WETA’s Bill Bukowski hosts Choral Showcase every Sunday at 9pm on 90.9FM. The beloved program features a wide variety of classical choral music from Washington and beyond — from perennial favorites to new discoveries, from Gregorian Chant to the present. On February 25, the program will broadcast Washington Master Chorale’s Poetry Into Song program from 2023 featuring Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem along with the premiere performance of The Unknown Sea, a newly-commissioned work for the Chorale by David Conte.
The Washington Post’s Classical Music Critic, Michael Andor Brodeur, attended Washington Master Chorale’s holiday concert, Sweet Was the Song on December 10 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church and gave it a phenomenal review. Read the full review here (paywall) and some of the pull quotes of note below:
“... Christmas program that doubled as an enlightening musical journey through centuries of carols and chorales.”
“...included a level of confidence you don’t often see in semiprofessional chorales…”
“...The Washington Master Chorale is an exceptionally focused group…”
“artistic director Thomas Colohan and his 54-voice chorus seemed intent on showing their range and playing to their strengths.” Read Full Review
APRIL 2020 - COVID-19 UPDATE
Due to the widespread outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the Board of Directors of the Washington Master Chorale postponed all in-person performances and associated events for the remainder of the 2019/2020 season. Postponements included our April 19, 2020, 10th Anniversary program - Poetry Into Song. The pandemic required that we place audience, staff, and volunteer health and safety above all other considerations. WMC remains in operation and will continue as our diligent staff works remotely during this challenging time.
All tickets purchased for our April 19, 2020, 10th Anniversary concert - Poetry Into Song - will be honored for a rescheduled performance. If you wish to explore other alternatives for your purchased tickets, such as refunds or conversion to a tax-deductible donation, please contact us at [email protected].
The Washington Master Chorale today announced that it is a grantee recipient of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Innovation and Management (AIM) program. The invitation-only program seeks to strengthen the organizational capacity and programming of small and mid-size cultural organizations within Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Through the $43 million multi-year initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide unrestricted general operating support as well as arts management training in areas that include fundraising, strategic planning, marketing and board development.
SEPTEMBER 2017 The American Organist reviews new "All Night Vigil" recording featuring members of the Washington Master Chorale
Gloriae Dei Cantores releases All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Peter Jermihov (internationally recognized specialist in Russian and Orthodox liturgical music) and produced by Richard K. Pugsley , director of Gloriae Dei Cantores. Expressing their ongoing vision of unity through music, Gloriae Dei Cantores is joined by members of the St. Romanos Cappella , The Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and The Washington Master Chorale. Soloists Dmitry Ivanchenko and Mariya Berezovska, of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev join the seventy-seven singers for this landmark collaboration. Vadim Gan, protodeacon under the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church sings the clergy exclamations with Dmitry Ivanchenko. All-Night Vigil was recorded by legendary sound engineer, Keith O. Johnson from Reference Recordings.
The Washington Master Chorale presented four works by living composers on Sunday afternoon at National Presbyterian Church in a lithe and nimble performance that underscored how the marriage of voices and instruments can create otherworldly sounds. With artistic director Thomas Colohan conducting, the chorale’s 54 members sang with zest in the premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Ruminations. Commissioned by the chorale, the 17-minute setting of poems by the Persian poet Rumi offers some of the composer’s signature gems: colorful melodies floating over rhythmic material, chameleon-like harmonics, shimmers of sound — all grounded in a logical structure that allows for interpretive elasticity.
MARCH 2017 New from Jennifer Higdon (Interview on Classical WETA)
Washington Master Chorale’s next concert–on March 5 at National Presbyterian Church, called Time & Memory – includes the world premiere of a new piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon. Classical WETA morning host David Ginder chats with Jennifer about the particulars of the commission, choosing the text, and bringing a new piece to life.
MARCH 2017 Washington Master Chorale - Time & Memory (Interview on Classical WETA)
Washington Master Chorale’s March 5th concert (at National Presbyterian Church) is called Time & Memory. It includes the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon, plus John Corigliano’s Fern Hill and other pieces on nostalgia, love, and immortality. Classical WETA morning host David Ginder chats with Master Chorale Artistic Director Thomas Colohan about the Chorale’s goal to add new works to the repertoire, the thrill of commissioning and premiering a new piece, and the inclusive and welcoming themes of the March 5th concert.
