In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Wilhelm Stenhammar. Wilhelm Stenhammar 1871-1927 Wilhelm Stenhammar was a Swedish pianist, self-taught composer, and conductor whose pioneering compositions evolved over three musical periods. He grew up in a home where the arts were strongly encouraged:… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Sir John Stainer. John Stainer 1840-1901 Sir John Stainer was an English organist, church composer, and a pioneering early musicologist. As a boy, Stainer sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral and was appointed… Read More →
By Amy Melin | Twin Cities PBS https://www.tptoriginals.org/a-pandemic-didnt-stop-this-choir-from-singing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post-mno&utm_campaign=&utm_term=&utm_content=pandemic-choir&fbclid=IwAR2LJLX2MpMIUFD5wdvl5ZE14vBdo3yLwlQ1kiBk-HRTvUhaCOWkHNlSljA When COVID-19 first showed up in the U.S., G. Phillip Shoultz III, like many Americans, had no idea what was ahead. “All of us naively thought this is just going to be a few weeks and we’ll get back to our lives,” he reflects. But the director of… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Bob Chilcott. Bob Chilcott b. 1955 Bob Chilcott is a British conductor, singer, and composer of music that choirs at all levels love to sing. Chilcott sang in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, first… Read More →
By Angela Johnson | Edina Magazine Published: JUNE 2020 https://edinamag.com/vocalessence-celebrates-black-families-fathers-day-livestream?fbclid=IwAR19v75-DbqxW-NYpw-o_W-sLs-8rjU4VvjvBVqCrEUsx_hs_uWPcNrvEvI VocalEssence presents a livestream sing-along and concert to honor black fathers. PHOTO BY: KYNDELL HARKNESS G. Phillip Shoultz III of St. Louis Park, Minn. can picture the Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Atlanta, Ga. where an Atlanta police officer shot Rayshard Brooks following a struggle… Read More →
By Terry Blain | Star Tribune Published: December 20, 2019 — 8:20AM http://www.startribune.com/the-10-concerts-that-shone-brightest-in-2019-on-minnesota-s-classical-scene/566373282/ 1. “Candide,” VocalEssence, March 21: Leonard Bernstein’s Voltaire operetta is tough to stage, but Theater Latté Da’s Peter Rothstein recast it brilliantly as a 1930s radio broadcast. VocalEssence made the music sparkle, with Bradley Greenwald narrating. 2. St. John Passion, Oratory Bach Ensemble,… Read More →
TUESDAY 8/27/2019 Hands We each went our own ways this morning and early afternoon. Some visited Frieda Kahlo’s house Casa Azul, some the Museo Nacional de Antropología, and some Castillo de Chapultepec. There is no end to the beauty and wonders of Mexico City. At 3:30 we put on our concert clothes and piled… Read More →
In his “wonderful and busy” June and July, Artistic Director Philip Brunelle has been making music with old friends and new. He returned to the podium to conduct the Lake Harriet Pops Orchestra, a post he held for 10 seasons, and filled the air outside the Lake Harriet Bandshell with the music of Bernstein and… Read More →
In case you missed it, these were just a few high points from the 2017 VocalEssence WITNESS concert at Orchestra Hall: 1. Hearing songs from three local composers (Daniel Kantor’s “River Holy”, Emily Feld’s “The Gift to Sing”, and Jake Runestad’s “We Can Mend the Sky”). The concert served as the world premiere of Feld’s… Read More →
Students from six Twin Cities high schools gathered on Monday, November 16 at Southwest High School in Minneapolis for their first rehearsal with VocalEssence Associate Conductor G. Phillip Shoultz, III to prepare for their performance with VocalEssence and the Morehouse College Glee Club for the WITNESS concerts in February 2016. Students learned five songs, rehearsed… Read More →
Young Minneapolis composer Jake Runestad connects with the struggles of war veterans in “Dreams of the Fallen.” By Kristin Tillotson, Star Tribune OCTOBER 4, 2015 — 2:00PM Photos by RICHARD TSONG-TAATARII • rtsong.taatarii@startribune.com Minneapolis composer Jake Runestad, a rising figure on the national classical scene, ties topical issues to his music. On Sunday VocalEssence performs… Read More →
When a co-worker suggested to Jenny Wade in 2011 that she might be a good fit to take his place on the VocalEssence board of directors, he didn’t know that she enjoyed singing and was in her church choir—a good fit indeed. So that Jenny might get a better feel for what VocalEssence is about,… Read More →
By Graydon Royce Star Tribune July 2, 2015 — 3:00 pm Video (03:27): It takes Don Shelby two hours to transform into Mark Twain for the L’Homme Dieu Theatre production of River Songs with Mark Twain in Alexandria, Minn. Alexandria, Minn. – The show started about midnight. High above the campfire audience at Theatre L’Homme… Read More →
“There is nothing like seeing the face of a composer who hears his or her music sung for the first time,” says Kimberly Meisten, VocalEssence director of community engagement. VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! composers Julio Morales and Jean Angelus Pichardo returned to the Twin Cities in March for a two-week stay to help teach their newly composed… Read More →
Sample Program I O Praise the Lord of Heaven (William Billings) The Day Is Done (Stephen Paulus) Zuni Sunrise Song (Brent Michael Davids) Zion’s Walls (Aaron Copland) Oh Susannah (Stephen Foster, arr. Edwin Fissinger) Dixie (Daniel Emmet [attributed], arr. Norman Luboff) Camptown Races (Stephen Foster, arr. Jack Halloran) “Gloria” from The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass (Carol Barnett)… Read More →
