Philip Brunelle:
August has been a busy month of planning for Artistic Director and Founder Philip Brunelle. He has been working on finalizing repertoire for the season, ordering orchestral music, confirming concert dates and details, and (of course) continuing to do fundraising! This month also included attending a Board member’s wedding, finishing the edits for “Musical Moments”, consultation meetings with board members, finishing (with our Carleton College intern) the HUGE refiling of music in his office, taped another podcast (Philip’s most recent Renaissance Man podcast episode is all about the VocalEssence 2021-2022 Season-listen to it here), and looking forward to September 7 and the first rehearsal of the season!
G. Phillip Shoultz, III:
Associate Artistic Director G. Phillip Shoultz, III opened the month of August by serving as the headlining presenter for the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, where he led three highly regarding lecture-discussion-rehearsal sessions on Belonging, Diversity, Equity, and Access in the choral arts. From there he moved into a week-long summer camp with members of the VocalEssence Singers Of This Age. The Choosing Love Creators Camp kick-started a year of collaborative creation and interactive workshops in neighborhoods. The week concluded with a trip to Alexandria, Minnesota where the singers engaged in team building and even celebrated their first “VESOTA Prom.” GPS closed the month by leading a board retreat for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and in conversations with colleagues in the Twin Cities and beyond around collaborative work that will continue this fall.