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Beethoven meets poet Rita Dove: The week’s best classical concerts

By Terry Blain | Star Tribune Published: OCTOBER 6, 2019 — 2:00PM http://www.startribune.com/beethoven-meets-poet-rita-dove-the-week-s-best-classical-concerts/562199432/ Beethoven with a side of poetry “Sonata for a crazy mulatto.” The dedication Beethoven wrote on the score of his towering “Kreutzer” Sonata was presumably meant affectionately, but would not play well today. The dedicatee in question was George Bridgetower, an Afro-European…  Read More →

Behind the Music for Divine Light

October 4, 2019

Artistic Director Philip Brunelle carefully selected each piece for the Divine Light concert on Sunday, October 13th. Watch and read more about why below and purchase your tickets today! The Ensemble Singers are an amazing group—certainly Minnesota’s finest!  I want them to sing for you a program that gives you, the listener, an idea of…  Read More →

VocalEssence Gala 2020 Sponsors

Sponsoring the VocalEssence Gala 2020 has many advantages: Visibility to audience of more than 600 prominent business and community leaders Opportunity to support and partner with VocalEssence, an organization with decades of experience presenting concerts and education programs that engage, inspire, and entertain more than 30,000 people of all ages annually Brand equity in THE…  Read More →

Fall Arts 2019: Minnesota’s Must-See Autumn Shows

By Katie Ballalatak, Kyra Bowar, Kait Ecker, Reed Fischer, Jonah Harrison, Lianna Matt McLernon, Aidan O’Driscoll and Erik Tormoen | Minnesota Monthly August 27, 2019: https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/featured/homepage-feature/fall-arts-2019-minnesotas-must-see-autumn-shows/ Your guide to art, theater, dance, comedy, and music events in MN, September through December MusiC Sheer Mag September 8 | Turf Club, St. Paul The energetic Philadelphia power-pop quartet, led by tough-as-nails frontwoman Tina Halladay, is on…  Read More →

Event Reminder: Tales & Tunes – 9:30 AM!

Tales & Tunes Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 9:30 AM Larson Hall, American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis What to expect We will hear some wonderful stories—some familiar and some new—some will be sung and some will be read by acclaimed children’s book authors David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. Learn more about the event and what will happen…  Read More →

Explore the Limits of the Human Voice at Divine Light

September 17, 2019

Purchase your tickets to Divine Light on Sunday, October 13, 2019 by clicking here! A Silence Haunts Me In 2017, Jake Runestad travelled to Vienna and found himself in the Haus der Musik Museum in Vienna, where he encountered a facsimile of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament.  It was the first time he had read…  Read More →

Where in the World are the Conductors – September 2019

September 17, 2019

Returning from a VERY successful series of 4 concerts in Mexico City with the Ensemble Singers, Philip Brunelle immediately plunged into rehearsals for his 51st VocalEssence season as well as planning a number of special events for the fall and winter (with lots of meetings!).  Following the opening Retreat rehearsal the Ensemble Singers presented a…  Read More →

VocalEssence Vintage Voices Season Begins at Three Senior Centers

September 17, 2019

There are a lot of exciting opportunities in store for the VocalEssence Vintage Voices singers during the 2019-2020 season! Rehearsals have kicked off for the Park Singers at Parkshore Senior Community in Saint Louis Park, where 40 participating singers are working together to prepare a concert of folk songs, spirituals, doo wop, Broadway hits, and…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Days 8 & 9

September 5, 2019

SUNDAY 9/1/2019 and MONDAY 9/2/2019 The End and the Beginning   We are home, and after the whirlwind of Saturday and Sunday, the dust has settled.  I’m late in writing about our last days of our trip because I’m dazed, and it all seems like a dream.  But then I open my Facebook page, and…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Day 7

September 1, 2019

SATURDAY 8/31/2019 JOY AND WORK   Our day free, some of us went to the Zocalo, the city center, to see the Indigenous Festival; others went to a nearby shopping center to eat at the churro stand recommended by the president of the Orquesta de Mineria. Some of us went to Six Flags to ride…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Day 6

August 31, 2019

FRIDAY 8/30/2019 A THOUSAND SMALL MOMENTS   All week, I’ve been thinking about how to capture the connections we’ve made together, the new, raw friendships that make us buzzy, exhausted, and grateful.  I believe firmly in the broad brushstrokes of VocalEssence’s motto “Together We Sing.” Yes, world peace is possible when we raise our voices collectively in song.  Yes, in music, our…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Day 4

August 29, 2019

WEDNESDAY 8/28/2019 WHAT LASTS   “¿Listos?” Maestro Prieto said. He spoke in both English and Spanish, often switching mid-sentence. “¡Coro! No anxiety, sin ansiedad, about an early ‘s’, por un ‘s’ temprano, on the word ‘agnus.’” His speech was quick, and his gestures animated.  Giving direction to the basses, he said, “You sing like…” He…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Day 3

August 28, 2019

TUESDAY 8/27/2019 Hands   We each went our own ways this morning and early afternoon. Some visited Frieda Kahlo’s house Casa Azul, some the Museo Nacional de Antropología, and some Castillo de Chapultepec. There is no end to the beauty and wonders of Mexico City. At 3:30 we put on our concert clothes and piled…  Read More →

Postcards from Mexico-Day 2

August 27, 2019

MONDAY 8/27/2019 On Singing Softly   Six hours of painstaking rehearsal notes with our Mexican Coro de Mineria friends on the Verdi Requiem: we are exhausted, but happy. As all 80+ singers crammed together, we sat literally shoulder to shoulder. “I hope you enjoy being close,” Philip said after we greeted one another warmly. “Because…  Read More →