Brett Karlin

Brett Karlin appears in our directory as chorus master for a series of New World Symphony concerts in Miami Beach and Miami, FL. His role is to prepare the chorus for performances that pair major choral works, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mozart's Requiem, with orchestral repertoire led by guest conductors.

Across these programs the chorus takes on some of the most demanding choral writing in the orchestral repertoire. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony asks singers to project over a full orchestra in its final movement, built around the "Ode to Joy" tune that keeps returning in new guises. Mozart's Requiem alternates hushed, prayerful passages with sudden bursts of dramatic intensity, including the thunderous "Dies irae." Ravel's "L'enfant et les sortilèges" uses the chorus in a more theatrical way, giving voice to animals and objects in a fantastical opera-like scene. A chorus master's work is largely invisible to the audience but audible in the results: precise entrances, blended tone, and text that carries clearly across an orchestra.