JOSEPH HOLT Guest Conductor for The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay THE MASTER CHORALE OF TAMPA BAY Recognized as the premier choral ensemble in Tampa Bay and praised by music critics from both the Tampa Bay Times and The Tampa Tribune as “one of the country’s finest choirs,” “an amazing instrument,” and a “cultural treasure,” The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay has consistently delivered some of the most profoundly moving music performances in the area. The Master Chorale is an auditioned, highly select 150-voice volunteer chorus embracing a broad representation of singers from the entire Tampa Bay area. The Master Chorale serves Tampa Bay and west central Florida with a mission to advance the art of choral music by performing great works of the past, commissioning and performing new literature, and sharing the joy and power of choral music with new and existing audiences and singers. With internationally distributed recordings and important commissions from renowned composers, the chorale is consistently advancing the choral art form. Since its founding by Dr. Robert Summer in 1979, the chorale has produced at least one major choral-orchestral work each year. These performances include J.S. Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which was performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and others under the direction of Robert Shaw. The chorale has regularly commissioned some of the most important contemporary composers including Eric Whitacre (Lux Aurumque), Paul Basler (Missa Kenya), Alice Parker (The Rock and the River), René Clausen (Jubilate Deo), and Jake Runestad (We Can Mend the Sky), to name a few. In addition to traditional concerts, the chorale performs a variety of outreach activities throughout the Tampa Bay community. The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay is designated as the principal chorus of The Florida Orchestra and artist-in-residence at the University of South Florida College of the Arts School of Music. THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2016-2017 37 Dr. Joseph Holt enjoys a wideranging musical career as conductor, pianist, chamber music performer, arts administrator, educator and arranger. This is his sixth season as artistic director for Gloria Musicae, S a r a s o t a ’ s professional choral ensemble. Under his leadership the organization has grown and garnered accolades for its innovative programming and superior vocal quality. He is also artistic director for special events for the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota and music director at Faith Lutheran Church. He appears as host for the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning Musical Mondays in Venice during the winter months and occasionally delivers the pre-concert lecture for the Sarasota Orchestra. Holt held the position of associate music director for The Choral Arts Society of Washington for fifteen years and made his Choral Arts conducting debut with Ariel Ramírez’s Misa Criolla during the 2002/2003 season. With Choral Arts, he has conducted at the Chester Summer Music Festival, at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in a performance of Porgy and Bess, and at the National Presbyterian Church. In 2000, he was one of 10 conductors who prepared a chorus of 2000 voices for a worldpremiere performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin conducting, at the Lincoln Memorial. As a pianist he has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Brahms award from Wolf Trap. His recordings include Rhapsody in Blue with The US Army Band, music from The Holocaust Museum, and solo piano works of contemporary composer Gardner Read, among others. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.
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