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Preview: The Montserrat Boy Choir’s Minnesotan Adventure

by Amy Donahue Twin Cities Arts Reader | October 31, 2022 PREVIEW: The Montserrat Boy Choir’s Minnesotan Adventure The Montserrat Boy Choir. One of the most-anticipated performances coming to the Twin Cities is coming all the way from Catalonia. The Montserrat Boy Choir, an elite choir from one of Spain’s oldest music schools, will perform at…  Read More

Music review: VocalEssence, Bach Society deliver healthy dose of rejoicing in ‘Christmas Oratorio’

By SHEILA REGAN Pioneer Press | December 4, 2021  https://www.twincities.com/2021/12/04/music-review-vocalessence-bach-society-deliver-healthy-dose-of-rejoicing-in-christmas-oratorio/  Decked out with birch trees and wreaths, the Basilica of Saint Mary in downtown Minneapolis brought in the Christmas season when the combined forces of VocalEssence and the Bach Society of Minnesota presented four of the six Cantatas that make up Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio.” Situated…  Read More

VocalEssence Previews ‘Hope Lives Here’

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/6105877-vocalessence-previews-hope-lives-here/ The popular local group VocalEssence is back with live music this weekend. Philip Brunelle was featured on WCCO.

Philip Brunelle Previews Gabriel Kahane Commission

Watch as Philip Brunelle gives you a sneak peek into “We Are the Saints”, a new commission by Gabriel Kahane that will be featured on the VocalEssence 2021-2022 season opener, Hope Lives Here. The piece is in three movements, approximately ten minutes in length and will be sung by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers. The first…  Read More

Review: VocalEssence ably enhances the choral carol canon

By ROB HUBBARD | Special to the Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: December 8, 2019 at 4:35 pm | UPDATED: December 8, 2019 at 5:18 pm Link to article can be found here. Big and intimate. Traditional and fresh. These are the paradoxes with which the singers of VocalEssence wrestle. While 143 voices unite when their two main choirs combine, they’re often…  Read More

Dr. André Thomas Preview for What a Mighty God

Join us for What a Mighty God conducted by Dr. André Thomas on Sunday, November 17th from 4-6 PM at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, MN. Tickets start at $10. https://www.vocalessence.org/event/concert-what-a-mighty-god/

Review: A fine ‘Candide,’ indeed

By DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA | Special to the Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: March 22, 2019 at 12:08 pm https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/22/review-a-fine-candide-indeed/ For certain theater people, searching for a really good production of “Candide” is like trying to find the mythical Shangri La or Eldorado. For these people, the “Candide” playing an unfortunately short and even more unfortunately sold-out run at…  Read More

Review: VocalEssence’s ‘Welcome Christmas’ best when ringing in the new

  By Rob Hubbard | Special to the Pioneer Press December 2, 2018—4:30PM | UPDATED: December 2, 2018—4:43PM: https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/02/review-vocalessences-welcome-christmas-best-when-ringing-in-the-new/ It never gets old. Such could be said of the repertoire at VocalEssence’s annual “Welcome Christmas” concerts. If you want to hear a choir singing familiar carols at this time of year, you’d best look elsewhere, for this Minneapolis-based choral…  Read More

Carols & Lullabies Preview

This holiday, welcome Christmas to Minnesota through a journey to pueblos, ponderosas, and piñon, traveling under the power of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers. “We are privileged so many families make an annual tradition of joining VocalEssence for our exploration of Christmas music, each year viewed through a different lens,” said Philip Brunelle. “This…  Read More

From Reviews to Reflections, Powerful ‘Dreams of the Fallen’ Resonates Deeply

Exquisite, moving, and remarkable are words that have been used to describe the VocalEssence Dreams of the Fallen concert on Sunday, October 11 at the O’Shaughnessy, performed by the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Biegel and Maria Jette, and featuring the Midwest premiere of Jake Runestad’s Dreams of the Fallen.…  Read More

Preview ‘Controlled Burn,’ on the Program for Dreams of the Fallen

For those who would like a preview of one of the pieces that will be performed at the VocalEssence Dreams of the Fallen concert on October 11, 2015, which features songs of survival, hope and healing, here is a look at “Controlled Burn.” The VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers, conducted by Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, performed “Controlled…  Read More

Star Tribune Review: Bach’s B Minor Mass needs no adornment

VocalEssence’s thrilling reading was paired with filmmaker Bastian Cleve’s life’s work, a mixed blessing. Article by WILLIAM RANDALL BEARD, Special to the Star Tribune Updated: April 10, 2011 – 6:00 PM  In our increasingly media-dominated world, classical musicians are increasingly trying to find new ways to engage this audience. The new Gehry Concert Hall in…  Read More