THE MASTER CHORALE OF TAMPA BAY
Assistant Conductor of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay
Dr. Beth Gibbs is the
director of choral
studies at Florida
Southern College,
where she conducts
the Chamber
Singers and Concert
Choir and teaches
conducting, choral
pedagogy, music
and wellness,
and Caribbean
music. She earned
a doctorate of musical arts degree in choral
conducting from the University of Miami in Coral
Gables, Florida, master’s of music degrees in
choral conducting and vocal performance from
THE FLORIDA OR 46 CHESTRA | 2017-2018
East Carolina University in Greenville, North
Carolina, and a bachelor’s of music education
degree from Stetson University in DeLand,
Florida. She spent six years teaching at the high
school level in Atlanta, Georgia.
She has recently conducted in the Chartres
Cathedral in France, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican
City, and at the International Festival of Choirs
in Santiago de Cuba. Active as a performer, she
has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra Chorus and Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra Chamber Chorus, Santa Fe Desert
Chorale, and Tennessee Chamber Chorus. She
has also performed under the batons of Michael
Tilson Thomas and Helmuth Rilling.
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.