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CARNEGIEHALL CELEBRATES THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
CARNEGIE HALL CHORAL WORKSHOP

Conductor Robert Spano and Choral Director Norman Mackenzie
Lead 20th Anniversary Workshop Exploring Berlioz’s Requiem, February 8–13

Workshop Culminates with Concert Bringing Together
Professional-Level Choral Singers and High School Choirs,
With Conductor Robert Spano and Orchestra of St. Luke’s on Sunday, February 13

Originally Led by Late Conductor Robert Shaw, First Carnegie Hall ChoralWorkshop
Launched Series of Professional Training Workshops for Musicians,
Presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute 

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall commemoratestwenty years of the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop with an intensivesix-day anniversary workshop from February 8–13, exploring Berlioz’s Requiem.The Workshop’s culminating performance on Sunday, February 13 at 3:00 p.m. inStern Auditorium/Perelman Stage will feature the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorusand the National High School Festival Chorus performing Berlioz’s masterwork,collaborating with tenor Thomas Cooley and the Orchestra of St.Luke’s under the direction of renowned conductor Robert Spano. Thechorus will be prepared by Norman Mackenzie.

Mr. Spano and Mr. Mackenzie continue the legacy of the great conductor RobertShaw, who inaugurated the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop during the Hall’s1990–1991 centennial season and led the first eight workshops until his deathin 1999. Each year, the nation’s top choral professionals are selected toparticipate in workshops devoted to the musical preparation, rehearsaltechniques, study, analysis, and performance of choral masterworks. Since Mr.Shaw’s death, the Choral Workshop has continued to be led by the world’sgreatest choral directors including Ton Koopman and Helmuth Rilling. Mr.Mackenzie, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s longtime chorus director who workedclosely with Mr. Shaw, was also involved, acting as choral clinician for thefirst three workshops after his passing.

The repertoire selected for this year’s workshop is a masterwork that Mr. Shawled at his 1993 workshop. “In every sense, the Berlioz Requiem is a MountEverest of artistic expression. Its musical, philosophical, and emotionalcomplexities are unique,” said Mr. Mackenzie. “Shaw often described great artas being ‘not the luxury of the few, but the necessity of the many.’ I hopethere will be similar opportunities for discussion in the upcoming Berliozworkshop.” Mr. Spano earned a Grammy Award for conducting the Atlanta SymphonyOrchestra and Chorus in a recording of this piece in 2005.

For the first time in the Workshop’s history, Carnegie Hall has invited twohigh school choirs that were selected as participants in the Weill MusicInstitute’s biennial National High School Choral Festival, to participate inthe Choral Workshop this year, giving them the unique opportunity to train withsome of today’s top choral professionals and conductors. The high school choirsperforming at this year’s anniversary workshop and concert are Capital Pride ofLeesville High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and The Concorde VocalEnsemble of the York County Senior Honors Choir of York County, Pennsylvania.

About the Artists
Music Director Robert Spano, currently in his tenth season as musicdirector of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO), is recognized internationallyas one of the most imaginative conductors today. Since 2001, he has invigoratedand expanded the orchestra’s repertoire while elevating the ensemble to newlevels of international prominence and acclaim. Mr. Spano has a discographywith the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra of nine recordings, six of which have beenhonored with Grammy Awards. He has led the ASO's performances at Carnegie Hall,Lincoln Center, as well as the Ravinia, Ojai, and Savannah Music festivals. Hehas led the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, San Francisco, Boston,Chicago, and symphony orchestras, The Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras aswell as Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, BBC Symphony, and Amsterdam’s RoyalConcertgebouw Orchestra. As an opera conductor, he has appeared at CoventGarden, Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, andthe 2005 and 2009 Seattle Opera Ring cycles. Mr. Spano was Musical America's2008 Conductor of the Year. In March 2010, Mr. Spano began a three-year tenureas Emory University’s Distinguished Artist in Residence, in which he spendsthree weeks each year leading intensive seminars, lecturing and presentingprograms on science, math, philosophy, literature and musicology throughout theUniversity’s campus. In its 165-year history, Emory University has honored onlyseven other individuals with such expansive residencies, including the DalaiLama, President Jimmy Carter and author Salman Rushdie. Recognized for hispassionate nurturing of new music from living composers, Mr. Spano is equallypassionate about helping to nurture the next generation of musicians. He wasthe head of the Conducting Fellowship Program at the Tanglewood Music Centerfrom 1998–2002, and is a Professor of Conducting at Oberlin Conservatory. InJanuary of 2007, Mr. Spano brought the Oberlin Student Orchestra to CarnegieHall with a critically-acclaimed performance of music by Jennifer Higdon,Mozart, and Bartók.

Norman Mackenzie's abilities as musical collaborator, conductor, andconcert organist have brought him international recognition. As Director ofChoruses for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and holder of itsendowed Frannie and Bill Graves Chair, he was selected to help carry forwardthe creative vision of legendary founding conductor Robert Shaw to a newgeneration of music lovers. At the ASO, he prepares the choruses for allconcerts and recordings, conducts holiday concerts annually, and works closelywith ASO Music Director Robert Spano and commissioned-composers in the creationand premiere of new works. Mr. Mackenzie’s leadership was rewarded with GrammyAwards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance for the ASO andChorus recording of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony in 2003; with aBest Choral Performance Grammy for Berlioz’s Requiem in 2005; and for BestOpera Recording of Golijov's Ainadamar in 2007. Mr. Mackenzie alsoserves as Director of Music and Fine Arts for Atlanta's Trinity PresbyterianChurch and pursues an active recital and guest conducting schedule. Mr.Mackenzie has been hailed by The New York Times as Robert Shaw's"designated successor." In his 14-year association with Mr. Shaw(1985–1999), he was keyboardist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, principalaccompanist for the ASO Choruses, and ultimately assistant choral conductor. Inaddition, he was musical assistant and accompanist for the Robert Shaw ChamberSingers, the Robert Shaw Institute Summer Choral Festivals in France and theUnited States, and for the famed Carnegie Hall Choral Workshops.

The American tenor Thomas Cooley is quickly establishing a reputation onboth sides of the Atlantic as a singer of great versatility, expressiveness,power, and virtuosity. He is equally at home on the concert stage and in theopera house, and his repertoire ranges across more than four centuries,encompassing the early masters such as Monteverdi, Handel, Bach, Mozart, andBeethoven as well as works by Romantic and twentieth-century and contemporarycomposers including Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Britten, Penderecki, andHenze.

Now entering its 36th year, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s is one ofAmerica’s foremost and most versatile chamber orchestra. Dedicated to engagingaudiences throughout New York City and beyond, St. Luke’s performsapproximately 75 orchestral, chamber, and educational concerts eachyear—including an annual chamber music and orchestra series at Carnegie Hall.The orchestra collaborates regularly with the world’s great artists, such asRenée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Anna Netrebko, Mark Morris Dance Group,Peter Gabriel, Sting, Elton John, and many more. Committed tocommunity-building, St. Luke’s produces free concerts in each of the fiveboroughs, and has engaged more than one million children in its arts educationprograms. OSL’s stellar 70 plus discography includes four releases on its ownlabel, St. Luke’s Collection, and four Grammy Award-winning recordings.


The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
The Weill Music Institute (WMI) creates broad-reaching music education andcommunity programs that play a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment tomaking great music accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Woven intothe fabric of the Carnegie Hall concert season, these programs occur atCarnegie Hall as well as in schools and throughout neighborhoods, providingmusical opportunities for everyone, from preschoolers to adults, new listenersto emerging professionals. With access to the world’s greatest artists andlatest technologies, the Weill Music Institute is uniquely positioned toinspire the next generation of music lovers, to nurture tomorrow’s musicaltalent, and to shape the evolution of musical learning itself. The Weill MusicInstitute’s school and community programs annually serve over 115,000 children,students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in the NewYork metropolitan area and across the US, as well as 65,000 people around theworld through its online and distance learning initiatives.

For the past twenty years, WMI’s intensive weeklong Professional Training Workshops,specially created for young artists ages 18–35, have provided uniqueopportunities to explore performance techniques and various aspects of musicallife with many of today’s leading artists. In addition to the Carnegie HallChoral Workshop, WMI presents three more professional opportunities during the2010–2011 season: one with soprano Dawn Upshaw and composer Donnacha Dennehy(April 11–17); one with violinist Christian Tetzlaff (May 1–5); and The SongContinues…, a series of workshops headed by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne anddedicated to the art of the vocal recital (January 18–23). In addition, masterclasses with jazz pianist/composer Brad Mehldau, holder of this season’sCarnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair, will be offered in partnership with (Le)Poisson Rouge (March 5–6).


Program Information
Sunday, February 13 at 3:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CARNEGIE HALL FESTIVAL ANNIVERSARY CHORUS
Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus
National High School Festival Chorus
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Robert Spano, Conductor
Thomas Cooley, Tenor
Norman Mackenzie, Chorus Director

HECTOR BERLIOZ Requiem, Op. 5
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Professional Training Workshops are made possible, in part, by Mr. and Mrs.Nicola Bulgari and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

This concert, the National High School Choral Festival, and the Robert SpanoChoral Workshop are made possible, in part, by endowment gifts from S. DonaldSussman and the Citi Foundation.


Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.