Richard King: Bernstein Mass: A high-profile recording with a limited budget

ABSTRACT: 

The Bernstein Mass is a complex composition combining tape playback, full orchestra with organ, jazz band, rock band, a marching band, multiple choruses and twenty-two soloists. The work is a collaboration of many artists, including singer Jubilant Sykes, Conductor Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. Since this project was going to be the first North American commercial recording of the piece since that of Bernstein himself in 1971, great care was taken to create a definitively modern version that pays homage to the original.

The limited budget allowed for only three sessions to record the 110 minute piece, and well as some challenging restrictions on equipment used for the recording and time spent in post-production (editing and mixing). The talk will follow the time-line of the production from the first stages of planning to the finished product. Audio excerpts of the recording will be played throughout the lecture.

 

ABOUT RICHARD KING:

After graduating from the Sound Recording program at McGill University in Montreal, Richard King spent 15 years working for Sony Music Studios in New York, and a few years as a successful freelance recording engineer.  He is well known in the fields of classical and jazz recording, and has garnered multiple Grammy awards for his work with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, and René Fleming. His film score credits include The Good Shepherd, Hero, and the Oscar winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  In 2009, Richard returned to Montreal to take the position of Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Music at McGill.