Grant Gershon

Conductor, Choirmaster

Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director, celebrates his 24th season in 2024/25 with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which he has turned into the “best-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times).

In 2022, Gershon and the Chorale received the Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for their part in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. For his lifetime of leadership in the field of choral music, Gershon received the Michael Korn Founders Award from Chorus America.

Gershon made his San Francisco Opera and Dutch National Opera debuts in 2017 and 2019, respectively, conducting the world premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West. As Resident Conductor of LA Opera, Gershon conducted the West Coast premiere of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha in November 2018; and he led the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino, which was subsequently released on DVD by Sony Classical.

Among the high points of his time with the Chorale, it twice opened the famed Salzburg Festival—with Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro in 2019 and Heinrich Schütz’s Music to Accompany a Departure in 2023. The Chorale also performed these works to enormous acclaim in London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and Mexico City. In New York, Gershon and the Chorale were featured artists at Lincoln Center’s celebration of Steve Reich’s 70th birthday as part of the Great Performers Series.

Gershon’s discography includes Chorale recordings of music by Nico Muhly, Henryk Górecki, David Lang, and Steve Reich, and for Decca, Nonesuch, and Cantaloupe Records. He has also led the Chorale in performances for motion-picture soundtracks, including, at the request of John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Gershon has performed at Carnegie Hall and Trinity Wall Street in New York, and he has appeared many times over the years at the Ravinia and Aspen festivals. He has led concert performances with the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony, and the LA Phil, as well as operas for Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera.

Gershon was named Outstanding Alumnus of the USC Thornton School of Music in 2002 and received the USC Alumni Merit Award in 2017.