VocalEssence Ensemble to Give Concert

World-renowned conductor Philip Brunelle will direct the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers in a guest artist concert on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 3:30 p.m. in the Carleton College Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers will perform selections by Patrice Rushen, Rosephanye Powell and Lena McLin, with a special focus on the music of Undine Smith Moore. The Ensemble Singers will perform music from the newest VocalEssence “Witness” CD series, “Got the Saint Louis Blues: Classical Music in the Jazz Age.” The concert also will include a humorous suite of music conceived by Garrison Keillor that tells the roller-coaster story of a rebellious church choir that hits the “big time” and abandons the church basement for the rock star lifestyle. Carleton President Robert A. Oden Jr. will narrate the suite.

The 26-voice VocalEssence Ensemble Singers are the professional core of the larger 100-voice VocalEssence Chorus. Founded in 1969 under the name Plymouth Music Series, VocalEssence is recognized internationally for innovative exploration of music for voices and instruments. In 1994 the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers were invited to be the first professional American chorus to perform at the Internationale Orgelwoche Nurnberg. In 1997 they returned to Europe and were the first professional U.S. chorus to sing at the prestigious Prague Spring Festival, and in 2001 they toured Europe extensively with concerts in Berlin, Dresden and Paris. The group has appeared on many recordings, including three widely praised volumes of music by African-American composers in the “Witness” series. Most recently, they are featured on a double CD with Garrison Keillor titled “Definitely Above Average.” They are frequent guests on Minnesota Public Radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Saint Paul Sunday.”

VocalEssence conductor and founder Philip Brunelle leads the organization in its mission to explore the interaction of voices and instruments through innovative programming. His conducting engagements have taken him across the U.S., South America and Europe. Recently he has conducted the BBC Singers, the Seattle Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. Brunelle has received many international awards, including the Kodaly Medal from the government of Hungary and the Royal Order of the Pole Star from the King of Sweden. In 2002 he was honored with the U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment, recognizing lifetime achievement, contribution and leadership in culture and the arts. In 2003, Chorus America honored Brunelle with its most prestigious award, the Michael Korn Founder’s Award for Development of the Choral Art.

For more information or disability accommodations, call the Carleton music department at (507) 646-4347.