
• Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna and Fauré’s Requiem with orchestra to sold-out audience at Zipper Concert Hall.
• Passion!, featuring Stephen Sondheim selections from Company and Follies, Shakespearean songs with music by David Dickau and a selection of English and French madrigals.
• Russian Cultural Festival
• Director’s Guild of America honoring John Schlesinger
• Evening of music for Laurie Metcalf (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Runaway Bride, The Rosanne Show)
• Christmas Program for Holiday Home Invasion (Women’s Entertainment Network)
• Haydn’s Stabat Mater with orchestra
• Shelton Berg’s “Convergence: A Jazz Vespers,” with soloist Tierney Sutton and accompanied by the composer.

The HMC has also been featured at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Torrance Invitational Song Festival, various summer concert series and mayoral installations.

The Chorale enjoys performing with guest musicians such as the Calabasas Baroque Orchestra, the California State University Long Beach Brass and Percussion Ensemble, the Mark Twain Ringers, the Ebell Chorale and the Hollywood Master Chorale Orchestra. Guests including Julia Migenes and soloists from the Los Angeles and San Francisco Opera Companies have also contributed to captivating Hollywood Master Chorale performances.

Community outreach is one of the cornerstones of the Hollywood Master Chorale. The HMC focuses on three areas of service: the disabled community, youth and arts education and cultural diversity.

ABOUT JEFFREY BERNSTEIN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Known for his ability to inspire singers and audiences alike, Jeffrey Bernstein is one of Southern California’s pre-eminent choral conductors, and his choirs are numbered among the finest ensembles in the region. Bernstein specializes in the refinement of the a cappella choral sound and in the performance of major choral-orchestral repertoire. During the fifteen-year span of his career Bernstein has conducted over 30 major works and led choirs on over a dozen tours of three continents. 

Active as a guest conductor, Bernstein has led Bach’s St. John Passion with Sanford Sylvan in Boston, Haydn’s Creation with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Romania, Dvorak’s Czech Suite with the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, and over a dozen other orchestral performances at the Harvard Business School.

A committed educator as well, Bernstein works regularly with students in Pasadena schools, gives pre-concert talks for the Pasadena Symphony, and maintains a private conducting studio. Among his students is eleven-year-old piano prodigy Marc Yu. An experienced choral singer Bernstein has sung with the Harvard Glee Club, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Musica Angelica and the Los Angeles Master Chorale under such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, and Simon Rattle. Choirs under Bernstein’s direction have sung for Gustavo Dudamel, Jorge Mester, Zubin Mehta, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

In 2009 Bernstein founded the Pasadena Master Chorale and serves now as its artistic director. He is also artistic director of the Hollywood Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Daiku and was assistant conductor of the Pasadena Symphony from 2005 through 2010. From 1997 to 2008 Bernstein was director of choral music at Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he rejuvenated a century-old Glee Club tradition and taught classes in music theory, counterpoint, composing and arranging, 20th-century music, and the American musical theater. Bernstein began his career in the theater, working first as a lighting designer and subsequently serving as a musical director and conductor. He led over 25 professional productions and served as associate musical director for the national touring company of CATS.

The composer of over 50 concert works, Bernstein has enjoyed premieres of his music across this country and in Europe. His commissions include Circumnavigation of the World for Occidental College, Chomolungma for the Governor’s School of North Carolina, Phoenix for UCLA bassoonist Melson Varsovia, Pablo Neruda in Love for The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and over a dozen a cappella choral works and arrangements. In 2007 the Occidental Chorale under Bernstein’s direction gave a full-length program of his choral-orchestral music entitled Divinity. Bernstein has contributed choral arrangements and direction to numerous commercial projects, and his choral arrangements are featured in the 2002 film Slackers.

Bernstein lived the first twenty-eight years of his life in the Northeast. He holds music degrees from UCLA, Yale and Harvard, where he also served as acting associate director of choral activities and assistant conductor of the world-famous Harvard Glee Club. He studied conducting with Jorge Mester and Jameson Marvin and composition with Peter Lieberson, James Yannatos, Jacob Druckman, Roger Bourland and David Lefkowitz. Bernstein lives in Altadena, California with his nine-year-old daughter Celia.

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