Twin Cities choral groups VocalEssence and the Singers have announced their 2015-16 subscription seasons.
VocalEssence will launch its season Oct. 11 at the O'Shaughnessy in St. Paul, with Philip Brunelle leading his chorus and ensemble singers in "Dreams of the Fallen." Brian Turner, an Iraq war vet and a poet, collaborated with composer Jake Runestad on a piece that tries to represent the survivors of 21st-century warfare. The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra will play on the program.
VocalEssence will present Voz en Punto, an a cappella Mexican vocal jazz ensemble, on Nov. 15 at the new Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul. VocalEssence will not perform at this show.
The full chorus and singers will do five "Welcome Christmas" concerts Dec. 5-13 at various venues. Two carols will have world premieres and Brunelle will conduct Nils Lindberg's "A Christmas Cantata" for chorus and big band.
Next year's Witness program brings in the Morehouse College Glee Club, the Minneapolis Male Chorus and VocalEssence singers, Feb. 21 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
"Four Saints in Three Acts," a rare opera by Gertrude Stein and composer Virgil Thomson, will be performed March 19-20 at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis. On April 22 and 24, VocalEssence returns to the Ordway to perform choral pieces selected ahead of time by audience members.
More information is at 612-371-5642 or www.vocal essence.org.
The Singers
The Singers, a 40-voice chorus led by artistic director Matthew Culloton, will sing Leonard Bernstein's much beloved "Chichester Psalms" on Oct. 24 (St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis) and 25 (First Lutheran, Columbia Heights).
"What Sweeter Music: Christmas With the Singers" will be performed Dec. 6 (Wayzata Community Church), 12 (St. Olaf Catholic) and 13 (Nativity of Our Lord, St. Paul). Composer Runestad gets another airing March 12-13 (Nativity of Our Lord) in "My Soul's Repose" in a Minnesota premiere of a new work for chorus and string quartet.
Next year's "Community Sing" on March 18 (House of Hope Presbyterian, St. Paul) will focus on Gabriel Faure's "Requiem." The public is invited to sing along with the choir. This year's recent event featured René Clausen.
On April 1, 2016, the Singers will present five new works in "Composer's Lab" at a location to be determined.
The season concludes with a "Centennial Celebration of Robert Shaw" on May 21 (Nativity of Our Lord) and 22 (First Lutheran).
Season tickets go on sale in May with single seats in August. More information is at www.singersmca.org.
Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299
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