By Chloe Veltman [LA Times, 12 September 2010]
This summer, Grant Gershon became the first ever music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale to lead the vocal ensemble and the Los Angeles Philharmonic together in a concert. As final preparations for the event were underway at the Hollywood Bowl, Gershon showed no signs of apprehension. Appearing on the rehearsal podium in a black T-shirt and jeans with the bangs of his sandy hair flopping boyishly over his eyes, the conductor devoted his time to chatting about the history of Haydn’s Te Deum, synchronizing phrase endings between the orchestra and chorus in Poulenc’s Gloria and running through the solos in Vivaldi’s Gloria with sopranos Jessica Rivera and Christine Brandes and alto Kelley O’Connor.