Before there were orchestras, choirs reigned supreme...

PASADENA, Calif. Before there were orchestras, there were choirs. And on Saturday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 3, at 4 p.m., music lovers will have the opportunity to travel back in time to "The Golden Age" of choral music when 22 members of Pasadena Master Chorale (PMC) perform a cappella selections from the Renaissance at Altadena Community Church in Altadena.

"The Golden Age is a celebration of the height of choral music," says Artistic Director Jeffrey Bernstein. "The Renaissance was an era hundreds of years before the rise of the modern orchestra, when human voices reigned supreme and the choir stood alone at the apex of western music. Programming this concert was really fun, because I basically assembled a list of my favorite Renaissance pieces."

On the program are what Bernstein describes as "exquisite selections from some of the most beautiful mass settings." These include the Pange Lingua Mass of Josquin and the Pope Marcellus Mass of Palestrina, as well as works by Byrd, Tallis, Weelkes and Monteverdi.

"Orchestras would come," Bernstein continues. "But at the dawn of the Renaissance, great composers wrote glorious masses that were meant to be sung in remarkably resonant sacred settings. And, when it comes to resonance and great acoustics, we´ve found the perfect venue, as our audiences know – Altadena Community Church."

For PMC Board President Carol Peterson, the concert will provide an invaluable, unique opportunity – to undergo a personal ´renaissance.´ "I´m truly looking forward to being a member of the audience," says Peterson, a soprano member of PMC. "I´ll leave my worries at home, close my eyes, open my imagination and lose myself in an incredible experience – hearing gorgeous live music exactly the way it was meant to be heard."

Tickets for "The Golden Age" are reasonably priced at $20 and may be purchased by visiting the Pasadena Master Chorale´s website, www.pasadenamasterchorale.org, through any Chorale member, or at the door. Complete details on concerts, ticket prices and venue locations can be found on the website as well. Recorded information is available by phone at 626.208.0009.

Altadena Community Church is located at 943 East Altadena Drive in Altadena.

ABOUT THE PASADENA MASTER CHORALE

The Pasadena Master Chorale is a recently incorporated independent arts organization based in Pasadena, California. The chorale is an auditioned community chorus of eighty voices dedicated to promoting and fostering excellence in and enjoyment of the choral art. The Pasadena Master Chorale performs a wide range of choral music, a cappella and with accompaniment, and spanning five centuries. The chorale traces its roots back to a group called the Pasadena Festival Chorus, founded in 1935 by then music director of the Pasadena Symphony, Dr. Richard Lert. In December 2008, under the direction of Artistic Director Jeffrey Bernstein the chorale made its debut performance in a Christmas concert given to benefit the Pasadena Symphony.

ABOUT PMC MUSIC DIRECTOR, JEFFREY BERNSTEIN

Known for his ability to inspire singers and audiences alike, Jeffrey Bernstein is one of Southern California's pre-eminent choral conductors, and his choirs are numbered among the finest ensembles in the region. Bernstein specializes in the refinement of the a cappella choral sound and in the performance of major choral-orchestral repertoire. During the fifteen-year span of his career Bernstein has conducted over 30 major works and led choirs on over a dozen tours of three continents.

Active as a guest conductor, Bernstein has led Bach´s St. John Passion with Sanford Sylvan in Boston, Haydn´s Creation with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Romania, Dvorak´s Czech Suite with the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, and over a dozen other orchestral performances at the Harvard Business School.

A committed educator as well, Bernstein works regularly with students in Pasadena schools, gives pre-concert talks for the Pasadena Symphony, and maintains a private conducting studio. Among his students is eleven-year-old piano prodigy Marc Yu. An experienced choral singer Bernstein has sung with the Harvard Glee Club, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Musica Angelica and the Los Angeles Master Chorale under such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, and Simon Rattle. Choirs under Bernstein´s direction have sung for Gustavo Dudamel, Jorge Mester, Zubin Mehta, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

In 2009 Bernstein founded the Pasadena Master Chorale and serves now as its artistic director. He is also artistic director of the Hollywood Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Daiku and was assistant conductor of the Pasadena Symphony from 2005 through 2010. From 1997 to 2008 Bernstein was director of choral music at Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he rejuvenated a century-old Glee Club tradition and taught classes in music theory, counterpoint, composing and arranging, 20th-century music, and the American musical theater. Bernstein began his career in the theater, working first as a lighting designer and subsequently serving as a musical director and conductor. He led over 25 professional productions and served as associate musical director for the national touring company of CATS.

The composer of over 50 concert works, Bernstein has enjoyed premieres of his music across this country and in Europe. His commissions include Circumnavigation of the World for Occidental College, Chomolungma for the Governor´s School of North Carolina, Phoenix for UCLA bassoonist Melson Varsovia, Pablo Neruda in Love for The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and over a dozen a cappella choral works and arrangements. In 2007 the Occidental Chorale under Bernstein's direction gave a full-length program of his choral-orchestral music entitled Divinity. Bernstein has contributed choral arrangements and direction to numerous commercial projects, and his choral arrangements are featured in the 2002 film Slackers.

Bernstein lived the first twenty-eight years of his life in the Northeast. He holds music degrees from UCLA, Yale and Harvard, where he also served as acting associate director of choral activities and assistant conductor of the world-famous Harvard Glee Club. He studied conducting with Jorge Mester and Jameson Marvin and composition with Peter Lieberson, James Yannatos, Jacob Druckman, Roger Bourland and David Lefkowitz. Bernstein lives in Altadena, California with his nine-year-old daughter Celia.