Grant Gershon

Grant Gershon (born November 10, 1960, Norwalk, California) [cite web |url=http://lamc.org/about/gershon.cfm |title=About the Chorale: Music Director Grant Gershon |accessdate=2008-01-03 |work=Los Angeles Master Chorale website ] is an American conductor and pianist. He is Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Associate Conductor/Chorus Master of the Los Angeles Opera. He is member of the Board of Advisors for the USC Thornton School of Music.

Biography

Personal history

Gershon grew up in Alhambra, California. His mother was a piano teacher, and he began music lessons at 5 years old. After 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. [cite news |first=John |last=Henken |title=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. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=September 30, 2001] He eventually graduated "cum laude" with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1985.

Gershon is married to soprano Elissa Johnston.

Professional career

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.

He has also served as Assistant Conductor at the Salzburg Festival, the Berlin Staatsoper 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 July 1999, Gershon prepared the Los Angeles Master Chorale for a performance of Prokofiev's "Ivan the Terrible" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In May 2000, was named Music Director of the 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 is credited with expanding the Master Chorale's repertoire, and has led the chorus in a number of world premieres, including:
* "You Are" (Variations) by Steve Reich
* "Requiem" by Christopher Rouse
* "The City of Dis" by Louis Andriessen
* "A Map of Los Angeles" by David O
* "SANG" by Eve Beglarian
* "Messages and Brief Eternity" by Bobby McFerrin and Roger Treece
* "Broken Charms" by Donald Crockett
* "Rezos" (Prayers) by Tania León
* "Mother’s Lament" by Sharon FarberHe also 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, 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/theatre piece, "I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky", directed by Peter Sellars. 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.

From 2003 until 2007 Gershon served as Music Director of the Idyllwild Arts Festival Chorus.

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." [cite web |url=http://www.losangelesopera.com/press/pdf/LAO-LAMC_Grant_Gershon.pdf |title=Press Release (May 21, 2007): Grant Gershon Joins LA Opera & Extends at LA Master Chorale |accessdate=2008-01-03 |work=Los Angeles Opera website ] In 2008, Gershon worked as associate conductor/chorus master in the premiere of Howard Shore's opera "The Fly" at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. In 2009 Gershon will conduct all 8 performances of "La traviata" with LA Opera and will lead the West Coast premiere of Roberto Sierra's "Missa Latina" with the LA Master Chorale at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Gershon has appeared as guest conductor with the Houston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Juilliard Opera Theatre, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Finnish chamber orchestra Avanti!, among others. He has also led performances at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including the Ravinia, Edinburgh, Vienna, Aspen and Helsinki festivals as well as the Roma-Europa Festival and the Festival Otonno in Madrid.

Recordings

Gershon has made three recordings with the Los Angeles Master Chorale:
* "Itaipú" by Philip Glass and "Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jäderlund" by Esa-Pekka Salonen (RCM 12004)
* "You Are" (Variations) by Steve Reich (Nonesuch)
* "Daniel Variations" by Steve Reich (Nonesuch)

He has also served as chorus master on two Grammy Award-nominated CDs, "" (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti’s "Le Grand Macabre" (Sony Classical).

Awards and recognition

* Gershon was honored with the WQXR Gramophone America Award for 2006 for his recording of Reich's "You Are" (Variations). In addition, "The New York Times", [cite news |coauthors=Anne Midgette |title=Surprises, Delicacies and Completions in a Year of Exciting Classical CD's |work=The New York Times |date=December 16, 2005] "Washington Post" [cite news |title=Music |work=The Washington Post |date=December 30, 2005] and "Newsday", [cite news |first=Justin |last=Davidson |title=THE BEST OF 2005 CLASSICAL MUSIC |work=Newsday (New York) |date=December 24, 2005] among others, selected it as one of the top ten classical recordings of 2005.
* He was named USC Thornton School of Music Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in May 2002

References

External links

* [http://lamc.org/about/gershon.cfm Bio (short version) — Los Angeles Master Chorale website]
* [http://lamc.org/pressdownloads/chorale-0708gershon.doc Bio (long version) — Los Angeles Master Chorale website]
* [http://www.usc.edu/schools/music/about/board/gershon.html Bio on USC Thornton School of Music Board of Advisors website]
* [http://www.laphil.com/music/artist_detail.cfm?id=450 Bio on Los Angeles Philharmonic website]