MARCH 2021

Spring is about hope and optimism, a time for making plans and looking to the future. Here at the Los Angeles Master Chorale, we are grateful for dedicated supporters like you, who have helped us to weather the storm of the pandemic. In the coming months, we will begin to turn our attention to determing what a season of concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall might look like. Just as important, we’re beginning to examine how the work we did during the pandemic might make us, in the long run, stronger and more dynamic.  

During the pandemic, we’ve relied on a variety of online presentations to keep our singers singing and our audiences engaged. I’m happy to say that we’ll be continuing this work thanks to a generous grant of $50,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. In its announcement last month, the NEA cited the “creativity, excellence, and resilience” that the Los Angeles Master Chorale has shown over the last year, and thanks to the NEA, we will be able to continue to innovate next year. No matter where our audiences are, online or in the concert hall, we want to reach and delight them.  

On that note, our team is hard at work preparing for GALA 2021, our biggest online event this year. Our singers are busy recording new music and our staff is working collaboratively with local film companies to create Shine Bright, a new triptych of music videos that we’ll release at GALA 2021 on May 16. We hope you'll be able to join us.

The last live performance that the Los Angeles Master Chorale presented was a performance in February 2020 by choral students at Van Nuys High School as part of our Oratorio Project education program. Although they can’t perform live as they did last year, these students are back again with us virtually this spring, as are more than 100 students in our High School Choir Festival program. We’ll also be inaugurating an online-first program, Music Maker at Home, a series of videos featuring Los Angeles Master Chorale singers performing and teaching various music skills for younger learners. The continuation of our education programs online, and the creation of Music Maker at Home, demonstrates the resilience and ingenuity of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and its dedication to fostering the creativity of young musical minds.  

Finally, I’d like to remind you to follow the health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and, if you are eligible, get vaccinated. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has a wealth of information on its website about how and where to sign up.  

We’re looking forward to seeing you in person again, but until then we’re glad that we can continue to share great music with you online and celebrate the work of our education program participants. Thank you for your support.    

—Jean Davidson, President & CEO 

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