The Joy of Spring with Maureen McGovern
Sunday, April 6, 2008, 4 pm
Concert Conversation at 3 pm
The Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul, MN
Tickets $20-$35 (Service charges may apply. Student tickets are half price. Group discounts available.)
To order, call 612-673-0404 or go to vocalessence.org.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (February 20, 2008) – Grammy nominated and Oscar winning vocalist Maureen McGovern will sing with the backing of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers in concert at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater on Sunday, April 6 (4 pm). Charles Kemper will be at the piano and Philip Brunelle will conduct an afternoon of lighthearted music on the theme of “spring.” Adult tickets are priced at $20-$35 (students half-price, service charges apply). For tickets to The Joy of Spring with Maureen McGovern, please call 612-673-0404 or visit www.vocalessence.org.

Maureen McGovern first appeared with VocalEssence in Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing in 1999. Her charming performance as the winsome Mary Turner garnered acclaim from critic Michael Anthony, who wrote in the Star Tribune, “Her opulent tone and immaculate pitch would enhance any show.”

Together, Philip Brunelle and Maureen McGovern have selected songs for The Joy of Spring that will highlight her “Stradivarius Voice” as well as the “glorious, full throated singing” (Star Tribune) of the 120-voice VocalEssence Chorus.

The concert will begin with a set featuring the 32-voice Ensemble Singers sampling romantic and classical music from days of madrigals to the 20th century. Following a solo set by Maureen with songs like “It Was Just One of Those Things,” “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” and “Blues in the Night,” the first half closes with the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers performing the choral version of the Blue Danube Waltz.

After intermission, the Ensemble Singers will premiere “The Coming of Spring,” a beautiful new work by Carleton professor Gao Hong with the composer herself on pipa (Chinese lute, of which she is a world renowned master). Then Maureen returns to sing a suite of light-hearted tunes with the backing of the Ensemble Singers & Chorus—all the way from “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

For press information and photographs related to The Joy of Spring with Maureen McGovern, contact Katryn Conlin (612-547-1457, kconlin@vocalessence.org).

Download a high resolution photograph of Maureen McGovern from the image gallery.
Biography: Maureen McGovern
Biography: Gao Hong