After 15 years of concerts, rehearsals and performances and enriching Palm Beach County’s music and choral scene, artistic director Ken Taylor took his final bow with the Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches with a final concert this past May.
His farewell performance, An American Songbook Review, was a personal and heartfelt culmination of his tenure, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a new artistic journey for the chorus.
Taylor, director of choral studies at Dreyfoos School of the Arts, is the 2023 recipient of Palm Beach Symphony’s Randolph A. Frank Prize in the category of Performing Arts Educator.
“The performance of ‘An American Songbook Review’ was one of the most unusual performances in our history and our audience really enjoyed it,” says board President Katherine Combs.
She noted that Taylor selected songs that meant the most to him. Performers included former Kings Academy student Annie Matot, soprano; Janis McDavid, soprano; Kay Purin, soprano; and Mickey Smith, Jr., assistant director of instrumental arts at Kings Academy, saxophone.
Under Taylor’s leadership, Masterworks performed many masterpieces of the choral repertoire, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Palm Beach Symphony and Brahms’s German Requiem in Carnegie Hall.
Their signature concert is the annual holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah. The chorus has performed this oratorio each December since its first season in 1978. To commemorate the 300th anniversary of Handel’s birth during the 1985-86 season, the chorus performed the complete work with a 600-voice choir at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale
Over 46 seasons, Masterworks has presented more than 50 major concerts, as well as collaborations with organizations such as Palm Beach Opera, Ballet Florida, and the Masterworks Chamber Singers. Though the 2020-21 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has since rebounded.
Following An American Songbook Review, audience members came out to thank Taylor for his service and the passing of the baton (pun intended) to the chorus’s new artistic director, Bryan Ijames (pronounced EYE-ems).
“I’m very excited for this opportunity and to conduct extended choral works,” Ijames said. “This body of choral literature is at the heart of my passion and expertise. It’s my bread and butter.”
Ijames, who performed and conducted many of these works since singing tenor solos in Messiah performances as an undergraduate at High Point University in North Carolina, so having the opportunity to now revisit it in his new role as conductor is “super exciting,” he says.
Currently assistant professor of music education and associate professor of choral activities at the Florida Gulf Coast University Bower School of Music and the Arts in Fort Myers, Ijames has a doctor of musical arts in conducting from the University of Michigan, a master of music in choral education from Mississippi State University, and a master of music in choral conducting from Eastern Kentucky University.
During his doctoral studies, Ijames worked to revive British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Atonement, a cantata that was mostly untouched for more than a century.
And, while he will commute once a week to Palm Beach from Fort Myers for his new role, Ijames has a connection to Palm Beach County.
He was a performing member and assistant conductor of the Ebony Chorale of the Palm Beaches under the artistic leadership of Dr. Orville Lawton, from 2017 to 2020. Additionally, he performed with Espressivo, a semi-professional vocal ensemble in Lake Worth Beach led by John Weatherspoon.
He has held chorister positions at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton and at Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth Beach.
He frequently performs as a professional tenor, and has also served as a voice faculty member of Berkshire Choral International in Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
All in all, Ijames says he is excited to continue the strong tradition started by the late Jack Jones in 1979 and continued by Ken Taylor.
“At the end of the day we want choral orchestral music to continue and flourish,” he says. “Having the arts is so important for culture in the community.”
Part of his goals are to strengthen the chorus’s ability to perform more complex masterpieces and reach a larger audience. Ijames has long-range plans to establish a choral scholars program, enabling more vocal students to sing with Masterworks.
“We need to be encouraging young people to be a part of music and arts and to welcome back those who have stepped away,” he says. “We are not a religious organization or affiliated with any religion and welcome everyone.”
Combs echoed these sentiments, speaking both for herself and the board.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to have found a person with exceptional training and a passion for conducting choral masterpieces to lead Masterworks Chorus,” Combs said. “Dr. Ijames’ dedication and experience ushers in an exciting new chapter for our organization.”
She also highlights his ability to refine the chorus’s sound. “What impressed us the most was his ability to get the chorus to adjust its tone using different techniques,” she said. “This is a rare skill.”
In addition to Ijames, Masterworks Chorus has also appointed organist Adam J. Brakel as its new accompanist. Brakel is the director of music and the organist at Royal Poinciana Chapel in Palm Beach.
His repertoire spans the organ works of composers including Bach, Brahms, Liszt, Mozart and Mendelssohn.
“Having Brakel as organist is a game changer,” says Combs, a former attorney who sang with the chorus for five years before becoming board president one year ago.
Over the past two years, she helped revitalize the organization from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when participation and funding were down. She raised funds and doubled its gross revenue by securing sponsorships and grants.
“Masterworks has a wonderful history as a chorus in Palm Beach County,” says Combs, noting that for $35 a ticket you can experience world-class music in an accessible and affordable way.
Three finalists were selected before Ijames was chosen, and all three came in for a trial run conducting the chorus. His deep understanding of choral techniques and ability to bring out the best in each singer made an immediate impression on the board.
And, while Taylor got us to where we are, Combs says, Ijames will take us to the next level.
She says having Ijames as conductor and director will allow the chorus to perform more complex works, present a more focused tonality, rehearse more efficiently and have practice aids at home.
“We will be more professionally managed, trained and rehearsed,” says Combs, who has been singing since the age of 5.
Ijames will hit the ground running and is already planning for the 2025-26 season, which will begin with Masterworks Chorus’ annual performance of Messiah in December. He is also considering thematic programming to inspire audiences.
His “to-do” list includes reaching out to former colleagues for recommendations of high school students who want to be a part of an ensemble doing larger choral masterworks, creating scholarship initiatives, building community, reaching out to college students at Palm Beach State as well as outreach to recruit new adult singers.
“There are many variables in selecting a program,” he says. “Are we creating a theme that encourages peace? Celebrating a composer’s anniversary? Collaborating with a soloist?”
His goal is to challenge the choir without overwhelming them.
With fresh leadership and renewed artistic vision, Masterworks Chorus hopes to elevate the level of choral music within Palm Beach County.
“We’re excited to see how far we can soar with the dual powerhouses of Dr. Ijames and Adam Brakel,” says Combs. “For Masterworks Chorus, the best is yet to come.”