Each season VocalEssence hosts a festival created by you for you to connect, sing, and give back to the community. Join us for Together We Sing Festival 2020 at the Minnesota History Center on Saturday, January 18, 2020. Learn more and register here.
14 schools, 56 students, one groundbreaking choir. by Les Poling Posted February 13, 2018 “Together we sing.” That phrase, according to VocalEssence Associate Conductor G. Phillip Shoultz, III, is more than VocalEssence’s official tagline. It’s a hands-on philosophy the entire group takes to heart, especially the new VocalEssence Youth Choir. Creating community has been VocalEssence’s mission since the… Read More →
CONTACT: Jennifer Weismann 612-716-0556 Jennifer@owl-marketing.com NORTHERN MINNESOTA GETS A SONG AND STORY-FILLED VISIT FROM MARK TWAIN AND VOCALESSENCE Don Shelby reunites with choral ensemble plus fiddler Sara Pajunen for “River Songs and Tales with Mark Twain Northern Minnesota Tour” —April 4-8 MINNEAPOLIS — February 1, 2018 — Even in the land of 10,000 lakes,… Read More →
VocalEssence was thrilled to kick off Super Bowl Live on Friday, January 26, 2018 on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis with guest artists Idina Menzel and Esera Tuaolo. Enjoy this clip of members of the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers performing a Minnesota medley for the crowd. Thank you to the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee for the… Read More →
Our brand new choir made up of local high school students has a holiday gift to share—check out the video above to hear their incredible performance of “Deck the Halls.” The young singers have been hard at work learning to perform as a unified chorus, and will celebrate their inaugural concert at VocalEssence WITNESS: Of Such… Read More →
CONTACT: Jennifer Weismann 612-716-0556 Jennifer@owl-marketing.com LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE REVIVED IN VOCALESSENCE WITNESS: OF SUCH I DREAM Celebrate jazz poet and activist Langston Hughes at the world premiere of William Banfield’s ‘I Trust Harlem Is Still There’ and the debut of new VocalEssence Youth Choir—February 18 MINNEAPOLIS—October 2017—Our dreams inspire our actions and… Read More →
By Terry Blain Special to the Star Tribune DECEMBER 5, 2017 — 11:12 AM http://www.startribune.com/vocalessence-serves-up-fresh-christmas-music-by-minnesota-composers/462093203/ Musically speaking, Christmas can be an excuse for endless stuck-in-a-loop recycling. Concerts are packed with carols we’ve heard hundreds of times before, served up as comfort listening for a frantic holiday season. I love those old songs, too. And yet… Read More →
By ROB HUBBARD | Special to the Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: December 3, 2017 at 4:53 pm | UPDATED: December 3, 2017 at 5:15 pm http://www.twincities.com/2017/12/03/vocalessence-offers-a-sweet-homegrown-holiday-sampler/ When the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra were both announced as Grammy nominees last week, it served as a reminder that the Twin Cities area is a great place to live if you’re… Read More →
It’s time for another mashup of Minnesota musical genres, as Minnesotan choral legends VocalEssence and bluegrass quintet Monroe Crossing team up for a new recording, Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum. Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum is an original work by Minnesota composer Carol Barnett and librettist Marisha Chamberlain, and is an… Read More →
VocalEssence was pleased to present the Award for Creative Programming to Kyle Eastman, director of the Northfield High School Concert Choir. The award is presented annually to a Minnesota-based non-professional choral organization in order to uphold high standards of excellence in repertoire selection, to acknowledge and reward creativity in performing choral performance, and to affirm the importance… Read More →
More than 50 students from 13 Twin Cities High Schools have attended the first three rehearsals of the inaugural year of the VocalEssence Youth Choir led by VocalEssence Associate Conductor and Education Program Manager G. Phillip Shoultz, III. Each rehearsal includes a mix of singing, social bonding activities, and work with the guest artists that… Read More →
VocalEssence is expanding upon the work we have done for nearly three decades in providing Minneapolis and St. Paul students access to choral music. We are creating a VocalEssence Youth Choir that revolutionizes our concept of choir and seeks to reflect the diversity of our community in its membership. Through this choir, we seek to… Read More →
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age is a dynamic group of 50 young people from Twin Cities high schools who sing, dance, write their own music, rap, and—most importantly—reflect the diversity of our community in its membership. Under the visionary leadership of G. Phillip Shoultz, III, the students sing a wide range of music—from classical to… Read More →
The 10th Anniversary VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! composers are here! Bernardo Feldman and Jimena Contreras have been working with schools all over the metro and falling in love with the Twin Cities in the process. Below are a few highlights from their visit. Jimena created a set of videos that gave the elementary students a tour… Read More →
Review: VocalEssence and Osmo Vänskä on clarinet teamed up for a powerful concert. By Michael Anthony Special to the Star Tribune Posted 9/25/17 — 1:33 PM People speak of “the Finnish miracle,” referring to the surprising number of important musicians produced by the little country (population 5.5 million): conductors, singers, virtuoso instrumentalists. Celebrations of Finland’s centennial… Read More →
