If you were at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis Sunday afternoon for the opening of VocalEssence’s 45th season, we don’t need to tell you how glorious it was, how deeply, almost unbearably moving. Originally scheduled for Orchestra Hall, the concert was relocated to the church because of the ongoing contract dispute between Minnesota Orchestra management…  Read More →

REVIEW: For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big with composer Jonathan Dove’s “There Was A Child.” For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big. There was soprano Maria Jette, tenor Dan Dressen, the St. Olaf Choir and Northfield Youth Choirs, more than…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Anyone who has lost a child knows that the pain and grief are too overwhelming for words or music. So English composer Jonathan Dove took on an immense challenge in accepting a commission to write an elegiac oratorio for a 19-year-old drowning victim. He could have gone small with it, staying away…  Read More →

  By Rob HubbardSpecial to the Pioneer Press Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeckhad a style all his own, but within it you could hear a wealth of influences. For example, when writing a Christmas cantata, he hearkened back to his youth on a California ranch and the traditional Mexican folk music performed by friends…  Read More →

If you were at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis Sunday afternoon for the opening of VocalEssence’s 45th season, we don’t need to tell you how glorious it was, how deeply, almost unbearably moving. Originally scheduled for Orchestra Hall, the concert was relocated to the church because of the ongoing contract dispute between Minnesota Orchestra management…  Read More →

REVIEW: For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big with composer Jonathan Dove’s “There Was A Child.” For its 45th-season opener, Sunday afternoon at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis. VocalEssence went big. There was soprano Maria Jette, tenor Dan Dressen, the St. Olaf Choir and Northfield Youth Choirs, more than…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Anyone who has lost a child knows that the pain and grief are too overwhelming for words or music. So English composer Jonathan Dove took on an immense challenge in accepting a commission to write an elegiac oratorio for a 19-year-old drowning victim. He could have gone small with it, staying away…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard, Special to the Pioneer Press Posted:   04/26/2013 The legend of the lumberjack giant, Paul Bunyan, is so indelibly stitched into the mythology of Minnesota that most state residents would likely be surprised to find him the subject of an English opera. During a stay in America during World War II, Benjamin…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard, Special to the Pioneer Press Posted:   12/01/2012 12:01:00 AM CST If yuletide carols being sung by a choir are one of the most effective tools for getting you in the Christmas mood, then VocalEssence’s annual “Welcome Christmas” concerts are an ideal destination. But conductor Philip Brunelle and his 128-voice group always…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard, Special to the Pioneer Press06/13/2012 Minnesotans aren’t generally the kind to show off. But when conductors, composers, singers and administrators in the choral business converged upon the Twin Cities on Wednesday, June 13, for the annual Chorus America Conference, it seemed as good a time as any to have a gathering of…  Read More →

Review by Dan Emerson Special to the Pioneer Press, 02/19/2012 Each February, VocalEssence, the Minneapolis-based choral group, honors Black History Month with a “Witness” concert at St. Paul’s Ordway Center. Sunday afternoon’s event featured the world premier of “In the Spirit of Being,” trumpeter/composer Hannibal Lokumbe’s musical memoir. The combination of the soaring voices and…  Read More →

By Rob Hubbard Special to the Pioneer Press Getting into the Christmas spirit was easy Saturday night. Outside the windows of the Colonial Church of Edina, big fluffy flakes wafted toward the ground, blanketing the spire of the very New England-esque structure and the rolling hills of the park across the street. And, inside the…  Read More →

By Rob HubbardSpecial to the Pioneer PressUpdated: 11/06/2011 10:05:41 PM CST When last we heard from VocalEssence, the Minneapolis-based choral organization was pulling out all the stops for a program of almost overwhelming heft, one on which several choirs and a large orchestra performed large-scale works inspired by mythology, religion and American presidents. So perhaps…  Read More →

http://www.twincities.com/stage/ci_19265071 By Rob HubbardSpecial to the Pioneer PressUpdated: 11/04/2011 12:52:54 PM CDT Looking for the ideal gift for the fiercely proud Minnesotan? Perhaps a smorgasbord of the state’s many musical treasures would be the ticket. Well, VocalEssence is here to help. The state’s foremost choral ambassadors have just released a CD that lends their lush,…  Read More →