Hall Ends Quest for L.A. Chorale Post : Music: The director of the Orange County counterpart said he was asked to cut his ties with the local organization and that prompted his decision.

In a surprise announcement, William Hall, music director of the Master Chorale of Orange County, said Tuesday that he has withdrawn his candidacy for the music director position with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

“They asked me to divest my ties with Orange County,” Hall said. “I simply can not do that.”

Officials of the Master Chorale could not be reached for comment.

Hall, who also has been a professor of music for 27 years at Chapman College in Orange, was one of four men under review to take over for John Currie, who abruptly announced in October, 1989, that he would not seek renewal of his contract, which expires in August of this year.

The others are Paul Salamunovich, a professor at Loyola Marymount University; Thomas Somerville, a professor at Occidental College and artistic director of the Los Angeles Bach Festival, and Simon Halsey, chorus master for the City of Birmingham Symphony. All were in Los Angeles this month for audition sessions with the chorale.

Currie had announced his decision not seek renewal of his contract after the Immigration and Naturalization Service had begun a labor-certification process of his position. A native of Scotland, Currie became director of the Master Chorale in 1985, after the board forced founding music director Roger Wagner to retire.

Hall said that he came to his decision “after a great deal of prayer and thought.

“I’m just committed to the people of Orange County for all they’ve done at this point, and it portends for a very exciting future.”

Hall was appointed music director of the Master Chorale of Orange County in 1988 and folded his 33-year-old Pasadena-based William Hall Chorale into the Orange County organization in 1989.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale operates with a $970,000 budget and a core of 75 paid singers. This season it has offered six subscription programs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center in Los Angeles--the next is Saturday, featuring works by Haydn and Britten--plus a pair of “Messiah” sing-alongs, in addition to appearing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music Center Opera.