Pacific Chorale’s longtime artistic director to retire in 2017

John Alexander, the longtime artistic director of the Pacific Chorale, who helped it grow from a fledgling local group of singers to a world-renowned organization, plans to step down in 2017, the chorale announced Monday.

Robert Istad, an assistant conductor for the chorale for the last decade, will take over for Alexander at the end of the 2016-17 season. His predecessor, upon stepping down, will assume the title of artistic director emeritus.

“I still have two full years left,” Alexander, a Laguna Beach resident, said Monday. “It’s not over yet.”

In his two remaining seasons, Alexander plans to revisit some of his favorite works that the chorale has performed under his leadership. One possibility, he said, is Bach’s Mass in B Minor, which was the first piece he conducted with the chorale in 1972.

Alexander joined the chorale four years after it formed as an offshoot of a UC Irvine Extension course. The group went through a series of name changes in its first 13 years of existence before settling on Pacific Chorale in 1981.

If Alexander exits as planned in 2017, he will have served as chorale director for 45 years. To put that time in perspective: When Alexander first took the podium, Richard Nixon was president, the Beatles had recently broken up, “The Godfather” was the hot new movie and Nolan Ryan was first toeing the mound for the then-California Angels.

Since Alexander came on board, the chorale has performed in at least 27 countries, according to the release. In addition to the 150-member symphonic chorus, the chorale also features a 24-voice professional chamber ensemble, the John Alexander Singers.

Istad, who teaches music at Cal State Fullerton and serves as artistic director of the Long Beach Camerata Singers, said Tuesday that he felt both humbled and excited to follow Alexander, whom he considers a mentor.

“I have learned how to be gracious and musically astute,” the Long Beach resident said of his decade with the chorale. “I’ve learned how to be business-minded with community focus. I’ve learned so much from John Alexander, it’s hard for me to encapsulate it. And it’s hard for me not to become emotional as well.”

The executive committee of the chorale’s board of directors selected Istad after a yearlong search. As assistant conductor, he has been involved with the chorale’s education programs and helped the group prepare for concerts with orchestral accompaniment — including working with the Pacific Symphony at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the chorale’s longtime home.

Istad is slated to conduct Herbert Howells’ “Hymnus Paradisi,” in May, lead the chorale’s Choral Festival in August and oversee the “Tis the Season!” holiday show in December.

“Obviously, John’s shoes are enormous shoes to fill,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to stepping into that role and being creative in different ways.”