In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Bobby McFerrin. Bobby McFerrin b. 1950 American composer and vocalist Bobby McFerrin is perhaps best-known for his piece, Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Born in Manhattan, Bobby came from a family of singers: Bobby’s father, the… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Jussi Chydenius. Jussi Chydenius b. 1972 Finnish composer and vocalist, Jussi Chydenius is a pioneering choral composer whose music combines pop and jazz harmonies to create vital original works. Born in Helsinki, he was very… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Tomás Luis de Victoria. Tomás Luis de Victoria 1548-1611 Tomás Luis de Victoria was the most famous composer in 16th-century Spain and was one of the most influential composers of the Catholic Reformation. He was… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Steven Stucky. Steven Stucky 1949-2016 Steven Stucky was a prolific Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, and later attended Baylor University and Cornell University where he. worked with… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Mansel Thomas. Mansel Thomas 1909-1986 Mansel Thomas was one of the most important and influential musicians of his generation in Wales. A native of South Wales, he was awarded the Rhondda Scholarship to the Royal… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer James Woodman. James Woodman b. 1957 James Woodman was born in Portland, Maine, and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Princeton University, and the New England Conservatory. He was appointed the first composer-in-residence at the Cathedral… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Hiram Titus. Hiram Titus 1947-2013 Minnesota composer Hiram Titus was associated with many local and regional theaters including the Guthrie Theatre and the Minneapolis Children’s Theater where he was Composer in Residence for four years.… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer George Philip Telemann. Georg Philip Telemann 1681-1767 Georg Philip Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld,… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Charles Wood. Charles Wood 1866-1926 Charles Wood was an Irish composer and teacher primarily remembered and performed as an Anglican church music composer. Wood received his early education at the Cathedral Choir School in Dublin… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Moses Pergament. Moses Pergament 1893-1977 Finnish/Swedish Composer and music critic Moses Pergament’s musical influences range from German Expressionism and French Impressionism to Jewish themes and Biblical cantillation. He started compositional studies in 1909 in the… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Josef Rheinberger. Josef Rheinberger 1839-1901 Josef Rheinberger was a Liechtenstein composer and teacher whose organ sonatas are among the finest 19th-century works for the instrument. At age five he received lessons in theory, pianoforte, and… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer John Knowles Paine. John Knowles Paine 1839-1906 John Knowles Paine was the first American-born composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music. In the 1850s Paine took lessons in organ and composition from Hermann Kotzschmar,… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Johann Pachelbel. Johann Pachelbel 1653-1706 Johann Pachelbel was a German composer, organist, and teacher whose large body of sacred and secular music and contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Jean-Jules Roger-Ducasse. Jean-Jules Roger-Ducasse 1873-1954 The French composer and teacher, Jean-Jules Roger-Ducasse, received a basic musical education in Bordeaux. In 1892 he moved to Paris and entered the Paris Conservatory to study music under Emile… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Anthony Piccolo. Anthony Piccolo b. 1946 A stroke of fate in the form of conductor Laszlo Halasz saved composer Anthony Piccolo from a life in a science laboratory when he was awarded a personal scholarship… Read More →
