Cathy Wurzer and Melissa Townsend Minnesota Now, MPR | February 22, 2023 https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/02/22/joe-davis-is-reawakening-love Artist Joe Davis gives a spoken word performance during the 37th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration: Building Black Wealth event on Jan. 16. Tim Evans for MPR News Minneapolis-based artist, speaker and educator Joe Davis is having a breakout year. He tours…  Read More →

By Sheila Regan MinnPost | February 23, 2023 https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2023/02/weekend-picks-celebrate-black-history-month-in-song-and-essays-a-night-in-havana-and-more/ A world of Twin Cities art and culture awaits this weekend after the snowstorm. VocalEssence celebrates Black History Month with Joe Davis and The New Renaissance, in the choral performance, “WITNESS: Reawakening Love.”   Snowstorm? What snowstorm? After this madness has passed, the world of Twin…  Read More →

By Star Tribune Staff Star Tribune | February 23, 2023 startribune.com/muse-chapel-hart-vocalessence-dona-peron-bob-weir-resurgence-kahlil-robert-irving-evanescence/600253755/?refresh=true Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead. Muse & Evanescence Minneapolis is the second stop on a tour that kicks off Saturday in Chicago, so it’s impossible to say what the arty, Rush-channeling British rockers in Muse will have up their sleeves. Their…  Read More →

A.J. Hilton and Heather Brown interview G. Phillip Shoultz, III and Joe Davis on WCCO On Monday, February 20, Joe Davis, artist, and G. Phillip Shoultz, III, associate artistic director were interviewed on WCCO. They shared information about the collaboration between Joe Davis and VocalEssence and what to expect at WITNESS: Reawakening Love on Saturday,…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Star Tribune | December 8, 2022 https://www.startribune.com/8-great-holiday-concerts-by-twin-cities-area-classical-groups/600234050/?refresh=true From a couple of different renditions of “Messiah” to choirs to “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” there’s something for everyone. Hallelujah! One of America’s best versions of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” will rise again for the first time since 2019. And Yuletide carols will be…  Read More →

by Amy Donahue Twin Cities Arts Reader | October 31, 2022 PREVIEW: The Montserrat Boy Choir’s Minnesotan Adventure The Montserrat Boy Choir. One of the most-anticipated performances coming to the Twin Cities is coming all the way from Catalonia. The Montserrat Boy Choir, an elite choir from one of Spain’s oldest music schools, will perform at…  Read More →

Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence artistic director and founder, was featured on The Importance of the Arts to History with WCCO’s Jearlyn Steele on October 30,2022 to talk about Montserrat Boy Choir. Philip Brunelle’s interview begins at 32:55. Check out the interview below. https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/jearlyn-steele-152/the-importance-of-the-arts-to-history-1534405972

By Sheila Regan MinnPost | October 13, 2022 https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2022/10/weekend-picks-first-ever-twin-cities-art-week-events-at-penumbra-and-the-capri-chihuly-queen-sonja-of-norways-visit/ It’s the Twin Cities Art Week this week, a new festival of sorts where all kinds of galleries and museums are spiffed up with special events. Plus a lot more. It’s the Twin Cities Art Week this week, a new festival of sorts where all kinds of…  Read More →

by Robert Atendido Twin Cities Geek | October 13, 2022 https://twincitiesgeek.com/2022/10/vocalessence-a-minnesota-choral-institution-returns-for-its-54th-season/ In classical music circles, Minnesota has long been known as a center for choral music. In addition to world-renowned college choirs, such as the ones at St. Olaf, Concordia, and Gustavus Adolphus, the Twin Cities alone have dozens of different choral groups that one could…  Read More →

by Laurie Hertzel, Chris Hewitt, Chris Riemenschneider and Rob Hubbard Star Tribune | September 09, 2022 https://m.startribune.com/a-lasting-insight-to-queen-elizabeth-ii/600205208/?clmob=y&c=n&clmob=y&c=n Most Minnesotans never got the chance to even catch a glimpse of the late Queen Elizabeth II. But we have come to know her, in a way, through the movies, TV shows, songs and books about her and inspired…  Read More →