¡Cantaré! — VocalEssence Music Program Links Mexican Composers with Area Schools, Churches and Choral Organizations

Educational program continues to build on tremendous success of its inaugural 2008-2009 season

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (March 31, 2010) – Now in its second season, the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program links Mexican composers with nearly 500 students and adults in the Twin Cities community through residencies in schools, churches, and choral organizations. This cross-cultural program is designed to encourage a deeper understanding of Mexico’s rich classical musical heritage, develop a new understanding of the traditions that are melding Mexican and American cultures, and create a new body of Spanish language music for voices and instruments.  

¡Cantaré! composers Jesús López and Diana Syrse first traveled to Minnesota in October 2009 to meet the ensembles they are now working with for the 2009-2010 school year. Their purpose was to hear the ensembles sing and determine what kind of composition would be most appropriate for each group. After spending one week together, the composers spent the next two months writing new works for each choir, which were delivered to the singers in January.

In March 2010, the composers returned for a second visit with their ensembles to hear how rehearsals were proceeding with their brand new compositions, and to work directly with the singers.

• Jesús López is working with Burroughs Community School (Minneapolis), Adams Spanish Immersion School (St. Paul), and the Latino Children’s Choir, a group of young people from several area churches hosted by Ascension Church in north Minneapolis. He is also composing new music for VocalEssence. The principal organist at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico, Jesús López has extensive experience working with school-age children and has composed a variety of choral works including Suite Romántica, which was dedicated to the Children’s Choir of La Schola Cantorum in Mexico.

• Diana Syrse  is working with Como Park High School (St. Paul); Washburn High School (Minneapolis), and Andover High School (Andover). Surrounded by music of all styles from a young age, Diana Syrse has a wide range of experience writing choral works for organizations such as La Coordinadora Internacional de Mujeres en el Arte and Vox LaTina as well as conducting workshops in contemporary compositional techniques.

Composers Jesús López and Diana Syrse will return for a week in May to help prepare their choirs for the world premiere of their compositions at the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Community Concert. The concert will also feature new music written by Jorge Córdoba, one of the composers who participated in the last season’s inaugural ¡Cantaré! program.

The 2009-2010 ¡Cantare! program will culminate with the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Community Concert on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 (7 pm) at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. This concert is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For more information about the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program and free performance tickets visit www.vocalessence.org/cantareconcert2010. For press information and photographs, contact Jennifer Bauer (612-547-1459, jbauer@vocalessence.org).

Funding for the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program has been generously provided by The Minneapolis Foundation, General Mills, Best Buy, RBC Dain Rauscher, and Elmer L. and Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation.