byAlaina Rooke | December 5, 2018: https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_post/community/a-measured-breath-but-no-rest-for-golden-valley-music/article_74816f46-f75e-11e8-9af1-b771ceaf37f4.html Top Minnesota choir director and longtime resident Philip Brunelle looks to 50th year   “One of my mottos is you don’t know if you don’t ask,” explained Philip Brunelle of attracting top guest talent to VocalEssence, a premier choral organization he founded in 1969. “You have a 50-percent chance of…  Read More →

by Kathy Berdan October 4, 2018: https://www.twincities.com/2018/10/04/vocalessence-50th-anniversary-concert-ordway-st-paul-philip-brunelle-aaron-copland-cantare/ Harmony through harmony. That’s a good description of what Twin Cities choral stalwart VocalEssence has been doing for half a century. Founder and director Philip Brunelle and the group’s 30-member professional Ensemble Singers recently returned from a trip to Mexico City, where they performed with 30 Mexican singers and a…  Read More →

By Pamela Espeland | 10:05 am August 31, 2018 https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2018/08/vocalessence-on-tour-in-mexico-peter-lorre-series-at-the-trylon/ The news about U.S.-Mexico relations continues to seesaw. After threats, tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, there’s a new free-trade deal in the works. There’s endless talk about a border wall and who will or won’t pay for it. ICE raids keep netting Mexican nationals. But this…  Read More →

By Terry Blain Special to the Star Tribune APRIL 19, 2018 — 11:49AM http://www.startribune.com/choral-legend-lands-in-minnesota-with-music-composed-especially-for-vocalessence/480270893/ Englishman John Rutter is a phenomenon in the world of choral music, celebrated worldwide for the easy melodiousness of his music — and the joy it brings to those who sing it. His Minnesota connections date back more than three decades, to…  Read More →