In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Susan LaBarr. Susan LaBarr b. 1981 Susan LaBarr is a leading American 21st-century choral composer. She attended Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Coreen Duffy. Coreen Duffy b. 1976 Dr. Coreen Duffy is the Interim Director of Choral Activities at the University of Montana School of Music, where she conducts the Chamber Chorale, Cantemus Women’s Choir, and University… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Thea Musgrave. Thea Musgrave b. 1928 Rich and powerful musical language and a strong sense of drama make Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave one of the most respected contemporary composers in the Western world. Born in… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Diana Syrse. Diana Syrse b. 1984 Diana Syrse is a Mexican composer and singer, who studied composition at the Facultad de Música, further obtaining two Masters Degrees at CalArts and the Hochschule für Musik und… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Jennifer Higdon. Jennifer Higdon b.1962 Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed and most frequently performed living composers. She is a major figure in contemporary Classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Emma Lou Diemer. Emma Lou Diemer b. 1927 Emma Lou Diemer is an American composer and organist known for her works for organ and choir. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, her father, George, was an… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Imogen Holst. Imogen Holst 1907-1984 Imogen Holst was a significant 20th-century English writer on music, conductor, composer, and administrator. The daughter of Gustav Holst, she studied composition at the Royal College of Music with George… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Sasha Johnson Manning. Sasha Johnson Manning b.1963 Sasha Johnson Manning is an English composer, vocalist, and cellist, whose choral works are frequently performed throughout Europe. She began composing at the age of seven and studied… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Dale Trumbore. Dale Trumbore b. 1987 Dale Trumbore is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music features soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies. Trumbore holds a dual degree in Music Composition and English from the… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Janika Vandervelde. Janika Vandervelde b. 1955 Janika Vandervelde is an American composer, pianist, and music educator, whose work, notable for its feminist and ecological themes, has won numerous awards. Born in Ripon, Wisconsin, she began… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Katherine K. Davis. Katherine K. Davis 1892-1980 Katherine K. Davis, an American pianist, composer, and educator, is best-known for her Christmas tune, Little Drummer Boy. Davis took her first piano lesson as a first grader,… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Lena McLin. Lena McLin b. 1928 Lena McLin, known as the woman who launched a thousand careers, is an African American musician, music teacher, author, pastor, and composer. McLin earned a Bachelor’s degree in music,… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Mabel Daniels. Mabel Daniels 1877-1971 The American composer Mabel Wheeler Daniels was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts to a musical family; both her grandfathers were church musicians, and her parents sang in Boston’s Handel and Haydn… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Cecilia McDowall. Cecilia McDowall b.1951 Born in London in 1951, Cecilia McDowall’s writing combines rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism. She has won many awards, been short-listed eight times for the British Composer Awards, and in… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Ysaÿe M. Barnwell. Ysaÿe M. Barnwell b. 1946 The composer and singer Ysaÿe M. Barnwell writes meaningful music that choirs love to sing. After studying violin for fifteen years and majoring in music in high… Read More →
