by Gianna Kordatzky March 30, 2015 Classical Music Jean Angelus Pichardo grew up just outside of Mexico City and picked up a guitar when he was eight. You will find a guitar in most Mexican homes, and Jean’s was no different. As a confident 8-year-old, he asked his music teacher at school if he could… Read More →
CONTACT: Katrina Wallmeyer 612-547-1472 katrina@vocalessence.org VOCALESSENCE WELCOMES SIX NEW BOARD MEMBERS MINNEAPOLIS — March 18, 2015 — Minneapolis-based choral ensemble VocalEssence announced today that six new members have joined its Board of Directors – Ann Farrell, Joe Kalkman, Alfred Moore, David Myers, Timothy C. Takach, and Dorene Tebbe Wernke. All six new board members have… Read More →
CONTACT: Jennifer Weismann 612-716-0556 Jennifer@owl-marketing.com VOCALESSENCE DIALS BACK THE CLOCK FOR THE RADIO HOUR Twin Cities ensemble celebrates the golden age of radio at A Prairie Home Companion’s Fitzgerald Theater—Mar. 14-15 MINNEAPOLIS — February 12, 2015 — The 32-voice Ensemble Singers and acclaimed Minneapolis actress Christina Baldwin will take center stage at the famed Minnesota… Read More →
Congratulations to pianist, composer, arranger and producer Sanford Moore, who received the Reatha Clark King Award on Sunday, February 8 at the VocalEssence WITNESS: Let Freedom Ring concert at Orchestra Hall and was presented with a one-of-a-kind work of art created by past WITNESS Teaching Artist Ta-Coumba Aiken. The Reatha Clark King Award for Excellence… Read More →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kud0XlhKIvo The WITNESS: Let Freedom Ring concert on Sunday, February 8, will find Orchestra Hall ringing with uplifting messages of love and peace for all humankind, brought by the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness, directed by Gary Hines, as they join with the VocalEssence Chorus in paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the… Read More →
On Arts Advocacy Day, February 19, VocalEssence staff members gathered with like-minded art lovers and shared with legislators the importance of the arts to our lives, communities and economy. Senator Bill Weber from southwestern Minnesota was one of many legislators visited by arts advocates including Katrina Wallmeyer, director of development and communications at VocalEssence, pictured… Read More →
Review: VocalEssence and the Singers bring new work and traditional carols as highlights of the Christmas choral season By WILLIAM RANDALL BEARD, Special to the Star Tribune Updated: December 8, 2014 – 9:00 PM The highlight of this holiday season’s choral concerts will likely be “A Light in the Stable,” by English composer Alan Bullard, written… Read More →
By Rob Hubbard, Special to the Pioneer Press December 5, 2014 An Arctic winter deserves some Christmas music from up around the Arctic Circle. They know something about staying warm on cold nights in the Nordic lands of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and Friday night’s first of local choral powerhouse VocalEssence’s “Welcome Christmas” concerts… Read More →
Sara Pajunen, who describes herself in this video as a “violinist and fiddler of Finnish-American ancestry,” shares why she is excited to be part of the upcoming Welcome Christmas concerts. It should come as no surprise, since the program celebrates Scandinavian and Nordic yuletide traditions with carols from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. You can… Read More →
VocalEssence has won an Arts Learning grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to expand our ¡Cantaré! program to Rochester, Minnesota. This means that several schools and community choirs in Rochester will have three-week residencies with Mexican composers Rodrigo Cadet and Novelli Jurado, and will host a Community Concert with VocalEssence. Rodrigo will be working with… Read More →
Libby Larsen Libby Larsen (b. 24 December 1950, Wilmington, Delaware) is one of America’s most performed living composers. She has created a catalogue of over 500 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral works and more than 15 operas. Libby is a Grammy Award-winner and is widely recorded,… Read More →
Who can apply? If you are a permanent resident of Minnesota, you can apply! What do I need to submit? An online application that includes: Evidence of a musical work written for voice—one piece only Any medium is acceptable, including scores, MP3 files of a live or midi performance, or video Works DO NOT have to… Read More →
You may have seen them on national television—“From the Top at Carnegie Hall,” NBC’s Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, and “Good Morning America” for starters. And their founder and conductor, MacArthur “genius” Fellow Francisco J. Núñez, was recently profiled on Fox & Friends and interviewed on a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works Media… 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 Ensemble Singers, joined by The St. Olaf Choir and the 160-voice Minnesota Honors Choir, in… 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 at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. The evening seamlessly blended American folk traditions with choral masterpieces old… Read More →
