Richard Sparks era

Choir of the West group photo

Grand performances and collaborations, wide international touring, and prolific media production mark the eighteen year tenure of Richard Sparks as director of the Choir of the West. This period represents both a continuation and an evolution of the Skones years, increasing the range of international touring while also experimenting with the repertoire. Particularly notable moments during this period include the War Requiem performance in 1988 and the choir’s trip to Asia in 1991. 

Sparks began working with outside musicians shortly after his arrival in 1983. In 1985, the Choir of the West performed alongside the McCabe sisters, a pair of pianists, for a program of classical pieces in Eastvold Auditorium. And in the March 29, 1985 issue of the Tacoma News Tribune, Jim Frazee wrote that Sparks “washed away the notion that Brahms was musically stiff and cold” and “did an admirable job harmonically with his group.” This performance was followed by another with Robin McCabe for the premiere of Peter Schickele’s The Twelve Months in 1987, and was one of several such relationships that began in during the mid-1980s. During this time, the group also began its ongoing collaborative relationships with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra.

In 1988 the group took on Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, an ambitious production of 250 musicians including the University Symphony Orchestra, Choral Union, University Chorale, the Northwest Boys Choir, a chamber orchestra, three soloists, three conductors, and the Choir of the West itself. The piece is rarely performed due to the massive numbers required, much less by a college, but the effort from PLU musicians and their collaborators was a success. Louise Kincaid of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called it an “inspired event,” further saying:

L-R: Richard Sparks, Greg Youtz, Ed Harmic

While War Requiem was the most impressive performance in terms of the number of musicians, the Choir of the West undertook many major musical endeavors in the following years. Alongside the Tacoma Symphony and University of Puget Sound’s Adelphian Concert Choir, the group performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1989. In the 1990s, they put on Stravinsky’s “Les Noces,” Bach’s St. John Passion, and Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, which was the first ever performance of the work by a college choir and was released on CD. In the April 25, 1996 issue of the Tacoma News Tribune, Douglas McLernan wrote that the choir “puts out a surprisingly mature sound and has superior control… sounded confident, secure and extremely musical. You could hardly ask for more.”

During this time, Richard Sparks also oversaw a change in media production for the Choir of the West, with regular CD releases of both Christmas albums and major performance recordings. The group produced its first music videos during these years as well. Most notably, the group created a video in 1988 of Greg Youtz’s original arrangement of “Louie Louie,” the unofficial state song of Washington, and the video went on to win five awards.

Angela Meade (Class of 2001) performing at PLU

Under Sparks, the Choir of the West also performed globally. In 1988, the group toured England, recording a CD entitled Passport, featuring works written by Pacific Lutheran University alumni David Dahl (Class of 1960) and Cindy McTee (Class of 1977). In 1991, the Choir of the West, the University Symphony Orchestra, and the football team also visited China, Japan, and Hawai’i, where the choir performed in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Honolulu. In the summer of 2001, Sparks directed a 12-day tour through Sweden and Norway as a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Choir of the West. This trip marked the first international tour since the 1991 trip, and it was the first time the group visited Scandinavia since its 1977 European tour.

During this time period, Angela Meade (Class of 2001) also sang with the Choir of the West. She went on to perform opera around the world, including with the Metropolitan Opera of New York. A winner of 57 awards in vocal competitions, she founded the Angela Meade Vocal Competition at PLU in 2018, which offers students the chance to win cash prizes, a trip to see Meade perform, and a private consultation with her. She returns each year to host and judge the competition.

Choir of the West group photo (2001)

In 2001, Richard Sparks left PLU to focus on directing Choral Arts Northwest, an ensemble he founded eight years earlier, and Pro Coro Canada, a chamber choir in Edmonton, Alberta. An effective and innovative leader, he guided the Choir of the West for nearly two decades, putting on its most spectacular production in 1988 with War Requiem and traveling its greatest distance to Chengdu in the People’s Republic of China. Sparks’s period as director was a time of both ambition and tradition. He would be followed by Kathryn Lehmann, the only woman and the only PLU alum to head the Choir of the West.