Vocalessence

VOCALESSENCE DRAWS UPON THE POWER OF SINGING TOGETHER TO NURTURE COMMUNITY, INSPIRE CREATIVITY, AFFIRM THE VALUE OF ALL PERSONS, AND EXPAND THE INFLUENCE OF CHORAL MUSIC.

ARTISTIC SERIES - THE ARTISTIC SERIES FEATURED 6 CONCERTS INVOLVING OUR 32-MEMBER PROFESSIONAL ENSEMBLE SINGERS, OUR 120-VOICE VOLUNTEER CHORUS, OUR 45-MEMBER TEENAGE CHOIR (SOTA), OUR 60-MEMBER VINTAGE VOICES OLDER ADULT CHOIR, GUEST ARTISTS OF CULTURALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, AND PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRAL MUSICIANS, ALL LED BY THE VOCALESSENCE ARTISTIC STAFF. THE CONCERTS WERE PERFORMED AT NOTABLE VENUES AROUND THE TWIN CITIES INCLUDING ORCHESTRA HALL, TED MANN CONERT HALL, NORTHROP AUDITORIUM, CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, AND THE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE. SEE SCHEDULE O FOR ADDITIONAL PROGRAM LANGUAGE.VOCALESSENCE ALSO COMMISSIONED AND PREMIERED THE WORK OF FOUR COMPOSERS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. EACH CONCERT IS VIDEO RECORDED FOR LATER RELEASE TO SERVE THE DIFFERING PREFERENCES OF OUR AUDIENCE.CONCERT VIDEOS WERE PROFESSIONALLY RECORDED AND EDITED AND HOSTED ON THE VOCALESSENCE WEBSITE FOR FREE VIEWING. 6,127 PEOPLE ATTENDED IN-PERSON CONCERTS; CONCERT VIDEOS RECEIVED 2,100 VIEWS; 45,700 PEOPLE INTERACTED WITH VOCALESSENCE VIA ELECTRONIC AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS, AND RADIO BROADCASTS REACHED 1,690,000.

LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS - OUR LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS ARE FOCUSED IN SEVERAL AREAS. WITNESS CELEBRATES AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND MUSIC, REACHING 4,077 STUDENTS IN 38 SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE GREATER TWIN CITIES METRO AREA AND ENGAGING THE VOCALESSENCE SINGERS AND 8 WITNESS TEACHING ARTISTS TRAINED IN MUSIC, DANCE, AND THEATER. CANTARE CONNECTS MEXICAN COMPOSERS WITH TWIN CITIES METRO AREA SCHOOLS WHERE PARTICIPANTS LEARN ABOUT MEXICAN CULTURE AND MUSIC THROUGH REHEARSING AND PERFORMING NEW CHORAL WORKS. TEACHING RESOURCES AND VIDEOS ARE ALSO MADE AVAILABLE ON A TEACHERS' PORTAL ON THE VOCALESSENCE WEBSITE. SEE SCHEDULE O FOR ADDTIONAL PROGRAM LANGUAGE.OUR VINTAGE VOICES CHOIRS ARE IN THREE LOCATIONS AND ENGAGED 99 OLDER ADULTS THROUGH SIX 13-WEEK SESSIONS OF CREATING, REHEARSING, AND PERFORMING A PROGRAM OF MUSIC, POETRY, AND PERSONAL REFLECTIONS PRESENTED TO AUDIENCES TOTALLING 655 PEOPLE. THE VOCALESSENCE SINGERS OF THIS AGE (SOTA) BROUGHT TOGETHER 45 TEENAGE STUDENTS OF DIVERSE CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS FROM 15 HIGH SCHOOLS IN MINNEAPOLIS, ST. PAUL, ST. LOUIS PARK, ROBBINSDALE, AND MAPLEWOOD. 40 WEEKLY REHEARSALS INVOLVED INSTRUCTION IN MUSICIANSHIP, MOVEMENT, CHOREOGRAPHY, DRAMA, LYRICS, AND AN INTRODUCTION TO MULTIPLE MUSICAL STYLES THROUGH GUEST PRESENTERS. SOTA PERFORMED ON ALL VOCALESSENCE ARTISTIC SERIES CONCERTS AS WELL 17 ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY PERFORMANCES IN THE TWIN CITIES.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS -INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AS A LEADER IN CHORAL PERFORMANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT, VOCALESSENCE IS ENGAGED IN OTHER SPECIAL PERFORMANCES AND WORKSHOPS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IN 2023-24, VOCALESSENCE ENGAGED IN 24 ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES, REACHING AN AUDIENCE OF 31,065, AND 3 ADDITIONAL WORKSHOPS, REACHING AN AUDIENCE OF 110. ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES INCLUDE A SPOTLIGHT PERFORMANCE AT THE ACDA MIDWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE, AS WELL AS MUSIC FESTIVALS, CORPORATE APPEARANCES, FUNDRAISING EVENTS, SENIOR RESIDENCES, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS' PERFORMING SEASONS, AND NOTABLY, THE USA GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS IN MINNEAPOLIS.