Grant Gershon

Last updated

Grant Gershon (born November 10, 1960) [1] is a Grammy Award winning American conductor and pianist. He is Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, formerly Resident Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera, member of the Board of Councillors for the USC Thornton School of Music and a former member of the Chorus America Board of Directors.

Contents

Biography

Personal history

Gershon was born in Norwalk, California, [1] and grew up in Alhambra, California. His mother was a piano teacher, and he began music lessons at 5 years old. After graduating from Alhambra High School, he entered Chapman College in Orange, California as a double major in piano and voice; he later transferred to the University of Southern California where he majored in piano. [2] He eventually graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1985.

Gershon is married to soprano Elissa Johnston.

Professional career

Gershon has appeared as guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Juilliard Opera Theatre, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Finnish Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has led performances at many of the world's most prestigious festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Ravinia, Edinburgh, Vienna, Aspen, Ojai and Helsinki festivals as well as the Roma-Europa Festival and the Festival Otonno in Madrid.

He served as Assistant Conductor / Principal Pianist with Los Angeles Opera from 1988 to 1994, where he participated in over 40 productions and garnered a reputation as one of the country's exceptional vocal coaches. He was named Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen in 1994, a position he held until 1997.

Early in his career he served as Assistant Conductor at the Salzburg Festival, the Berlin State Opera and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, working with conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Barenboim and Claudio Abbado. He has served as pianist for many artists on recording and in recital, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Schreier, Rod Gilfry and Audra McDonald.

In May 2000, Gershon was named Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale effective Fall 2001, taking over for Paul Salamunovich who was retiring. He is only the fourth conductor to hold that title. During this time, he has conducted over 250 performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and has led the chorus in a number of world premieres, including:

He led the U.S. premiere of Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jäderlund by Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Master Chorale, along with other U.S. premieres of works by composers James MacMillan, Tarik O'Regan, Sofia Gubaidulina and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Beyond his work with the Master Chorale, he has also championed new music. He conducted the world premiere of John Adams opera Girls of the Golden West and Adams' opera/theatre piece, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky , directed by Peter Sellars. He and pianist Gloria Cheng premiered Hallelujah Junction , a piano-duo piece written for them by John Adams. In February 2007, he conducted the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera, The Grapes of Wrath with Minnesota Opera, along with following performances with Utah Opera. In 2010, Gershon led the world premiere performances of Il Postino by Daniel Catán, featuring Plácido Domingo as the poet Pablo Neruda.

On May 21, 2007, the Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Master Chorale issued a joint press release. In it, they announced that Gershon would be extending his contract with the Master Chorale through the 2010/2011 season, and that he was being named Associate Conductor/Chorus Master of Los Angeles Opera. In the press release, Plácido Domingo called Gershon, "an exceptional musician whose broad musical interests, technical mastery and impressive experience will be a huge asset to LA Opera". [3] In this position at LA Opera Gershon has conducted over 50 performances including La traviata , Madama Butterfly , Carmen , Philip Glass's Satyagraha , Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato in Mark Morris's production, and the previously cited Il Postino.

On May 18, 2014, the Los Angeles Master Chorale issued a press release, [4] in which they announced that Gershon would be extending his contract with the Master Chorale through the 2019/2020 season. With this renewal, Gershon's title will change to Artistic Director, which reflects his desire to "redefine the choral experience". With this expanded role, Gershon will create an "immersive" concert experience by incorporating lighting, staging, video, movement, and attire into the production. The Chorale will seek to engage new audiences by presenting more concerts at venues outside of Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

Recordings

Gershon has made seven recordings with the Los Angeles Master Chorale:

Gershon has conducted two DVD releases with LA Opera featuring Plácido Domingo

He has also served as chorus master on the Grammy Award winning recording of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles with LA Opera.

Awards and recognition

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Symphony</span> American symphony orchestra in San Francisco, California, United States

The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus (1972) are part of the organization. Michael Tilson Thomas became the orchestra's music director in 1995, and concluded his tenure in 2020 when Esa-Pekka Salonen took over the position.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially known in shorthand as LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September. Gustavo Dudamel is the current music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen is conductor laureate, Zubin Mehta is conductor emeritus, and Susanna Mälkki is principal guest conductor. John Adams is the orchestra's current composer-in-residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esa-Pekka Salonen</span> Finnish orchestral conductor and composer

Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Grant Gershon has been its music director since 2001, replacing Paul Salamunovich.

The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and referred to as the Oscars for classical music. They are widely regarded as the most influential and prestigious classical music awards in the world. According to Matthew Owen, national sales manager for Harmonia Mundi USA, "ultimately it is the classical award, especially worldwide."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Opera</span> Opera company in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.

Hila Plitmann is an Israeli-American two-time Grammy Award-winning operatic soprano, songwriter, and actress specializing in the performance of new works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Childs</span> American jazz pianist, arranger and conductor (born 1957)

William Edward Childs is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jorma Hynninen</span> Finnish opera singer

Jorma Kalervo Hynninen is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration.

Ralph C. Sauer is an American trombonist, arranger and teacher. He was Principal Trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 32 years.

Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) is a children's choral youth organization based in Los Angeles. LACC has appeared in more than 300 performances with such organizations as the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondine (record label)</span> Finnish record label

Ondine is a Finnish classical record label founded in 1985 in Helsinki, Finland. Its catalogue with several award-winning releases includes over 600 titles with major Finnish and international artists.

Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. He is currently director of orchestral studies at Baylor University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Salamunovich</span> American conductor (1927-2014)

Paul Salamunovich KCSG was a Grammy-nominated, American conductor and educator.

Mark Grey is an American classical music composer, sound designer and sound engineer.

This is a complete list of recordings by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, shown alphabetically by conductor, and then by recording label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Temple</span> British conductor and musical director

David Anthony Temple is a British conductor and musical director of Crouch End Festival Chorus and Hertfordshire Chorus. He has conducted at the Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Royal Albert Hall, Sage Gateshead, The Roundhouse, Snape Maltings and St Albans Cathedral.

Michael Adelson is an American orchestral conductor. Adelson is a staff and cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic—where he also leads regular clinics and workshops for the orchestra's Department of Education—as well as conductor of the Auros Group for New Music in Boston.

Sàndro Gòrli – Italian composer, conductor, teacher. The author of "Requiem" for mixed choir a Cappella, written specially for the well-known choir La Chapelle Royale. This composition was included in the Treasury of choral authentic music. From 1990 to 1998 – the principal conductor of the ELISION Ensemble in Melbourne (Australia).

Karawane is a composition for chorus and orchestra by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic with support from the philanthropist Marie-Josée Kravis, the Bamberg Symphony, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed by the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie conducted by Lionel Bringuier in the Tonhalle, Zürich, on September 10, 2014. The piece is set to the eponymous poem by the German author and Dadaist Hugo Ball.

References

  1. 1 2 "About the Chorale: Music Director Grant Gershon". Los Angeles Master Chorale website. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  2. ↑ Henken, John (September 30, 2001). "Music; Now It's His Turn; Grant Gershon's diverse career as singer and conductor leads him to the helm of L.A.'s Master Chorale". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ↑ "Press Release (May 21, 2007): Grant Gershon Joins LA Opera & Extends at LA Master Chorale" (PDF). Los Angeles Opera website. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Los Angeles Master Chorale Announces Grant Gershon Will Continue Leadership Role With Chorus Through 2019–2020 Season and Will Receive Title Change to Artistic Director, Reflecting His Expanded Vision of the Choral Experience Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine , Published May 18, 2014
  5. ↑ Anne Midgette (December 16, 2005). "Surprises, Delicacies and Completions in a Year of Exciting Classical CD's". The New York Times .
  6. ↑ "Music". The Washington Post . December 30, 2005.
  7. ↑ Davidson, Justin (December 24, 2005). "The Best of 2005 Classical Music". Newsday .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.