WITNESS: In the Spirit of Being

Concert Conversation at 3 pm with composer Hannibal Lokumbe

Tonia Hughes, soloist
Ramsey School, Performing Arts Magnet Children’s Choir
Jazz Quartet featuring Hannibal Lokumbe, trumpet
Macalester College Percussion Ensemble, Sowah Mensah, director
VocalEssence Chorus
Philip Brunelle, conductor

The African continent is rich in musical sounds for voices and drums. VocalEssence opens this year’s WITNESS concert by celebrating some of these sounds with music from South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon and Ghana: a wonderful combination of songs about work, praise, and animals sung in the dialects of Luo, Xhosa, Zulu, Kamba and Cameroon. Joining the VocalEssence Chorus and conductor Philip Brunelle will be the percussion ensemble from Macalester College and their director, Sowah Mensah. Don’t miss the opening procession with the seldom-seen royal drums of Ghana!

Joyce Awards-winning composer Hannibal Lokumbe (Dear Mrs. Parks, WITNESS 2007) returns to VocalEssence for the world premiere of his ambitious new composition, In the Spirit of Being. Be part of a transformative journey as he lifts up our spirits and shows us the miracle of life, bearing WITNESS to our connection to the past, the future and each other.

Funded in part through New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program.