Jeremy Frank succeeds Grant Gershon, who is stepping down at the end of the season.
(Los Angeles) May 5, 2022 — LA Opera has appointed Jeremy Frank as the company's new Chorus Director, beginning in the 2022/23 season.
In that position, he succeeds Grant Gershon who, last September, announced his plan to step down from his dual roles as Resident Conductor and Chorus Director at the end of the current season. (Lina González-Granados will succeed Gershon as Resident Conductor.)
"Jeremy has been a highly respected colleague and member of the LA Opera music staff since joining the company as an assistant conductor in 2007," said James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director. "Since taking on the role of Associate Chorus Director in 2013, he has consistently exhibited extensive musical knowledge, artistry and leadership through his scrupulous and skillful work with the LA Opera Chorus. Grant Gershon's impact on the company has been profound and he will be deeply missed. I am confident that Jeremy will continue his illustrious predecessor's extraordinary work and that our wonderful chorus will be in very good hands."
"I'm deeply honored to be a steward carrying on Grant's legacy with the LA Opera Chorus and to lead these wonderful singers as we expand into new projects and repertoire," said Jeremy Frank. "The role of any opera chorus is critically important. In many ways, we serve as a bridge or conduit between the principal characters on stage and the audience. With our beautiful singing and expressive acting, we shape the way the audience feels the story and we are their representatives for expressing and experiencing joy, terror, rage—the whole range of human experience."
About Jeremy FrankJeremy Frank has worked on more than 60 productions with LA Opera, where he has served as associate chorus director, assistant conductor and faculty member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. He previously led the LA Opera Chorus for the Plácido Domingo 50th Anniversary Concert (2017) and for The Clemency of Titus (2019). One of his generation’s most respected pianists and vocal coaches, he has collaborated with major opera houses throughout the United States. He also assists in the preparation of operas and vocal chamber music at the LA Philharmonic. As a recitalist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, Rodell Rosel, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He accompanied Joyce DiDonato at the 54th Grammy Awards, the first time the ceremony featured a performance by a classical singer. In partnership with the Getty Villa and LACMA in Los Angeles and the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., he has curated multimedia recitals which draw connections between the classical vocal repertoire and special exhibits in the museums. He is a frequent collaborator at Wolf Trap Opera as an assistant conductor, chorus master and recitalist. He has been a guest coach at the Opernfestspiele St. Margarethen, in Esterhazy, Austria, and he helped prepare Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle in 2013. He has been a guest faculty member for young artist programs at Utah Opera and Seattle Opera, and he is a part-time lecturer in vocal arts and opera at the University of Southern California.
Photo available for download here.
About the LA Opera ChorusThe LA Opera Chorus, currently under the guidance of Grant Gershon, plays an integral role in the artistic excellence of the company. Composed of up to 80 singers, the chorus maintains a core group of 42 with additions as needed depending on the requirements of each opera. These dedicated artists are part of the very essence of LA Opera. In fact, several current singers have performed with the LA Opera Chorus since the 1986/87 inaugural season.
About LA OperaLos Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.
In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative, which offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings, reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. Learn more at LAOpera.org.
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