Philip Brunelle Shares 5 Facts on Minnesota Live
Philip Brunelle made an appearance on Minnesota Live on Thursday, February 1, 2024. Click the button below to watch Philip share 5 facts about himself and his musical career. Watch Now
Stories & Results
VocalEssence Holiday Programming 2023
VocalEssence has several opportunities to listen and watch over the holidays. Here are the ways you can enjoy VocalEssence programming: VocalEssence On Demand Enjoy inspiration on your schedule! This digital content is available whenever and wherever! View our digital releases-including the newly released highlights from Welcome Christmas 2023 at Northrop, the 2021-2022 Digital Season, single…
Where in the World Are the Conductors? October 2023
Philip Brunelle: The 55th VocalEssence season is in full swing and Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Founder and Artistic Director, is delighted to be rehearsing music for the October 29 opening concert with the Ensemble Singers and the Chorus. In late August he spent 10 days in Brittany and then visited daughter Elise and family in Vermont…
VocalEssence Welcomes New Board Members
VocalEssence is thrilled to announce the addition of six new members to its Board of Directors. The VocalEssence Board of Directors serve as ambassadors for the organization in the larger community. They also guide VocalEssence in all major policy decisions while ensuring the financial stability of the 55-year-old nonprofit. “I’m delighted to welcome our new…
Where in the World Are the Conductors? August 2023
Philip Brunelle: This month has been full of celebrations for Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Founder and Artistic Director. On August 14, the rain stopped and the clouds parted as 120 of Philip’s closest friends joined him in celebrating his 80th birthday at the home of Marilyn Carlson Nelson. It was a wonderful celebration of food, singing,…
Where in the World Are the Conductors? July 2023
Philip Brunelle: This month has been memorable in many ways for Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Founder and Artistic Director. With the VERY successful completion of the Bridge to the Future campaign where we reached our $4.5 million goal, we celebrated with a reception at the home of Cay Shea on a beautiful June evening. Several days later…
Where in the World Are the Conductors? June 2023
Philip Brunelle: The past month has been another busy one for Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Founder and Artistic Director. This is the time for auditions for the Ensemble Singers as well as new singers for the Chorus–so many hours have been filled with this important task. Putting the final touches on the 2023-2024 season (subscriptions are…
Bridge to the Future Meets Goal
VocalEssence is thrilled to share the wonderful news that the Bridge to the Future campaign has reached its goal of $4.5 million! Our deepest gratitude goes out to the 101 individuals and institutions who have invested in the future of VocalEssence and helped us surpass our initial goal by $1 million. These gifts are already…
VocalEssence Radio Special—Song of Joy: The Mendelssohns on YourClassical MPR
American Public Media and Classical Minnesota Public Radio will present a new VocalEssence radio special, Song of Joy: The Mendelssohns, hosted by John Birge. The one-hour program will air on Easter Sunday, April 9, at noon on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities and online at yourclassical.org. It will be available…
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age Perform at WCCO Holiday Tree Lighting
Members of the VocalEssence Singers Of This Age were honored to be invited—for the second year in a row—to sing for the annual WCCO Home for the Holidays Community Tree lighting ceremony on Wednesday, November 30. They performed holiday favorites to set the mood! Click the button below to watch their performance. WATCH NOW Each…
VocalEssence Holiday Programming 2022
VocalEssence has several opportunities to listen and watch over the holidays. Here are the ways you can enjoy VocalEssence programming: VocalEssence On Demand Enjoy inspiration on your schedule! This digital content is available whenever and wherever! Enjoy 2022-2023 Season digital releases-including highlights from Welcome Christmas 2022 at Northrop, the 2021-2022 Digital Season, single releases, and…
Thank you for your support at the VocalEssence 2022 Gala!
On September 24, many gathered together at the Hilton Minneapolis for the VocalEssence Gala 2022: Celebration of Song, which celebrated all the ways singing together improves our singers’ lives and our community! The evening was filled with song, a live and silent auction, delicious food, an engaging program with a powerful event video (see above),…
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age Joined Twin Cities Choirs for Reconcile
On Saturday, October 29, VocalEssence Singers Of This Age (VESOTA) had the opportunity to perform an inspiring evening of music at Reconcile: Singing Hope Into the World. VESOTA was joined by the Prince of Peace Celebration Choir, Minnesota Saints Chorale, A Cappella Choir from Westwood Lutheran Church, and special guest Joe Davis, who is an…
VocalEssence Announces New Mission, Vision, and Values Statements
VocalEssence is in the midst of an extended strategic planning process. The following mission, vision, and values statements are the first outcomes of this work. We are thrilled to present the following statements with you and look forward to sharing more with you as our plans for the future of VocalEssence unfold. Mission VocalEssence draws…
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age Members Receive Scholarships
VocalEssence is thrilled to announce that our VocalEssence Singers Of This Age (VESOTA) graduating seniors and mentor singers will receive scholarships to help them pursue their future dreams! In addition, VocalEssence will secure funding to continue to offer scholarships to future graduating members of VESOTA. Graduating VESOTA singers will be awarded funds for each year…