30 years of conducting the chorus
Young Chang
When John Alexander was young and deciding what to do with his life,
he went back and forth between wanting to sing and wanting to play the
violin.
So he did what any sensible musician would do.
He chose to conduct.
Now he plays the ultimate instrument -- the 160-voice Pacific Chorale
-- and will celebrate 30 years of leading the group with a season finale
concert June 2 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
“I tell you, I’ve conducted choirs all over the world,” said the
57-year-old Alexander, the chorale’s artistic director. “But I have the
most wonderful group of singers that have come together and that have
believed in the mission of the group. I wouldn’t trade this choir for
anyone.”
The concert closes out the chorale’s 34th season, as well as
Alexander’s 30th anniversary season. The program will feature Alexander
conducting the Pacific Chorale, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Grammy
Award-winning mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung.
The Santa Ana-based chorale will sing Brahms’ “Gesang der Parzen” and
“Nanie,” and American composer Howard Hanson’s “A Sea Symphony,” which
was inspired by works of Walt Whitman. DeYoung will perform Brahms’ “Alto
Rhapsody” and Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer.”
“It’s just such an honor for me to be able to do this for him,” said
the acclaimed DeYoung, who worked with Alexander 10 years ago while she
was a student and he was a choir director at Cal State Northridge. “He’s
such a perfectionist, and I learned so much from him.”
In looking back 30 years, Alexander is proud of the major decisions
he’s made.
He was asked to be artistic director of the Pacific Chorale in 1972
while teaching at Cal State Fullerton. The group, called the Irvine
Master Chorale then, was led by Maurice Allard and was an adjunct to UC
Irvine during its first year, in 1968.
The chorale had tasted Alexander’s musical flair when he guest
conducted the group in the early ‘70s. Thirty years ago, the conductor
made the union final.
For 20-some years, Alexander commuted from Los Angeles County (where
he lived because of his job at Cal State Northridge) to Orange County.
Seven years ago, he became professor of music and director of choral
studies at Cal State Fullerton and finally moved to Laguna Beach.
Aside from his own shortened commute, Alexander’s choices have led to
nothing but good for the chorale.
“It’s grown in stature, it’s grown in numbers, obviously we’ve grown
in terms of our fiscal ability to produce concerts,” said assistant
conductor Dennis Houser, who’s been with the chorale since 1968. “More
importantly, the chorale has grown in its musicality.”
Houser credits Alexander for the growth.
The chorale includes the 160-member symphonic chorus, a smaller,
professional choir called the John Alexander Singers, three children’s
choruses, two training choirs and more than a dozen free or low-cost
music education programs for children.
The chorale, the seventh largest in the country budget-wise, has
performed with symphonies around the world and has garnered such awards
as the Margaret Hills Achievement Award from Chorus America, a national
service group for which Alexander is president.
The conductor’s goal for the group is to maintain enough money to keep
thriving and to widen its audience base.
“To let more of Orange County experience what I consider to be one of
the most beautiful chorale sounds in the world,” Alexander said. “To
bring more diversity to the Orange County public, to not just do standard
repertoires but to bring new works.”
FYI
WHAT: Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Michelle DeYoung
perform
WHEN: 7 p.m. June 2
WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,
Costa Mesa
COST: $16-$50
CALL: (714) 662-2345
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