Visions & Prophecies
Elissa Johnston, Soprano
Grant Gershon, Piano
With Timothy Loo and Michael Kaufman, Cellists
The L.A. Master Chorale’s illustrious conductor, Grant Gershon, teams up with radiant soprano Elissa Johnston for a rare husband and wife recital featuring the contemporary vocal repertoire of some of L.A.’s finest composers.
The Program
Henri Duparc: L’invitation au voyage
Robert Schumann: Der Nussbaum
Robert Schumann: Mondnacht
Olivier Messiaen: Première communion de la Vierge from Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus
Warren Benson: Five Songs from Moon Rain and Memory Jane
Why We Die
Child’s Game
To My Father
Dust
Endless Life
INTERMISSION
John Adams: “This is prophetic” from Nixon in China
Vicki Ray: Luftpause
Chinary Ung: After Rising Light
Benjamin Britten: O Waly Waly
Olivier Messiaen: Two songs from HARAWI
L’escalier redit, gestes du soleil
Amour oiseau d’etoiles
The Artists
Grant Gershon
Hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership, Grant Gershon is currently in his 19th season as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and his 12th season as Resident Conductor at LA Opera. Last season Grant led the European premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at the Dutch National Opera as well as performances of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha at LA Opera. Gershon recently conducted performances of Bernstein’s Wonderful Town, Tosca and Les Contes d’Hoffmann at LA Opera, John Adams’ El Niño with the LA Philharmonic and performances with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera and National Symphony Orchestra. His DVD recording of Gianni Schicchi, directed by Woody Allen and featuring Plácido Domingo in the title role was recently released on the Sony Classical label.
Grant recently invited famed director Peter Sellars to create a staged version of Orlando di Lasso’s Renaissance masterpiece Lagrime di San Pietro, which the LA Times declared “a major accomplishment for music history”. This groundbreaking production has been presented by the Barbican in London, the Philharmonie in Paris, Palacio Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the 2019 Salzburg Festival, an extraordinary honor for an American choral ensemble. With the Master Chorale Grant has also made numerous recordings for Nonesuch, Decca and Cantaloupe Records, and the ensemble has won many prestigious awards, including Chorus America’s highest honor and induction into the Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Gershon has led performances at the Edinburgh, Helsinki, Vienna, Ravinia, Aspen and Ojai Festivals. Other organizations that he has appeared with recently include the Baltimore Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Carnegie Hall’s Making Music Series, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series and the Teatro Regio in Turin. In 2003 Gershon was named Outstanding Alumnus of the USC Thornton School of Music, and in 2017 he was honored as a recipient of USC’s 2017 Alumni Merit Award.
A pianist and singer by training, Gershon was mentored as a conductor by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who invited him to become Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1994-1997. Gershon subsequently participated in Jorma Panula’s legendary conducting master class at Carnegie Hall. He has had the privilege of working closely with many leading conductors of our time, including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel and Sir Simon Rattle.
Elissa Johnston
Recently cited by the New York Times for her “especially lovely” singing, Elissa Johnston enjoys performing repertoire ranging from Bach, Handel and Mozart to Messiaen, Carter, Unsuk Chin and Lachenmann. Elissa made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2018 with Pacific Symphony under Carl St. Clair, singing the soprano role of Sarada Devi in Philip Glass’ The Passion of Ramakrishna, as part of Carnegie’s yearlong celebration of Philip Glass’ 80th birthday. This season Elissa returned to Pacific Symphony as soprano soloist in the premiere of Michael Daugherty’s To the New World, and also appeared with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in the west coast premiere of Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Other performances in the 19/20 season include Haydn’s Creation with Pacific Chorale, Clara Schumann songs with Le Salon de musiques, and, as a member of the ensemble, performances of the Peter Sellars production of Lagrime di San Pietro with Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Elissa has appeared as guest soloist with the Pacific Chorale under conductor John Alexander in Brahms’ Requiem and Poulenc’s Gloria, with the Long Beach Symphony under conductor Gemma New in both Mahler’s 4th Symphony and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915, and with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Recent chamber music appearances include Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 with Quator Diotima at Jacaranda Music, Dvorak’s Ciganske melodie at Le Salon de musiques, and performances of SPIRAL XII and AURA, both by Chinary Ung in San Diego and Syracuse.
Highlights of the coming season include Scarlatti and Handel arias with David Washburn, trumpet, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on their Baroque Conversation series, Strauss Songs with Le Salon de Musique and Bruckner’s Great Mass with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
