A Message from Grant Gershon
A MESSAGE FROM GRANT GERSHON
Dear Los Angeles Master Chorale community,
Thank you for your continued support of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. I hope you are staying safe and well.
I am honored to kick off the most critical annual fund campaign in our 56-year history. The Emergency Fund for Artistic Innovation is a $400,000 effort to provide essential support for Master Chorale musicians and programs that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The goals of the Emergency Fund are simple:
- to keep our artists working
- to engage and grow our audience in innovative ways
- to support equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do
Despite the closure of our home at Walt Disney Concert Hall and $3.4 million in revenue losses this season, the Master Chorale remains a unified force of 100 world-class singers supported by a stellar 58-member orchestra. Like many of you, we are restless and yearning to connect. We are inspired to innovate. And we’re resolved to share the healing power of choral music through our distinctive talent, technique, and versatility.
The magic of the Master Chorale starts with people. Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong and Swan Family Artist-in-Residence Reena Esmail are bringing deep insights and fresh perspectives to the music we love, creating dynamic new online programs like last week’s Abide With Me to surprise and uplift you.
Across the ensemble, we are dedicated to performing the works you know and love, and to amplifying and celebrating voices that have been excluded from classical music for too long. Even in the most challenging of circumstances, you can count on us to continue to demonstrate unparalleled skill and uphold our longstanding commitment to excellence.
Your support is crucial to this effort. We hope you will consider renewing or upgrading your Friends of the Master Chorale membership or joining us as a new donor.
Your gift to the Emergency Fund for Artistic Innovation is vital to supporting our capacity to keep our singers singing, promote diversity, and continue to creatively engage with devoted members of our community like you and an even wider audience than ever before.
Thanks to a generous commitment of $200,000 from our board of directors, your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar. To express our deepest gratitude for your donation during this uncertain time, we’ve created some wonderful new member benefits designed to connect you to our extraordinary artists and better demonstrate the impact of your support.
Choral music is about more than creating beautiful sounds. It's about sharing ourselves, telling our stories, and gaining a greater understanding of what it is to be human. We extend our well wishes to all of you persevering through difficult times. We invite you to join us and donate now so we can lift our voices together.
Sincerely,
Grant Gershon
Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director
