October 24, 2023 By Rob Hubbard | Star Tribune https://www.startribune.com/queen-adam-lambert-the-1975-get-out-vocalessence-mariology-gordon-parks-haunted-roundhouse/600314329/?refresh=true Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead. VocalEssence and the St. Olaf Choir Here’s a meeting of two groups that remain the gold standard for the richly textured Upper Midwest style of choral singing. The concert features VocalEssence’s Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz…  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 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 →

by Rob Hubbard Star Tribune | July 1, 2022 Tickets are on sale for VocalEssence’s 2022-23 season, which opens with an evening of music by composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn at Arden Hill’s Bethel University (Oct. 15). Then Spain’s Montserrat Boys Choir visits the Midwest for the first time (Nov. 11, Basilica of st. Mary,…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard  Star Tribune | March 29, 2022 https://www.startribune.com/vocalessence-revisits-dylan-classics/600160297/  The choral group will perform the bard’s songs in Detroit Lakes Friday, Grand Rapids Saturday and Red Wing April 30. VOCALESSENCE VocalEssence’s “Bob Dylan Revisited” Tour will include the choir, accompanied by a string quintet and piano. Well, if you’re traveling in the north country…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Special to the Star Tribune | August 27, 2021 https://www.startribune.com/top-10-classical-music-concerts-for-fall-2021/600097792/ ‘Opera Afuera’ Minnesota Opera originally planned to open its season at the St. Paul Saints’ ballpark, but moved its presentation of Latin American vocal music and operatic excerpts to Minnesota United’s soccer pitch. Fort Worth Symphony leader Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts. Scarves optional.…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Special to the Star Tribune | August 6, 2021   Christmas with J. S. Bach, a road trip with Bob Dylan and an oratorio by an alum of British rock trio the Police: That’s what VocalEssence has in store for 2021-22. The colossus among Minnesota choral organizations will be back to performing…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Special to the Star Tribune | May 14, 2021 https://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-choral-group-vocalessence-continues-to-bear-witness-to-black-composers/600056773/?refresh=true The Minneapolis choral organization has led the way for three decades. Photo credit: ANNA MIN VocalEssence members rehearsed for the Witness program with associate conductor G. Phillip Shoultz III at Bethel College’s Benson Concert Hall in St. Paul. Photo by Anna Min…  Read More →

Rob Hubbard Special to the Star Tribune | March 18, 2021—10:49AM https://www.startribune.com/once-viewed-as-potential-super-spreaders-minnesota-choirs-are-emerging-again/600035749/?om_rid=1590517193&om_mid=2499842505 One more welcome sign of spring:  Minnesota choirs are emerging from hibernation. Dwight Jilek conducted members of Magnum Chorum for their livestream this month. Photo by Flight Creative Media For a state dubbed “The Land of 10,000 Choirs,” the pandemic has been particularly…  Read More →