FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Jennifer Weismann
612-716-0556
Jennifer@owl-marketing.com

VOCALESSENCE ¡CANTARÉ! CELEBRATES THE SOUND OF MEXICO IN ORDWAY CONCERT WITH HUNDREDS OF LOCAL STUDENTS, MAY 21

VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! invites a Mexican composer to Twin Cities schools for an enriching cultural and artistic residency program

MINNEAPOLIS—January 24, 2019—A concert at the Ordway celebrating the music of Mexico will close out this year’s  VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program and give Twin Cities students a chance to share their talents as bilingual choral performers and composers.

“For 11 years, the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program has provided Twin Cities students with an enriching education in Mexican culture and music by arranging in-school residencies for visiting Mexican composers,” said G. Phillip Shoultz, III, associate conductor, VocalEssence. “We’re so proud of the artistry we’ve witnessed as they’ve learned to compose in traditional Mexican forms and grown as bilingual singers. VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! teaches students the value of diversity, of exploring other cultures, and of discovering new forms of art.  We can’t wait to watch them share their excitement with the community. When we join our voices together, we can create beauty, and that magical process transcends cultural differences.”

Images are available here.

The free, family-friendly VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Community Concert 2019 at the Ordway Music Theater in St. Paul will take place on May 21, 2019 at 7 pm. Single tickets will be available on Monday, March 18, 2019.

¡Cantaré!—Spanish for “I will sing”—teaches singers about Mexican choir traditions, choir performance, and choir composition. Twin Cities students have been working this school year with a visiting VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! composer to create original compositions which they rehearse and perform at the final concert. VocalEssence provides partner schools with a map of Mexico, a toolbox of Mexican folk art, a teacher resource guide, and companion CD to address social, historical and cultural contexts of Mexican choral music that teachers can use as a springboard for integration into the school curriculum before, between, and after residencies.

Pablo Mendoza Halliday is the composer visiting from Mexico for the 2018-2019 VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program in the Twin Cities. He is spending four weeks total, over the course of three visits, with elementary, high school, and community choral singers across the Twin Cities, exploring Mexican cultural and choral music traditions.

The concert will feature students from this year’s partner schools:
Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School, New Hope
Field Community School, Minneapolis
Harding High School, St. Paul

The students will be joined by the VocalEssence youth choir, VocalEssence Singers Of This Age.

The organization Chicago a cappella, with help from VocalEssence, has implemented ¡Cantaré! Chicago in the Chicago metro area for a third year. Mexican composer Julio Morales is working with students in that program.

VocalEssence, called “one of the irreplaceable music ensembles of our time” by Dana Gioia, past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, impacts thousands of students, singers, and composers each year through its initiative programs, contests, and support for innovative art. VocalEssence was founded in 1969 and has debuted more than 300 commissions and 500 world premieres. For more information, visit www.vocalessence.org.

###