VocalEssence is spreading holiday cheer all around the Twin Cities metro this holiday season. In addition to our four Welcome Christmas concerts December 3-11, 2016 and two Star of Wonder concerts on Saturday, December 10, 2016, our voices will be heard far and wide. Review our schedule below and add us to your holiday festivities.… Read More →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbVj707Pc-U Melanie DeMore invites you to bring your family and friends to VocalEssence WITNESS: Underground Railroad this season.
The Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium, that is. 6,567 students are slated to attend the VocalEssence WITNESS Young People’s Concerts this February (1,000 more students than last season!). But here’s the catch … The cost of the VocalEssence WITNESS program and Young People’s Concerts is $28.50 per student, but in order to make this program affordable… Read More →
Inspiration abounded for teen moms and their children at Longfellow Alternative High School this November. Five African American teen moms from Minneapolis worked with guest artist Melanie DeMore, Associate Conductor G. Phillip Shoultz, III, and members of the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers to write lullabies for their babies. The program is part of the Lullaby Project,… Read More →
Thursday, November 17, 2016 is Give to the Max Day! 6,567 students are slated to attend the VocalEssence WITNESS Young People’s Concerts this February (1,000 more students than last season!). In order to make the concerts possible for everyone, we need to raise $25 per student. Sponsor a seat (or two) and pay it forward… Read More →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltoYgaufO0&feature=youtu.be This holiday, welcome Christmas to Minnesota through a journey to pueblos, ponderosas, and piñon, traveling under the power of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers. “We are privileged so many families make an annual tradition of joining VocalEssence for our exploration of Christmas music, each year viewed through a different lens,” said Philip Brunelle.… Read More →
As a professional choir conductor for 20 years, I’ve learned to read the subtle cues in the room before the singing starts, but I’d never before experienced a feeling quite like the one at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis on that July night. It was only a week since the tragedies in Falcon Heights and… Read More →
https://youtu.be/BEKXXfXOoZ8?list=PLaomE-4i9RydUE_0SKe6pitic5W-24X6r
The Voyage librettist Charles Bennett talks about what inspired him to compose the text for this new work. Hear the U.S. Premiere of The Voyage at the VocalEssence concert on Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 4 pm at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN.
VocalEssence WITNESS guest artist Melanie DeMore visited Minnesota the week of September 19-24, 2016 where she breathed life into the Underground Railroad theme for hundreds of students, teachers, and community members. Below is a list of all of Melanie’s activities that week: School Visits at Parkway Middle, North High School, Parkway Middle, Johnson Senior High School), where… Read More →
It was a surprise like no other. In cahoots with Philip Brunelle, Kay’s husband Mike commissioned five women composers to write a song based on one of Kay’s quilts. She was speechless at the reveal. “I can’t tell you how excited I am about this project,” Kay described later with tears in her eyes. “This… Read More →
VocalEssence announces the winners of its second annual ReMix mentorship, designed to foster the next generation of choral music composers. VocalEssence ReMix matches four emerging Minnesota composers with mentors for a six-month one-on-one partnership to help each composer complete two new, original choral pieces. These works will premiere at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)… Read More →
Inspired by Leonard Bernstein’s plea that we respond to violence with a renewed resolve “to make music more intensely, more beautifully, and more devotedly than ever before,” we as artists have gotten together to create a musical response to the most recent tragedies. We hope you will join us in our efforts to unite our… Read More →
Sixty five members of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers wowed more than 16,000 fans at Target Center with Andrea Bocelli on Tuesday, June 9. Selections ranged from opera standards to popular hits from the musical The Sound of Music. One VocalEssence Chorus member commented, “that was the most unforgettable experience and opportunity! Peruse photos of… Read More →
This fall VocalEssence hosts the U.S. premiere of The Voyage, a new piece by former King’s Singer and British composer Bob Chilcott, that connects singers across generations through music. Joining the VocalEssence Chorus will be singers from Minnesota Chorale’s Minneapolis Youth Chorus and Voices of Experience. Watch the video above produced for the premiere performance… Read More →
