{{Short description|Non-profit choral music organization}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} right|thumb|250px| Members of the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers in Concert.'''VocalEssence''' is a non-profit choral music organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each year the organization presents a series of concerts featuring the 130-voice VocalEssence Chorus and its core group, a 32-voice professional mixed chorus called the Ensemble Singers, along with guest soloists and instrumentalists.
VocalEssence was founded in 1969<ref>{{cite news |title=You only turn 40 once |first=William Randall |last=Beard |url=http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/28426939.html?page=1&c=y|newspaper=Minneapolis Star Tribune |date=September 16, 2008 |access-date=October 26, 2010}}</ref> under the name Plymouth Music Series as a community music program of ''Plymouth Congregational Church'' and incorporated as a separate 501(c)(3) organization with its own board of directors in 1979. The organization changed its name to VocalEssence in 2002. It has 10 full- and part-time staff members including artistic director Philip Brunelle and Executive Director Amy Jaine Wielunski.
== Repertoire == VocalEssence has commissioned over 130 new works ranging from brief a cappella pieces to full scale choral and symphonic works. VocalEssence has co-commissioned operas with Opera Theatre of St. Louis ''(Loss of Eden'' by Cary John Franklin) and the Library of Congress (''Barnum’s Bird'' by Libby Larsen).<ref name="MPR">{{cite web |url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/25/composers_datebook/ |title=Philip Brunelle is new music champion |date= September 25, 2007 |access-date=October 26, 2010}}</ref>
The ensemble's history is filled with notable performances, often included new works by composers from far-off countries and other regions; in some cases, Brunelle simply cold-called composers to get permission to do new works.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-20 |title=Choral music called ... and Philip Brunelle answered |url=https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2024/02/20/choral-music-called-and-philip-brunelle-answered |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=MPR News |language=en}}</ref> A notable local tie-in were 1996 and 2024 productions of ABBA pop group members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' musical ''Kristina'', about a family migrating from Sweden to Minnesota.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hubbard |first=Rob |date=2024-10-22 |title=VocalEssence to present concert version of the musical ‘Kristina’ at Bethel University |url=https://www.startribune.com/vocalessence-to-present-concert-version-of-the-musical-kristina-at-bethel-university/601166097 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.startribune.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Discography == The organization has released nine recordings, including four compact discs of classical music by African American composers (The WITNESS Collection), two discs featuring guest artist Garrison Keillor, a recording of American folksongs and the world premiere recording of ''The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass'' by Carol Barnett, featuring the bluegrass ensemble Monroe Crossing. VocalEssence also re-released its world premiere recording of Conrad Susa's ''Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest''.
== Awards == VocalEssence has received the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music five times and it was awarded the once-in-an-organizational lifetime Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence in 1996.<ref name=MPR/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chorusamerica.org/awards.cfm|title=Chorus America, Awards|access-date=October 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609092237/http://www.chorusamerica.org/awards.cfm|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== *[http://www.vocalessence.org VocalEssence official website]
{{authority control}}
Category:Choirs from Minnesota Category:Musical groups from the Twin Cities Category:Culture of Minneapolis Category:Musical groups established in 1969