Sunday, April 11, 2010 at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, 7 pm

The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents "Soundscape: Monk and Part." Kirchner appears as a tenor soloist with fellow Chorale members Claire Fedoruk, Kim Switzer, Michael Lichtenauer, and Scott Graff for Arvo Part's Miserere. The concert also features the West Coast premiere of a new work by Meredith Monk.

For tickets, visit lamc.org

Thursday, April 29 through Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 8 pm, and Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2 pm at Disney Hall in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents Antonio Estevez' Cantata Criolla, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and staged by filmmaker Alberto Arvelo. Members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale join the Schola Cantorum of Caracas, Venzuela to form the choir in this collaborative performance.

For tickets, visit laphil.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010 at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, 7 pm

The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents "Americana" featuring the premiere of Shawn Kirchner's Heavenly Home: Three American Songs, spirituals by Moses Hogan, and other favorites of the American choral tradition. Grant Gershon conducting.

For tickets, visit lamc.org

More performances

Shawn Kirchner (b.1970) is a composer and songwriter active in the musical circles of Los Angeles.  His choral compositions are performed throughout the United States and abroad in concert halls, churches, schools, and on radio, television (and YouTube!).  He is best known for his arrangement of the Kenyan song Wana Baraka.  The Los Angeles Master Chorale has often featured his choral pieces in their concerts at LA's Disney Hall, and commissioned his 2007 setting of the Pablo Neruda sonnet, Tu Voz.  In addition to composing, songwriting has become a career focus for Kirchner in recent years.  His songs combine emotional warmth with carefully crafted lyrics, and are written in a range of styles including bluegrass, folk, country, gospel and jazz. Kirchner's bluegrass and country songs can be heard on the CD Meet Me on the Mountain, and his original jazz tunes are featured in club and concert performances of the Shawn Kirchner Quartet.  

Kirchner also maintains an active performing career as a singer and pianist.  A member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, he sings regularly with the Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl in collaborations with the world's leading conductors and composers.  Under the Master Chorale’s music director Grant Gershon, he has sung in several projects with Steve Reich, including two recordings for Nonesuch Records and a performance at Lincoln Center in honor of the composer’s 70th birthday.  His solo appearances with the Master Chorale include work with Meredith Monk, Ariel Ramirez’ Missa Criolla, and an upcoming performance of Arvo Part's Miserere.  Kirchner's work as a pianist includes performances with the Master Chorale at Disney Hall as well as free-lance work in recitals, concerts, and studio sessions.  Before moving to the Los Angeles area, he was a vocal coach/pianist in Chicago, and played for Neil Rosenshein’s studio at the Lyric Opera’s Center for American Artists.  Initially trained in classical music, his improvisational skills now encompass many styles.

Kirchner's growing list of TV/Film credits includes his work as music director/arranger for the 2004 CBS Christmas Eve special Enter the Light of Life, and his singing on such feature film soundtracks as Avatar, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Horton Hears a Who, National Treasure II: Book of Secrets, Lady in the Water, License to Wed, Race to Witch Mountain, and the upcoming Sex in the City II.