REVIEW: For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big with composer Jonathan Dove’s “There Was A Child.” For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big. There was soprano Maria Jette, tenor Dan Dressen, the St. Olaf Choir and Northfield Youth Choirs, more than…  Read More →

REVIEW: For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big with composer Jonathan Dove’s “There Was A Child.” For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big. There was soprano Maria Jette, tenor Dan Dressen, the St. Olaf Choir and Northfield Youth Choirs, more than…  Read More →

VocalEssence and The Singers each present multiple concerts featuring old and new holiday songs. By WILLIAM RANDALL BEARD, Special to the Star Tribune This time of year brings an abundance of choral activity, organizations vying to take advantage of all the holiday spirit. This weekend, two go head-to-head: the veteran VocalEssence, presenting “Welcome Christmas,” and…  Read More →

BY ROB HUBBARD Pioneer Press If it weren’t for Felix Mendelssohn, you may never have heard of Johann Sebastian Bach. Had the relatively obscure Bach not been extolled so avidly by Mendelssohn in the mid-19th century, what Bach works we know may have joined the ranks of the many that have disappeared. If it weren’t…  Read More →