Pasadena Showcase House helps Pasadena Master Chorale

According to Jeffrey Bernstein, Artistic Director of the Pasadena Master Chorale (PMC), the chorale has been “awed and overwhelmed” by the support it has received from the community as it embarked upon its first full season this year. Concerts have sold out, an educational outreach program where members of PMC mentor young singers at all three high schools and Washington Middle School in the Pasadena Unified School District is in full swing…and, now, the Chorale has received its first grant – a gift of $2000 from the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA).

“Receiving such a testimonial of support from the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts is a tremendous honor and vote of encouragement,” says Bernstein. “We are thrilled to have the PSHA joining our ‘family’ at the Pasadena Master Chorale and look forward to welcoming PSHA to our performances for seasons to come. And with auditions coming up this August, perhaps some members will even wind up singing with us!”

According to Phyllis Wilburn, chairman of PSHA’s Gifts and Grants committee, the organization is equally excited to make the acquaintance of the Pasadena Master Chorale. “Our members are a diverse group of women from throughout Southern California, but we share a core belief in the power and beauty of music to change lives. The Pasadena Master Chorale shares this commitment wholeheartedly. We can’t wait to see what next season brings with the Chorale!”

Plans are afoot, Bernstein promises. But in the meantime the ensemble is busy preparing for its 2010 season finale performances of Brahms’ Requiem on Saturday June 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 13 at 4 p.m. at Altadena Community Church in Altadena.

“The generous gift from the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts is in support of the Brahms Requiem,” says Bernstein. “The Requiem is a mass for the dead, yes, but it’s also a work of enormous beauty and hope. And isn’t this exactly what the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts has strived to promote for over 60 years – the beauty of music and the hope great music brings to all of us?”

To learn more about the Pasadena Master Chorale and its upcoming performances and auditions, visit www.pasadenamasterchorale.org. For more information about the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, which will remain open to the public through Sunday May 16, visit www.pasadenashowcase.org.