We always look forward to our Welcome Christmas concerts for the joy and warmth that this music brings to everyone. In 2017 we wanted to celebrate some of the many, many composers living in our Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint…  Read more »

VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers Philip Brunelle, conductor In 1998, VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum joined forces to offer an annual contest encouraging the composition of new carols. Over the years hundreds of worthy carols have been submitted. “Behold This…  Read more »

Eiddwen Harrhy, soprano; Janis Hardy, alto; Dan Dressen, tenor; James Bohn, bass; Chorus of the Plymouth Music Series with orchestra; Philip Brunelle, conductor. British feminist Ethel Smyth’s epic Mass in D (1891, revised 1925), Mrs Waters’ Aria from her comic…  Read more »

Thought-provoking and moving music by eight modern composers spans the range of expression from solo cello to chorus, from jazz ensemble to woodwind quintet. Anthony Elliott, cello; Yolanda Williams, Dan Dressen, Maria Jette, soloists; VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus with…  Read more »

Please note: This is a download card, not a CD. Hear the world premiere of Eric Whitacre’s Nox Aurumque on this uniqute live recording of the complete “Eric Whitacre Extravaganza” concert. Choral superstar Eric Whitacre conducts the VocalEssence Chorus and…  Read more »

In 2011, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers criss-crossed Minnesota via historic Highway 23 to share with the state’s citizens the music of its choral composers, its singer-songwriters and the songs being sung by the people who have made Minnesota their home…  Read more »

Vibrant music from the crossroads — South and North, African and American, church and street — characterizes the era between 1914 and 1930. Jearlyn Steele, soprano; Michael Forest, tenor; Paul Shaw, piano; VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus with orchestra; Philip…  Read more »

Storyteller Garrison Keillor and conductor Philip Brunelle lead a harmonious celebration of all things Thanksgiving with the melodious voices of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers and their special guests, singer Jearlyn Steele and pianist Richard Dworsky. Along the way…  Read more »

Hymn to Potatoes (and other choral masterworks from A Prairie Home Companion) featuring Garrison Keillor and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers Who knew a choir could be this funny? Garrison Keillor, Philip Brunelle and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers dish up a…  Read more »

It’s time for another mashup of Minnesota musical genres, as Minnesotan choral legends VocalEssence and bluegrass quintet Monroe Crossing team up for a new recording, Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum. Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum is…  Read more »

Up-and-coming Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen considered a few different factors when he sat down to choose the pieces that would become Nordic Christmas. “I looked at works that have been personal favorites in my life and those I thought…  Read more »

VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers Sara Pajunen, fiddle Philip Brunelle, conductor Released in October 2015, Nordic Nativity is a wonderful exploration of beautiful music from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark—some of it familiar and some of it new. The Nordic composers…  Read more »

VocalEssence, Garrison Keillor and The Hopeful Gospel Quartet On November 23, 2004, the Hopeful Gospel Quartet — Garrison Keillor, Mollie O’Brien and Robin & Linda Williams — traded musical moments with the VocalEssence Chorus and Ensemble Singers in a concert…  Read more »

Benjamin Britten, W. H. Auden James Lawless, Pop Wagner, Elisabeth Comeaux, Dan Dressen, Vern Sutton, soloists; Plymouth Music Series Festival Chorus with orchestra; Philip Brunelle, conductor. Winner of the 1988 British Gramophone Award for Best Opera Recording.

William Grant Still’s music for chorus, orchestra and organ brings the blues into the concert hall, ragtime to the ballet stage and the Old World into a new era. William Warfield, narrator; Hilda Harris, Yolanda Williams, soloists; VocalEssence Ensemble Singers…  Read more »