In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Robert Wetzler. Robert Wetzler b. 1932 Robert Wetzler is an American composer, organist, and choirmaster based in Minneapolis, MN, well-known for his sacred choral works. Wetzler earned his Bachelor of Arts from Thiel College and… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1844-1908 The Russian composer and educator Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a luminary of orchestral orchestrations. Born in Tikhvin into an aristocratic family, Rimsky-Korsakov showed musical ability from an early age but instead… 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 Howard Hanson. Howard Hanson 1896-1981 The American composer, conductor and teacher, Howard Hanson, promoted contemporary American music and was, in his compositions, a principal representative of the Romantic tradition. He studied at Luther College, with… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer César Franck. César Franck 1822-1890 César Franck, Belgian-French Romantic composer, organist, and music educator was one of the most powerful French composers in the second half of the 19th- century. Franck showed unmistakable musical gifts… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Leoš Janáček. This episode features Soprano Maria Jette. Leoš Janáček 1854-1928 Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, conductor, organist, folk song collector, and teacher known for his unique compositional style influenced by Moravian folk music.… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington 1899-1974 Considered one of the greatest jazz composers of all time, Duke Ellington had an enormous impact on the popular music of the late 20th century. Born in Washington D.C. in… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Manuel de Sumaya. Manuel de Sumaya 1678-1755 The most outstanding composer of Mexican Baroque music aside from Ignacio de Jerusalem, Manuel de Sumaya was likely born in or around Mexico City in the late 1670s,… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Peter Cornelius. This episode features Mezzo-Soprano Clara Osowski. Peter Cornelius 1824-1874 Peter Cornelius’s versatility as a composer, writer, and translator makes him one of the most distinguished German composers of the 19th-century. Born into a… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Jonathan Harvey. Jonathan Harvey 1939-2012 Born in Warwickshire in 1939, Jonathan Harvey was a chorister at St Michael’s College, Tenbury, and later a major music scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge. He gained doctorates from… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Sir John Stainer. John Stainer 1840-1901 Sir John Stainer was an English organist, church composer, and a pioneering early musicologist. As a boy, Stainer sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral and was appointed… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Gioachino Rossini. This episode features a duet with Soprano Maria Jette and Mezzo-Soprano Clara Osowski. Gioachino Rossini 1792-1868 No composer in the first half of the 19th century enjoyed the measure of prestige, wealth, popular… Read More →
In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Harold Darke. This episode features Tenor Bradley Greenwald. Harold Darke 1888-1976 Harold Darke bears a distinguished and honorable place in the annals of 20th-century choral music. As organist of St Michael’s Church, Cornhill, in the… 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 Knut Nystedt. Knut Nystedt 1915-2014 Knut Nystedt was a Norwegian composer, conductor, organist, and music teacher. Living to age 99 he held a central position throughout a long period of rapidly shifting musical currents. With… Read More →
