
DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250044

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

CHORALE'S NEW LEADER READY TO MAKE DEBUT

ROBERT SHOUP'S roots run way deep in his native western Pennsylvania.

In Pittsburgh, he graduated magna cum laude from Duquesne University and earned a master's in conducting at Carnegie Mellon. He sang with Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, directed by Robert Page. He also founded a choral festival in the Steel City.

So moving 400 miles south for a new job in Norfolk wasn't an easy decision. But such was the pull of the Virginia Chorale.

``For me to give up home was a very difficult thing,'' said Shoup, who took over the chorale, and the Virginia Symphony Chorus, this summer. ``That having been said, when one works in the arts and cares deeply about becoming the best one can become, that means seeking out opportunities to pursue those goals.

``These two groups represent that for me. There are not that many jobs in any one city for choral music. The reality is, when conducting jobs are offered, you jump.''

Audiences will get their first look at Shoup on Friday and Saturday when he leads the chorale in ``A Tribute to Brahms and Schubert'' at Norfolk's First Presbyterian Church. While the program is a natural - 1997 is the centennial of Brahms' death and the bicentennial of Schubert's birth - it's also indicative of Shoup's taste. Make that tastes.

``I tend to program for what I, as an audience member, would want to hear, not I, as a music professional, would want to do,'' he said. ``We exist to please audiences. That's why we're here.''

``Maybe it's because I'm part of the MTV generation,'' he added, laughing. ``I have a short attention span - I don't want too much of one thing.''

Shoup, 30, steps into the positions vacated by Don McCullough, who resigned in April 1996 to take over the Paul Hill Chorale in Washington, D.C.

McCullough founded Norfolk Pro Musica in 1984. Rechristened Virginia Pro Musica five years later, then the McCullough Chorale in 1994, it broadened its original early-music repertoire to include music of this century. The group was renamed the Virginia Chorale last September. With 24 paid singers, it is the state's only fully professional choral ensemble.

In 1990, McCullough formed the 90-member Virginia Symphony Chorus.

Shoup, whose wife, Kathryn, is a mezzo-soprano, did his homework before coming to Norfolk to be interviewed. Page, with whom he studied at Carnegie Mellon, was one of the chorale's guest conductors last season.

``Coming in cold, you have a predetermined idea of what the (ensemble) should sound like - you know what kind of sound you would like,'' Shoup said. ``Then you arrive and hear what the particular colors of the voices are, and you start to formulate the actual sound. It's a process of bringing those two things together to come close to that ideal sound in one's mind.

``These groups have accomplished a lot in a short period. It's exciting to have the tools to put your stamp on the region. It will be a fun ride to find out how to do that effect-ively.

``I love the art. That's first. It's not about accomplishment, it's about challenge and beauty and excellence. We're going to shoot very high.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

LAWRENCE JACKSON / The Virginian-Pilot

Robert Shoup, new director of the Virginia Chorale, conducts a

practice session.

Graphic

WANT TO GO?

Who: The Virginia Chorale, Robert Shoup conducting

Program: ``A Tribute to Brahms and Schubert''

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: First Presbyterian Church, 820 Colonial Ave. Norfolk

Tickets: $12.50 to $20

Information: 627-8375 KEYWORDS: PROFILE MUSIC CHORUS