The 10th Anniversary VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! composers are here! Bernardo Feldman and Jimena Contreras have been working with schools all over the metro and falling in love with the Twin Cities in the process. Below are a few highlights from their visit.

Jimena created a set of videos that gave the elementary students a tour of Mexico and Mexican culture. This has never been done before! The videos were colorful, and included cartoons and wonderful music. They showcased her experience as a film composer, and gave students a taste of Mexico. In addition to the videos, Jimena led the students in creating Mexican rain sticks.

Bernardo focused his efforts on electronic music, and incorporated this style into his discovery sessions with the high school students. On Friday the 13^th, he had the students at Como Park Senior High School and Osseo Senior High create a composition that reflected the spooky nature of the day, using anything they could find to make it musical. Some opened up the piano and used the strings, some moved chairs. Students loved it!

In addition to learning about Mexican culture and experimenting with music, Bernardo and Jimena talked with the students about the music that they would be creating. Students at Rosemount High School asked Bernardo to use poetry written by a student who was recently killed as a basis for the composition. Bernardo will be translating the poetry and adapting it to fit the music he will be creating.

See the list of schools participating in VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! this season, and put the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! 10^th Anniversary Concert on your calendar. Tickets will be available in mid-March 2018.