Los Angeles Master Chorale season opening gala evening at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, October 16, 2011 (Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)

The Master Chorale is one of L.A.'s premiere musical groups. It is the resident choir of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and thousands of classical music buffs visit the venue every year to hear the ensemble perform. This year is the 48th —  the Chorale was founded in 1964. Grant Gershon has been musical director for the past 10 seasons. He and the choir capped off his 11th season Sunday night.

"Sonically, this is a great season opener for the Chorale," Gershon said of Sunday's repetoire prior to the performance. "It shows off the Chorale's lush sound as well as the astounding acoustics of Disney Hall."

Although I'd heard great things about Gershon's choir, I'd never heard them perform before; but their opening night easily exceeded my expectations. Not only was their sound lush, but it also had a vast range, allowing them to perform (and perfect) an eclectic selection of songs.

The concert opened with the U.S. premiere of Swedish composer Thomas Jennefelt's "Music for a big church; for tranquility." Fittingly, the piece was relaxing, caressing the audience with waves of delicate, overlapping harmonies. Gershon conducted the song in an effortless manner. He barely needed to cue each section as they masterfully entered and exited with their intricate parts. Although the song was complex, the Chorale handled it with ease.

The opening number was followed by a more dramatic piece: Eric Whitacre's "Her Sacred Spirit Soars." Whitacre, one of the most popular composers of our generation, gained his renown for his powerful use of tonal clusters and dissonance. The Master Chorale changed their tone from the previous song to capture the emotion of Whitacre's work, adopting a fuller, more dynamic sound. They showed fantastic volume control: swelling from glorious highs to quiet lows. The softer parts were impressive; it is extremely difficult to make 115 voices sound subdued. But the bigger moments of the song, where the entire choir sang together in harmonious divisi, were so ear-pleasing that they were worth the price of admission all together.

The works that followed were nice to listen to, but didn't leave as large of an impact. Tarik O'Regan's "Tal vez tenemos tiempo" (translated "Maybe we have time"), an adaption of a Pablo Naruda poem, was a nice piece that showed off the choir's talent for text painting. The song also highlighted the rich tone of the bass section, which had a few great solo moments.

"Heavenly Home," a trio of tunes composed by the Chorale's own vocalist Shawn Kirchner, had a light, bluegrass feel and more of a traditional style than the avant-garde pieces before it. It was cheerful and warm, but almost too simple for the talented group. After the piece ended, Kirchner was pulled from his seat in the tenor section, and he recieved generous applause from the audience.

The concert concluded with the main work of the evening, "Lux Aeterna." Written by Morten Laurisden, the L.A. Master Choir's resident composer, "Lux Aeterna" is made up of five movements. The movements echo the musical style of traditional Cathoic church songs, complete with an accompanying organ. The organ was the perfect complement to the choir. Paul Meier played the instrument with a much-needed delicacy, careful not to overpower the real star of the show: the voices. The most beautiful movement was the only one of the five without accompaniment at all: a stunning a cappella number called "O Nata Lux."

The last two parts of "Lux Aeterna" were joyous and celebratoral, capping off a fantastic night of music with flair. The organ returned in bravado after the third movement, and singers exuded spirit and energy with every lyric. The last words, a resounding "Alleluia, amen," were met with a standing ovation.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale is only just beginning this season's promising lineup. They are scheduled to perform a wide variety of music, from Christmas tunes to Bach overtures, that are sure to satisfy many different tastes. For any Angeleno lover of choral music, a visit to Disney Hall to hear these singers in action is a definite must.

Reach reporter Stephanie Case here.