Leonard Bernstein's MASS

MASS
A Theater Piece for Singers, Dancers and Players

The BERNSTEIN CENTENARY
PROJECT 2017-2019

A NEW PRODUCTION OF MASS

First performing the role of The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's epic theater piece, MASS, for the composer's 70th Birthday Gala at The Tanglewood Festival in 1988, Douglas Webster has maintained his relationship with the work as performer, director and producer. As Celebrant, he led the premier productions at Carnegie Hall, and those in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain and The Vatican.

As a producer, MASS is a rite of passage. For a conductor, it has been described as, "a concerto for conductor and orchestra". No other piece of the concert repertoire has the complicated scope of Bernstein's MASS. And no other performance art spectacle has remained as socially and politically current since its' creation in 1971.

Douglas Webster is now preparing a multi-media, enhanced concert presentation of the work for the 2018 Bernstein centenary. Teamed again with designer Matthew Antaky (Carnegie Hall, Dallas Symphony, Columbus Pro Musica) this newly envisioned presentation honors the intended scope of the work while reducing the resources required that have impeded the work from being produced by smaller organizations.

As 'Celebrant' he next returns to the role in 2017 for a fully-staged production in Portland, Oregon.