VocalEssence has partnered with the Minnesota Humanities Center’s Veterans’ Voices Program, which draws on the power of the humanities to call attention to the stories and contributions of veterans. This initiative amplifies, honors and recognizes the stories and contributions of Minnesota veterans in their own voice through plays, art, discussion groups, and the Veterans’ Voices… Read More →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC4EWANvsp4&feature=youtu.be October is Veterans’ Voices Month, as proclaimed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2014, and VocalEssence will open our 47th Season on October 11 with Dreams of the Fallen, a tribute to U.S. military Veterans. Jake Runestad, whose monumental work with Iraq war Veteran and poet Brian Turner provides the centerpiece and title for the… Read More →
Elementary School Residency – Alephsus Valdés Alephsus Valdés has spent his career on musical production and recording, covering the whole process from composing, arranging, recording, mixing and post producing. As a composer, his works focus on theatrical, orchestral, film, and chamber music, with arrangements for different instrumentations. His compositions include writing the entire score for… 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 →
A new VocalEssence program is working wonders for senior singers and their communities! Vintage Voices, which integrates the arts into the lives of older adults by creating choirs in assisted living communities and senior centers, has inspired older adults at Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood (shown above in their spring concert video), Sabathani Community Center Senior… Read More →
Celebrating rich Mexican musical traditions, VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! is a cross-cultural exchange program connecting composers from Mexico with students of all ages across the metropolitan area. Beginning in 2008, VocalEssence began offering the ¡Cantaré! program to Minnesota school, church and community choruses. More than 60 new works have been commissioned and premiered through ¡Cantaré! — and… Read More →
Members of the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Magnum Chorum, led by guest conductor Mark Stover, artistic director of Magnum Chorum, engaged the audience with “Blessed Assurance” during the sing-along portion of their performance at Lyngblomsten Mid-Summer Festival in St. Paul on Saturday, July 11, 2015. The performance and sing-along of hymns, spirituals and choral classics… Read More →
For just about as long she can remember, Judy Drobeck has been singing. It started as it does for many children, “singing rounds and part songs with my family as we rode in the car or did the dishes—as early as 2 or 3 years old,” according to Judy. “My older sisters had learned some… Read More →
The VocalEssence production of The Radio Hour snagged a national debut in May on American Public Media’s YourClassical.org. Whether you missed the Midwest premiere performance in March or want to enjoy it all over again, take a look at this video of the 40-minute choral opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The VocalEssence… Read More →
After 12 weeks of rehearsals, the VocalEssence Vintage Voices choirs at Sabathani Community Center Senior Center (shown in the video above), Open Circle at Heritage Park Senior Services Center and Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood performed concerts at their respective locations; the concerts were free and open to the public with a reception following. All were… Read More →
Four talented, emerging composers/songwriters have been selected to have a six-month one-on-one composer mentorship through VocalEssence ReMix as they each write a choral work. Each has been paired with a Composer Mentor, and on Saturday, June 6, they will gather for a One-Day Summer Workshop where they will meet with VocalEssence Artistic Director and Founder Philip Brunelle, their… 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 →
On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, VocalEssence had the honor of participating in a true love story—a marriage proposal delivered via the VocalEssence Chorus with a piece composed by Mexican composer Novelli Jurado, a composer-in-residence for our ¡Cantaré! in Rochester school program. Novelli met Michelle Eng, his now-fiancé, while working with the 2012-2013 season of VocalEssence… Read More →
Older adults are pursuing active lives, and VocalEssence is gladly adding to their options with the launch of VocalEssence Vintage Voices—an exciting choral program that integrates the arts into the everyday lives of older adults by fostering the creation of choirs in assisted living facilities and senior centers. With funding from the Minnesota State Arts… Read More →
On Arts Advocacy Day, February 19, VocalEssence staff members gathered with like-minded art lovers and shared with legislators the importance of the arts to our lives, communities and economy. Senator Bill Weber from southwestern Minnesota was one of many legislators visited by arts advocates including Katrina Wallmeyer, director of development and communications at VocalEssence, pictured… Read More →
