MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (July 7, 2009) – This October, Grammy Award-winning British conductor Simon Halsey leads a British Invasion — conducting the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers in a program featuring beloved choral masterpieces and new influential works, all by British composers. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis will host the performance on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 8 pm.

Ranging from introspective to exuberant, this dynamic program features “Five Spirituals” from Michael Tippett’s most celebrated work, A Child of Our Time, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “Let All the World” from Five Mystical Songs, the American premiere of Julian Anderson’s Four American Choruses, and many others. Simon Halsey will join Minnesota Public Radio’s John Birge for a Concert Conversation at 7 pm.

Recognized as one of the world’s leading conductors of choral repertoire, Simon Halsey has been chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus for over 25 years and is chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir. He is also artistic director and founder of the dynamic professional choir European Voices, formed at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle.

Simon Halsey regularly conducts major choral projects with some of the world’s greatest orchestras. As chorus master, he has formed close partnerships with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado, Esa-Pekka Salonen and many more.

In 2009 Simon Halsey won a “Best Choral Performance” Grammy Award for his work on EMI Classics’ release of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms featuring Halsey’s own Berlin Radio Choir alongside the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. This is the second Grammy win for the celebrated partnership of Simon Halsey and Sir Simon Rattle: they also collaborated on the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem EMI disc that won the 2008 award.

British Invasion performance tickets ($20-$40, service charges apply) are available by calling 612-371-5656 or by visiting www.vocalessence.org. Student and group discounts are available.

For press information and photographs related to British Invasion, contact Jennifer Bauer (612-547-1459, jbauer@vocalessence.org). Download high resolution press photos from: https://www.vocalessence.org/image/tid/62.

CAPSULE:

British Invasion: Simon Halsey Conducts
VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers with organ
Simon Halsey, guest conductor
Christopher Stroh, organist

Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 8 pm
Concert Conversation at 7 pm

Basilica of Saint Mary
Hennepin Avenue between 16th & 17th Streets
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tickets: $20-$40 (Service charges may apply. Student and partial view
tickets are half price. Group discounts are available.) To order, call
612-371-5656 (800-292-4141) or purchase online at www.vocalessence.org.