Choral productions have been a staple

Lexington Philharmonic director's choral-orchestral programs have been a staple of his career

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

Every season he's been music director of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, George Zack has programmed a roster of ­soloists from around the world for the group's MasterClassics concerts.

But for the past couple of decades, two spots have been reserved for the Lexington Singers. One of those has usually been for a Christmastime performance of George ­Frideric Handel's Messiah, and the other goes to choral masterworks such as the requiems by Giuseppe Verdi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Carl Orff's bombastic Carmina Burana.

Friday night, the Lexington Singers and the retiring conductor will have their last dance, with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, ”Choral.“ Zack will conduct one more MasterClassics concert, on Sept. 12, but the rafter-rattling choral spectacles end Friday with the final notes of Beethoven's symphony, famous for its Ode to Joy.

”It will be an emotional night,“ said ­second bass Don Bivins, who has sung with the Lexington Singers for 23 years.

Anne Weston, a 17-year veteran of the group, said, ”I'm going to try not to think about it, because you can't sing high notes and cry at the same time.“

At the conclusion of December's performance of Messiah, Zack stood back stage after the concert, exchanging tearful hugs and handshakes with each of the singers.

A great working relationship

In addition to their twice-yearly ­MasterClassics concerts, the singers and orchestra have collaborated on annual events such as the Kentucky Christmas Chorus and Fourth of July concerts in Lexington and Versailles.

Lexington Singers music director ­Jefferson Johnson said the key to the close relationship between the singers and the conductor lies in doing great work together.

”The essence of the singers is the large choral-orchestral work,“ Johnson said. ”We do a lot of other things musically, and I think we're very diverse. But our bread and butter and the core of our being is really the large choral-orchestral repertoire, which, in a lot of people's minds, are the gems of Western music.

”I mean, the Beethoven Ninth — what are you going to compare to the Beethoven Ninth or the Verdi Requiem?“

Johnson is in the unsung position of ­preparing the singers for these grand ­concerts, then turning them over to Zack for the show.

”The moment George enters the picture, they're no longer my chorus,“ Johnson said. ”They're his chorus. And he is really good at becoming a choral director at that moment, and the singers are good at adapting to a new conductor immediately.“

Bringing the whole package

It wasn't always like this.

Ann T. Thurston, who has sung with the Lexington Singers for more than 40 years, can remember when the singers did not sing with the Lexington Philharmonic.

”We used to sing with the Cincinnati Symphony,“ she said. ”Then we got to sing with our local group, which makes a lot of sense. We loved it.“

Bivins, the second bass, said, ”George has a tremendous amount of music knowledge and interpretation, and although he is not a choral conductor, he brings that whole ­package to the forum.“

Johnson and the singers said they admire Zack's ability to take the diverse forces on stage for these large choral works ­— the orchestra, the chorus and the four soloists — and harness them into a satisfying whole.

”One of the first concerts I sang with the singers and with George was a Brahms Requiem, and we had just labored and labored and labored on it,“ Weston said. ”We got to the orchestra rehearsal, and it just bloomed, and it was fun, and it was everything Brahms intended it to be. It was wonderful.“

Thurston never thought the singers would perform Beethoven's towering Missa Solemnis, ”but George really brought us through it.“ The orchestra and singers have now performed the Missa several times.

”The thing about George is, the more complex the situation is, the better he is,“ Johnson says.

After Friday, the Lexington Singers are off into the unknown. In December, they'll perform Messiah under Johnson's baton. After that, collaborations with the ­Philharmonic will depend on the choices the orchestra's new music director will make. Five conductors have ­auditioned this season, and another lineup, which will be announced before Friday's concert, will roll through next season's MasterClassics concerts. Zack's successor is expected to be announced next spring.

”I hope that when we get a new conductor he likes choral music,“ Thurston says. ”It's been wonderful with George.“