Each season VocalEssence hosts a festival created by you for you to connect, sing, and give back to the community. Join us for Together We Sing Festival 2020 at the Minnesota History Center on Saturday, January 18, 2020. Learn more and register here.
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age is a dynamic group of 50 young people from Twin Cities high schools who sing, dance, write their own music, rap, and—most importantly—reflect the diversity of our community in its membership. Under the visionary leadership of G. Phillip Shoultz, III, the students sing a wide range of music—from classical to… Read More →
VocalEssence announces the winners of its second annual ReMix mentorship, designed to foster the next generation of choral music composers. VocalEssence ReMix matches four emerging Minnesota composers with mentors for a six-month one-on-one partnership to help each composer complete two new, original choral pieces. These works will premiere at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)… Read More →
Sixty five members of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers wowed more than 16,000 fans at Target Center with Andrea Bocelli on Tuesday, June 9. Selections ranged from opera standards to popular hits from the musical The Sound of Music. One VocalEssence Chorus member commented, “that was the most unforgettable experience and opportunity! Peruse photos of… Read More →
This fall VocalEssence hosts the U.S. premiere of The Voyage, a new piece by former King’s Singer and British composer Bob Chilcott, that connects singers across generations through music. Joining the VocalEssence Chorus will be singers from Minnesota Chorale’s Minneapolis Youth Chorus and Voices of Experience. Watch the video above produced for the premiere performance… Read More →
How do you make sure that choral music stays relevant? Mix it up—VocalEssence style. 2015 was the launch of VocalEssence ReMix, a program breathing new life into choral music by encouraging break-out musical artists—whether you sing in a rock band or play classical music—to write for choirs. And we just received funding to create a… Read More →
Longfellow Alternative High School in Minneapolis has been filled with song this March with visits by special musical guests from VocalEssence. ¡Cantaré! Composer Francisco Zúñiga Olmos, Associate Conductor G. Phillip Shoultz, III, and members of the Ensemble Singers are working with six teenage moms to help them write a lullaby for their babies. This is… Read More →
The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, conducted by Philip Brunelle, were a big part of the sold-out A Prairie Home Companion show with Garrison Keillor on Saturday, December 26. If you missed it, you can listen to the entire program and watch video segments online, including this rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Dessa and Remix Composer-Mentor Tim Takach share their excitement about VocalEssence ReMix, a new program that offers up to four talented composers/songwriters a six-month one-on-one composer mentorship as they each write a choral work suitable for high school and college-level choirs. “If you make music, you compose, and you should consider applying for one… Read More →
“If you make music, you compose, and you should consider applying for one of the four VocalEssence mentorships,” Dessa advises in this video; Dessa and Remix Composer-Mentor Tim Takach share more about VocalEssence ReMix, which offers six-month one-on-one composer mentorships as composers/songwriters create a choral work.
You may have seen them on national television—“From the Top at Carnegie Hall,” NBC’s Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, and “Good Morning America” for starters. And their founder and conductor, MacArthur “genius” Fellow Francisco J. Núñez, was recently profiled on Fox & Friends and interviewed on a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works Media… Read More →
On their most recent international tour, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers traveled to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music as part of the VocalEssence Asia Pacific Tour, August 9 – 13. In Seoul they performed for an audience of 7,500 at the Nyungsung Presbyterian Church service, singing “Amazing Grace” with… Read More →
To complement the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! composer residencies, VocalEssence has developed the ¡Cantaré! Teacher Resource Guide and Companion Audio Files for teachers to use as a springboard for integration into the school curriculum prior to and after the residencies. It includes: Background information, lesson ideas and audio examples of high-quality Mexican folk and choral music Activities that will… Read More →
