Grant Gershon

Hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership, Grant Gershon is currently in his 18th season as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and is also the Resident Conductor at LA Opera. The Los Angeles Times has said the Master Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon,” a reflection on both his programming and performances.

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 in 1994. Gershon subsequently participated in Jorma Panula’s legendary conducting master class at Carnegie Hall. He has also 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.

As an ardent champion of new music, Gershon has led world premieres of several important stage works including I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky by John Adams, The Grapes of Wrath by Ricky Ian Gordon, and Il Postino by Daniel Catán. On the concert stage, he has premiered major works by Steve Reich, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Lang, Gabriela Lena Frank, Louis Andriessen, and Billy Childs among many others. During his tenure with the Los Angeles Master Chorale Gershon has led more than 200 performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, including virtually all the major works in the choral repertoire. Under Gershon’s leadership the Master Chorale has made numerous recordings for Nonesuch, Decca, and Cantaloupe Records. Earlier this season he 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.”

Gershon has led performances at the Edinburgh, Helsinki, Vienna, Ravinia, Aspen, and Ojai Festivals. Many of these appearances have been as music director for projects by Peter Sellars, with whom Gershon has enjoyed a long and fruitful artistic relationship. Other organizations that he has appeared with recently include The National Symphony, 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. Season highlights this year include performances of Bernstein’s Wonderful Town at LA Opera, John Adams’ El Niño with the LA Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis for the Los Angeles Master Chorale. 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. Next Season, Gershon will lead the world premiere performances of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West with the San Francisco Opera.