THE MASTER CHORALE OF TAMPA BAY Recognized as the premier choral ensemble in Tampa Bay and praised by music critics from both the Tampa Bay Times and The Tampa Tribune as “one of the country’s finest choirs,” “an amazing instrument,” and a “cultural treasure,” The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay has consistently delivered some of the most profoundly moving music performances in the area. The Master Chorale is an auditioned, highly select 150-voice volunteer chorus embracing a broad representation of singers from the entire Tampa Bay area. The Master Chorale serves Tampa Bay and west central Florida with a mission to advance the art of choral music by performing great works of the past, commissioning and performing new literature, and sharing the joy and power of choral music with new and existing audiences and singers. With internationally distributed recordings and important commissions from renowned composers, the Master Chorale is consistently advancing the choral art form. Since its founding by Dr. Robert Summer in 1979, the Master Chorale has produced at least one major choral-orchestral work each year. These performances include J.S. Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which was performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and others under the direction of Robert Shaw. The Master Chorale has regularly commissioned some of the most important contemporary composers including Eric Whitacre (Lux Aurumque), Paul Basler (Missa Kenya), Alice Parker (The Rock and the River), René Clausen (Jubilate Deo), and Jake Runestad (We Can Mend the Sky), to name a few. In addition to traditional concerts, the Master Chorale performs a variety of outreach activities throughout the Tampa Bay community. The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay is designated as the principal chorus of The Florida Orchestra and artist-inresidence at the University of South Florida College of the Arts School of Music. THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2017-2018 DOREEN RAO Visiting Artistic Director Doreen Rao is celebrated internationally for her moving concerts and inspirational teaching. Linking the standards of performance and the goals of education with the values of diversity and social r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , Rao’s seminal work teaching children to sing inspired a generation of conductors and teachers to lead young choirs in schools and communities around the world. Rao is committed to global-style programming, intergenerational performance projects, and innovative collaborations. She founded The Rao Center for Choral and Contemplative Arts to mentor emerging conductors, singers and music educators in the practice of mindfulness-based conducting and choral teaching. Rao holds the University of Toronto Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting Emeritus, and during her tenure as director of choral programs, she founded Toronto’s International Bach Festival with Bach conductor-scholar Helmuth Rilling. She led the Faculty of Music’s graduate program in choral conducting with Canada’s Elmer Iseler Singers as University Artists-in-Residence. Her award-winning MacMillan Singers and Bach Festival Singers performed and broadcast regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestros Rilling, Peter Oundjian, Gianandrea Noseda, and Bernard Labadie. During Rao’s association with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, she prepared the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus for concerts and four Grammy Award-winning recordings. She also served as assistant conductor to Margaret Hillis, preparing the Symphony Chorus for Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, James Levine, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Rao is the founder-director of CME Institute for Choral Teacher Education and editor and choral advisor to music publisher Boosey & Hawkes. She received her degrees from the University of Illinois, where her teachers were Harold Decker and Colleen Kirk, and Northwestern University, where she was mentored by Margaret Hillis and Robert Shaw. 35
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