Roger Wagner Conductor

Dorothy Wade Concertmistress

Nancy Mehta Narrator

Kari Windingstad Soprano

Joanette Beiter Soprano

Bonnie Hurwood Mezzo-soprano

Byron Wright Tenor

David Pittman jennings Baritone

Margaret Zeleny Soprano

Dorothy Remsen Harpist

Thomas Harmon Organist

Robert Hunter ~ Pianist

California Boys' Choir - Douglas Neslund, Music Director - Robert Rogers, Stage Director

Women's Handbell Choir of the Neighborhood Church

~ of Palos Verdes Don Whi tsitt, Director

SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18,1976, AT 8:30P.M. SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19,1976, AT 7:30P.M.

DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION

lOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE AND SINFONIA ORCHESTRA

ROGER WAGNER, Music Director

Puer Natus Est Gregorian Chant

Puer Natus Est Roger Wagner

Hodie Christus Natus Est Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

Magnificat

Magnificat anima mea (My soul doth magnify the Lord)

Chorus

Et exultavit

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

(And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior) Joanette Beiter

Quia respexit (For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden)

Kari Windingstad

Omnes generationes (All generations)

Chorus

Quia fecit mihi magna (For He that is mighty hath done to me great things)

David Jennings

Et misericordia (And His mercy is on them that fear Him)

Bonnie Hurwood, Byron Wright

Fecit potentiam (He hath showed His strength with His arm)

Chorus

Deposuit (He hath put down the mighty from their seats)

Byron Wright

Esurientes (He hath filled the hungry with good things)

Bonnie Hurwood

Suscepit Israel (He hath helped His servant Israel)

Chorus

Sicut locutus est (As He spake to our fathers)

Chorus

Gloria (Glory be to the Father)

Chorus

The Flight into Egypt from L'Enfance du Christ

Orchestra

Hector Berlioz (1803-1863)

Farewell to The Shepherds from Hector Berlioz (1803-1863) L'Enfance du Christ

Chorus and OrcHestra

Christmas Day Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Choral fantasy on old carols

Soloists: Patricia Redford, Soprano Bonnie Hurwood, Mezzo-soprano David Jennings, Baritone

INTERMISSION

A Ceremony of Carols (for treble choir and Harp) Benjamin Britten (b. 1913)

Procession Wolcum Vole! There is no rose The younge child Balulalow As dew in Aprille This little Babe Interlude In Freezing winter night Spring Carol Deo Gracias Recession

Soloists: Edward Johnson, Soprano Brian Chacon, Mezzo-soprano

Boys' Choir

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day

English Carol Arranged by John Klein

Arranged by Margaret Davis

Masters of This House French Carol Arranged by Margaret Davis

Women's Handbell Choir

Christmas Candle Elinor Remick Warren Women's Handbell Choir and Chorale

The Christmas Story (Saint Luke's)

We Three Kings What Child is This

Narrator: Nancy Mehta

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem Gesu Bambino

Angels We Have Heard on High The Virgin's Slumber Song joy to The World

Silent Night

Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah

Original Score & Arr. by Roger Wagner

John Henry Hopkins Traditional English Tune

"Greensleeves"

lewis Redner Pietro Yon

French Carol Max Reger

lowell Mason

Franz Gruber

G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

Allen Digital Computer Organ from Gould Music Co., Pasadena

The musical presentations of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Slnfonla Orchestra are sponsored by the Los Angeles Master Chorale Association. a Resident Group of the Music Center, and by grants from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and County Music Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal Agency In Washington, D.C.

Latecomers will not be seated unll/ the first convenient pause In the performance. I Invited guests are welcome backstage after the performance; use performers' entrances: Grand Ave. side of Plaza for Pavilion, corner of Temple & Grand for Ahmanson, and rear of theatre for forum. I Use of tape re­corders and I or cameras prohibited In auditorium. I Your use of a ticket consl/lutes acknowledgement of willingness to appear In photographs taken In public areas of The Music Center and releases The Music Center Operating Co., Its lessees and a/J others from /lability resulting from use of such photo­graphs. 1 Program and artists subJect to change. I Patrons cannot be paged during a performance. Individuals expecting emergency calls must leave their seat numbers with the House Manager.

Nancy (Kovack) Mehta made her pro­fessional debut on the Today Show for NBC before moving to Hollywood where she starred in both motion pic­tures and television. In 1968 she re­turned to California after spending more than two years in Iran where she starred in three films. In 1969, she and Zubin Mehta, conductor of the los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, were married, and they currently re­side in Brentwood.

Mezzo-soprano Bonnie Hurwood, a fourth-generation Californian, won the San Francisco Youth Symphony audi­tions in 1959 and that same year en­rolled as a scholarship student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she sang Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and the wife in Mil­haud's La Pauvre Matelot. After two years of study with Dr. David Scott at California State University Northridge, she entered and won the Metropolitan Opera Western Regional Auditions and in New York was a winner in the National semi-finals. While at Cal State Northridge, Miss Hurwood sang in many opera productions, including the title role in Bizet's Carmen. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic Miss Hur­wood has performed both at Holly­wood Bowl and in the Music Center and she has completed two national tours as alto soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale.

David Pittman Jennings, baritone, has appeared professionally with the San Antonio Grand Opera Association, the Los Angeles Guild Opera, the Euterpe

Opera Club of Los Angeles, the Tulsa Civic Opera, the UCLA Opera Theater, and many others, most recently hav­in~ signed a two-year contract to sing w1th the Graz {Austria) Opera Com­pany, after winning first prize in the Loren Zachary Society Auditions.

His credits include many Oratorio roles: St. John Passion, Messiah, The Creation, St. Matthew Passion, and Elijah. Mr. Jennings's opera credits are most impressive, ranging in scope from Britten to Zador. He has also per­formed many major works of Bach Brahms, Haydn, and Stravinsky. '

The California Boys' Choir, founded and directed by Douglas Neslund witlt Robert Rogers, stage director, is com­posed of twenly-five youths ranging in age from 11 to 15 years. Recruited from auditions held twice each year for boys from this area, the group spends several weeks during summer in concentrated study as well as at­tending weekly rehearsals during the academic year. They are taught enough French, German, Italian, and Latin to sing in these languages. Most of the choir members play musical instru­ments, and most remain with the choir through the years of voice change, from fourteen to sixteen.

The California Boys' Choir was founded in 1968 and performed its first concert in October of that year. A non-profit organization, the Califor­nia Boys' Choir makes its home at the California Museum of Science and In­dustry, of which it is an Affiliated Group.

Women's Handbell Choir of the Neighborhood Church of

Palos Verdes

Formed in 1966, the Neighborhood Church Women's Handbell Choir is the senior of four handbell choirs at the church in Palos Verdes Estates. Most of the present members have played together for five years or more.

They use a four-octave set of hand­bells made by Schulmerich Carillons, Inc., Pennsylvania, and valued at $3,000. Handbell ringers always wear gloves because the natural acid on the hands would eventually damage the finish and tone of the bells.

Roger Wagner, during his long and illustrious career, has received a ple­thora of signal honors from his city, county, the nation, and throughout the world. In 1953 Wagner and his Chorale were invited to participate at the coronation festivities of Elizabeth II in London. In 1959 and again in 1964 he and the Chorale were select-ed to represent the United States in concerts throughout Latin America. In 1966 the United States State Depart­ment, through its Cultural Exchange Program, again sent the Chorale on tour to the Middle East, Turkey, Yugos­lavia, France, and Italy. In Rome he and the Chorale had the honor of singing for Pope Paul VI at an audience in St. Peter's Basilica- the first non­Italian choir to do so in twenty-five years. In January, 1973, Roger Wagner shared the podium with Eugene Or­mandy to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Inaugural Concert at Kennedy Center. In May, 1973, Dr. Wagner served as guest conductor of major symphonies during a month­long tour of the major capitals of ( South America, and in July he con­ducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and his Chorale in Bach's 8 Minor Mass at the Hollywood Bowl. In May, 1974, he conducted a triumphal tour of the Soviet Union with the Master Chorale, where "he made a notable impact on the Soviet musical world." In July, 1976, Dr. Wagner conducted the New Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorale of Radio France in con­certs in Paris, during the Festival Esti­val de Paris. The prestigious Paris pub­lication "Le Monde" wrote "under his dynamic direction, Roger Wagner emerged extremely precise, devoid of all stiffness and complaisance." Roger Wagner and his Chorale were invited to participate in the Israeli Festival in August, 1976. The Chorale was criti­cally acclaimed for its performances in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Haifa. In commemoration of the Cho­rale's outstanding participation in the Israeli Festival, Wagner was awarded the Knesset silver medal of the State of Israel. Dr. Wagner holds a full pro­fessorship in the Music Department at UCLA. He has made numerous record­ings and received the Grammy Award for his Album Virtuoso.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale and Sinfonia Orchestra is now in its thir­teenth season of presenting great cho­ral masterworks in the Music Center and the Hollywood Bowl. The organi­zation, which was formed by Roger Wagner and the Los Angeles Jun ior Chamber of Commerce, became a res­ident company of the Music Center in 1964. Dr. Wagner has been music di­rector for the Chorale and Orchestra since its formation. Each year a series of important choral programs is pre­sented in the Dorothy Chandler Pavil­ion, marking Los Angeles as the only city in the country which supports its own professional resident chorus pre­senting an annual choral season. One hundred twenty-five of the South­land's finest singers have been admit­ted to the select membership in the ensemble. The Sinfonia Orchestra membership is drawn from profession­al ranks in the Los Angeles area and is one of the finest in the United States.

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion House Staff

GERALD SCHAUB Master Carpenter

ALUN JONES Master Electrician

CARMINE D. MARINELLI Master of Properties

CHUCK LEWIS Master Audio

The LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE proudly presents its

ANNUAL CHOIR NIGHT CONCERT

Saturday, January 29, 1977

8:30P.M. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

in an unusual a cappella program of both modern and Renaissance works directed by DR. ROGER WAGNER

Selections include: Vaughan Williams Ginastera Lazarof Schoenberg

Mass in G Minor Lamentations Canti Friede auf Erden

and selected antiphonal Renaissance masterpieces

Soloists include: Mary Rawcliffe Jeannine Wagner Byron Wright David Pittman Jennings

soprano alto tenor baritone

The Orchestra section reserved for Choir Groups (20 or more) at a reduced rate. Call Mrs. Hay (972-7282) for particulars.

LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE ASSOCIATION

Board of Directors -1976/1977

Officers Mr. Louis D. Statham

Honorary Co-Chairman of the Board

Mr. Z. Wayne Griffin Honorary Co-Chairman of the Board

Mr. CurtisS. Tamkin, President Mrs. George B. Allison, Vice President

Mrs. John A. Richards, Vice President

Mr. Marshall A. Rutter, Vice President

Mr. James Wharton, Vice President

Mr. D. H. von Wittenburg, Secretary Mr. Lorenzo D. Courtright, Treasurer

Directors Mr. Robert McKim Bell Mrs. Geraldine Smith Healy Mr. Warner W. Henry Dr. Louis W. Kang Mr. Thomas F. Kranz Mrs. Giles W. Mead Mr. Clifford A. Miller Mrs. Reese Milner Mr. Donald J. Nores Mrs. John K. Pike Mr. Harrison A. Price Mrs. Stephen Reinhardt Mrs. Charles Schneider Miss Lucy Zahran

Honorary Directors Mr. Thomas P. Cassidy Mrs. Dorothy Kirsten French Mrs. Herbert A. Hilmer Mrs. Bob Hope Mr. Charles Luckman Mr. Meredith Willson

Ex Officio Members of the Board Dr. Roger Wagner,

Music Director Mrs. Paul Salamunovich, President,

Master Chorale Associates Mr. Doyle Phillips, General Manager

STAFF

DOYLE PHILLIPS General Manager

t015-SPAIN" Secretary

DOROTHY BLAIR Public Relations ROSEMARY HAY

Group Sales Director RAE MACDONALD Production Assistant

MIKE RUBIN Orchestra Personnel Manager