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The American Composers Forum honors Philip Brunelle as the 2007 Champion of New Music

Listen to a special edition of Composers Datebook – Sep 28, 2007

Read story on Minnesota Public Radio

September 24, 2007 St. Paul, MN

On Friday, September 28, 2007, the American Composers Forum (ACF) will award its “Champion of New Music” Award to conductor Philip Brunelle, music director of the Minneapolis-based VocalEssence choral ensemble and long-time organist and choirmaster at Plymouth Congregational Church. The award will be presented to Brunelle at ACF’s Annual Meeting, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul.

The “Champion of New Music” Award was initiated three years ago by the Forum’s CEO and President John Nuechterlein. The purpose of the Award is to recognize artists who have made a significant local and national impact in their efforts to commission, perform, and promote new music by both American and international composers.

“In the case of Philip Brunelle, this is a richly-deserved award,” says John Nuechterlein. “Philip has been a true champion of new choral music and has commissioned and premiered over 120 works, beginning in 1973 with ‘Jonah and the Whale’ by the Minnesota-based composer Dominick Argento. Philip’s level of energy and enthusiasm for bringing new choral music to life is contagious. We’re proud that since 1997 Brunelle and Vocalessence have partnered with ACF in offering an annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest, selecting two newly-composed carols from the results of a national call for new choral works suitable for the Christmas season. This has been a very satisfying relation for us, and a rewarding one for the two composers selected each year.”

Previous recipients of ACF’s “Champion of New Music” Award have been the choral conductor Dale Warland (2005) and the St. Paul-based new music ensemble Zeitgeist (2006).

Brunelle featured on a special September 28 edition of “Composers Datebook” Listen

In honor of Brunelle’s “Champion of New Music” Award, ACF has prepared a special edition of Composers Datebook®, to air on the network stations of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) on Friday, September 28. Composers Datebook is a daily two-minute radio feature integrating contemporary composers into the continuum of classical music history. These features are produced by ACF and MPR for distribution by American Public Media.

The special September 28 edition of Composers Datebook will air locally on the MPR network at 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and can be heard nationally via the Composers Datebook website: www.composersdatebook.org.

About VocalEssence and Philip Brunelle:

Founded in 1969 under the name Plymouth Music Series, VocalEssence is recognized internationally for innovative exploration of music for voices and instruments. Each year the organization presents an engaging collection of concerts featuring the 120-voice VocalEssence Chorus and the 32-voice Ensemble Singers along with soloists and instrumentalists. There is no organization quite like VocalEssence in its range, variety and quality of performance.
For more information of Philip Brunelle and Vocalessence, visit their website: www.vocalessence.org.

About the American Composers Forum:

The American Composers Forum is one of the leading and most enterprising composer service organizations in the United States. The Forum was founded as the Minnesota Composers Forum in 1973 by a group of University of Minnesota graduate students. During its 31-year history, the Forum has grown into an organization with a multi-million dollar budget and a national sphere of influence. Its mission is to connect composers with communities and to encourage the making, playing, and enjoyment of new music.