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VOCALESSENCE ANNOUNCES CONCERTS FOR 2026-27 SEASON
Audiences are invited to experience the full range of the choral art—ancient to brand-new, intimate to monumental—in the 58th season of Minnesota’s premier choral organization 

MINNEAPOLIS—September 8, 2026—VocalEssence, one of the world’s premier choral music organizations, today announces the performances in its 58th concert season. The six concerts in the 2026-2027 season cover the exhilarating breadth of the choral art, with performances showcasing both the familiar and the innovative, both the intimate and the immense—with every program matched with the perfect venue to make the music soar. The season opens with the thrill of more than 200 voices, a full orchestra, and twelve harps performing Berlioz’s monumental Te Deum at the Cathedral of Saint Paul and closes with a finale that sets seven newly commissioned works about sin against the serene grace of Fauré’s Requiem at Ted Mann Concert Hall. In between: a period-instrument Bach Christmas Oratorio; the warm fellowship of Welcome Christmas with a world premiere commission from Minnesota composer Shruthi Rajasekar; the return of VocalEssence WITNESS to Orchestra Hall with The Poet Sings; and a not-to-be-missed Twin Cities visit from the world-renowned Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.  

“We might be setting a new bar for what a single season can deliver to audiences, but it will be worth it!” says Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence artistic director and founder. “We open with a program of French masterworks, including Berlioz’s Te Deum, at a fantastic production scale. We’ll have more than 200 voices, a full orchestra, and twelve harps. And in the grandeur of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, the audience will be immersed in the music many will not have experienced before. And we close the season with the Midwest premiere of music from seven different U.S. composers, each composer reckoning in a different style with one of the seven deadly sins, before rising into the grace and optimism of Fauré’s Requiem. It’s going to be a memorable, and certainly fun, season!” 

“The choral experience can mirror the human experience in all its complexity,” says G. Phillip Shoultz, III, VocalEssence associate artistic director. “We push the format further for this year’s WITNESS concert, a true multidisciplinary performance with Minneapolis-based hip-hop artist, Nur-D joining our Chorus, teenage Singers Of This Age, and our elder Vintage Voices to trace a line from West African griots to the storytellers making good trouble today. We are thrilled to welcome back the Black Owned Business and Storytellers Showcase and the Lead with Love Pledge to the WITNESS concert.” 

The VocalEssence 2026-2027 Season includes: 

Lineage: French Choral Masterworks
Cathedral of Saint Paul, St. Paul
Friday, October 30, 2026, 7:30 PM 

Step into the Cathedral of Saint Paul for an evening of music as awe-inspiring as the space itself. Four generations of French composers converge in one performance, linking teacher to student in this grand season opener. The evening concludes with Berlioz’s Te Deum featuring more than 200 voices, full orchestra, and twelve harps. VocalEssence brings to life this masterwork of epic proportions written for the architecture of the Cathedral itself—where organ and orchestra play across the nave, answering each other in dialogue. Join us for an immersive experience that’s sure to take your breath away. 

Bach Christmas Oratorio
St. Thomas More Catholic Church, St. Paul
Friday, December 4, 2026, 7:30 PM
Westwood Lutheran Church, St. Louis Park
Saturday, December 5, 2026, 4 PM
Period instruments join forces with virtuosic voices for a beloved holiday tradition. Join the Bach Society of Minnesota Orchestra and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers for Cantatas 1, 2, and 6 from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio along with a New Year’s special: Cantata BWV 41. Like your family’s annual holiday cookie bake, enjoy treasured favorites along with something new. Conductors Philip Brunelle and Matthias Maute lead the way on this vivid musical journey through the mystery of the nativity. 

Welcome Christmas
Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis
Friday, December 11, 2026, 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 12, 2026, 12–1 PM (Sensory & Kid Friendly) & 3 PM
Sing in the Season of Joy with VocalEssence! Welcome Christmas is an interactive celebration of holiday favorites from around the world—performed by all four VocalEssence choirs with harp, marimba, trumpet, guitar, organ, and you—the audience! Commissions are at the heart of this cherished tradition, and this year brings two: Conrad Susa’s beloved Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest (commissioned in 1992), alongside the world premiere of a new commission by Minnesota’s own Shruthi Rajasekar, set to the poetry of Christina Rossetti. Experience glorious sounds that will leave you feeling festive and ready to celebrate the season. 

WITNESS: The Poet Sings
Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis
Sunday, February 28, 2027, 4 PM
WITNESS: The Poet Sings will explore how social change evolves through music and poetry. Minneapolis based hip-hop artist, Nur-D will join forces with the VocalEssence Chorus, Singers Of This Age, and Vintage Voices to trace the lineage of West African griots and African American poets from the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, juxtaposed alongside present-day storytellers (spoken word artists, rappers, poets, etc.) who use their voices to make good trouble. Featuring our second Black Owned Business and Storytellers Showcase. 

Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Cathedral of Saint Paul, St. Paul
Friday, April 16, 2027, 7:30 PM
Presented in collaboration with the Cathedral Heritage Foundation
Experience the magnificent voices of the world-renowned Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, in the soaring acoustics of the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Celebrated for its stunning artistry and centuries-old legacy, the Choir—under the direction of Daniel Hyde—will present an uplifting evening of choral music that is sure to inspire you. Please note: VocalEssence will not perform at this concert. 

Temptation to Tranquility
Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis
Friday, May 14, 2027, 7:30 PM
One of the most serene works in the choral tradition, Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, comes face to face with the genre-defying song cycle SEVEN: A Cycle of Sins. In an all-star lineup of composer-lyricist teams spanning opera, Broadway, jazz, and experimental music, each piece confronts a single deadly sin: Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Greed, Vanity. Conceived as a modern mirror to Fauré’s masterpiece, SEVEN channels the noise and pull of daily struggle, capturing the weight of being human. In his Requiem, however, Fauré offers something we rarely get to feel: stillness. Setting aside judgment and fire, Fauré composed a work of quiet reassurance—proof that peace isn’t something that waits for us at the end, but something we can find in the midst of living. 

Tickets go on sale September 8, 2026. For tickets, details about the season, and other information, please visit www.vocalessence.org. 

VocalEssence, the choral organization Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones says “sings magnificently,” provides opportunities that draw upon the power of singing together to nurture community, inspire creativity, affirm the value of all persons, and expand the impact of choral music. VocalEssence was founded in 1969 and through its performance series has debuted more than 300 commissions and world premieres. VocalEssence Learning & Engagement programs help people of all ages bridge, create, and learn across cultures by connecting them with renowned choral experts to provide exceptional role models, grow community self-esteem, self-expression, and engagement. For more information, visit www.vocalessence.org. 

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