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 choral composers, the Master
Chorale is consistently advancing the choral art form. Since its
founding by Dr. Robert Summer in 1979, the Master 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.
In addition to traditional concerts, the Master 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-inresidence
at the University of South Florida College of the Arts
School of Music.
B R E T T C A R L I N
Artistic Director of the
Master Chorale of Tampa Bay
Leading performances praised as “intense,
richly detailed… polished and well-crafted”
(Miami Herald), “finely nuanced and expressive”
(South Florida Classical Review), and “integrating
choral and instrumental sonorities with clarity and impact” (Palm
Beach Arts Paper), Brett Karlin is quickly establishing himself as
a dynamic conductor of choral-orchestral masterworks. Having
worked with a wide variety of ensembles, Karlin is a passionate
performer of large-scale symphonic masterpieces, while equally
at home with historically informed performances of distinctive
Baroque repertoire.
As the artistic director of both the Master Chorale of Tampa
Bay and the Master Chorale of South Florida, Karlin leads over