Beloved vocal activist, soulful singer, and composer Melanie DeMore returns to Minnesota using her music as what she calls “a weapon of mass connection.” Featuring music by Damien Geter, Marques Garrett, Joel Thompson, and songs from the African diaspora, WITNESS: Leading with Love is the place to hear Melanie and VocalEssence share the world premiere performance of an extended work co-created through conversation and stick-pounding workshops with Twin Cities community members. This impassioned call for the revival of love, the rebirth of peace, and the emergence of a community where violence ceases will challenge us all to “put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.”

Natalia will be performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Um! Yah! Yah! (Need we say more?!) VocalEssence is thrilled to join forces with one of the most prestigious choirs in the country, hailing from right in our backyard. VocalEssence singers will be joined by the St. Olaf Choir under the magnificent batons of Philip Brunelle, G. Phillip Shoultz, III, and Anton Armstrong. Music will include a performance of Requiem by José Maurícío Nuñes-García and the premiere of a new commission in memory of our beloved former Associate Conductor Sigrid Johnson, composed by Minnesota composer and St. Olaf alumna Jocelyn Hagen, whose music has been described as “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune).

Natalia will be performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Awaken your spirit with the sounds and colors of performances by the VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, and Singers Of This Age. Experience sounds from near and far, exploring music of Denmark, Haiti, Mexico, the United States, and more, featuring composer and guest artist, Moira Smiley, whose style has been described as genre bending “mixing Bartok with street-singing.” This inspiring music will leave you feeling the joy of singing together.

Natalia is singing with the Ensemble Singers.

Heritage Choir is back with our annual spring Community Sing, a chance to gather in community and sing together. This year, we're being joined by the middle school choir students of Achieve Language Academy!

Join us on Saturday, May 6th at the Sanctuary of University Baptist Church (1219 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414) for an hour of music followed by delicious catering from our friends at Garcia Bakery & Cafe.

Come for the music, stay for the pan dulce. ¡Nos vemos!

Join the Upper School Choirs of the Blake School for the Spring Upper School Choral Concert.

Much of the music is by living composers, and students are also collaborating with the US Orchestra on a multi-movement work titled "Five Hebrew Love Songs". Students have been hard at work and it will be a wonderful performance.

Minneapolis-based artist, author, educator, and speaker Joe Davis joins VocalEssence choirs along with The New Renaissance, a multi-media production company that cultivates immersive experiences, and chamber orchestra in a call for the revival of love, the rebirth of peace, and the emergence of a community where violence ceases. Experience a fusion of musical styles interwoven with stories of struggle, resilience, and celebration as we honor lives lost and renew our commitment to a freedom that is wide enough in which all can thrive.

Natalia is performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

RAMÍREZ Navidad Nuestra
HANDEL Messiah (Part I and Hallelujah chorus)

Border CrosSing, led by artistic director Ahmed Anzaldúa, joins the Minnesota Orchestra with El Mesías, a bilingual Spanish-English cross-cultural combination of the Christmas portion of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Navidad Nuestra, a Christmas cantata by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez. Together with the vocal soloists and choir, the unique combination of Andean instruments and the Baroque orchestra blurs the line between Western classical and South American folk traditions.

Natalia will be performing with Border CrosSing.

RAMÍREZ Navidad Nuestra
HANDEL Messiah (Part I and Hallelujah chorus)

Border CrosSing, led by artistic director Ahmed Anzaldúa, joins the Minnesota Orchestra with El Mesías, a bilingual Spanish-English cross-cultural combination of the Christmas portion of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Navidad Nuestra, a Christmas cantata by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez. Together with the vocal soloists and choir, the unique combination of Andean instruments and the Baroque orchestra blurs the line between Western classical and South American folk traditions.

Natalia will be performing with Border CrosSing.

RAMÍREZ Navidad Nuestra
HANDEL Messiah (Part I and Hallelujah chorus)

Border CrosSing, led by artistic director Ahmed Anzaldúa, joins the Minnesota Orchestra with El Mesías, a bilingual Spanish-English cross-cultural combination of the Christmas portion of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Navidad Nuestra, a Christmas cantata by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez. Together with the vocal soloists and choir, the unique combination of Andean instruments and the Baroque orchestra blurs the line between Western classical and South American folk traditions.

Natalia will be performing with Border CrosSing.

Minnesota-based choir Border CrosSing explores Baroque music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Latin American composers Manuel de Zumaya, Esteban Salas y Castro and Manuel Mesa y Carrizo. Bach’s Sanctus from Mass in B Minor, selections from Cantata No. 147 including “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and a double concerto for violin and oboe are paired with celebratory works for chorus and orchestra by Baroque composers from Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia.

Thursday, Nov 3, 2022 - 7:00pm | Humboldt High School Auditorium

Friday, Nov 4, 2022 - 8:00pm | Ordway Concert Hall

Saturday, Nov 5, 2022 - 8:00pm | Ordway Concert Hall

Sunday, Nov 6, 2022 - 2:00pm | Benson Great Hall

Natalia will be performing with the Puentes ensemble of Border CrosSing.

Musical talent often runs in families, and one of history’s most talented set of siblings were the Mendelssohns—Felix and Fanny. Connected by their extraordinary gifts and love for music, they developed a close relationship that endured throughout their lives. Join VocalEssence singers, soloists, and an honor choir comprised of area high school singers as they present Felix and Fanny’s marvelous musical creations.

Natalia will be performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Join us for a community sing, Saturday. August 27th where we’ll share music in Spanish and English and invite you to sing with us for a few pieces of music. Cathy 'n Abel will share in the music with the Community sing! Stick around after for a short reception featuring mouth watering treats from Garcia Bakery and Cafe—all on ESFL’s beautiful front lawn

A free, 12-hour music celebration featuring music, dance and activities for all ages.

To mark the opening of our summer season, we're offering free performances by 20 different artists on four stages in and around Orchestra Hall, including an outdoor evening concert by the full Minnesota Orchestra on Peavey Plaza that will culminate in a spectacular pealing of church bells across downtown Minneapolis.

Natalia will be performing with Border CrosSing.

Join us for Heritage Choir's first performance and the last community sing of our 22-23 season, together with the guitar students of the Powderhorn Guitar Music Project. We'll sing together and celebrate with music and community after!

Natalia is the founder and director of Heritage Choir, Border CrosSing’s new community choir!

Join us for our Album Release Concert as we celebrate the release of our first CD and our fifth season!

Border CrosSing will be performing the pieces on our first album "Un Milagro de Fe/A Miracle of Faith" followed by a reception with food from Tamales La Loma and desserts from local bakeries.

Join us for the concert at 7:00pm and stay for the reception after. (When else can you said you've experienced choral music and tamales in one event?)

With this program, the orchestra sets out to challenge the canon by illuminating a new pathway for listening, sharing, and fostering artistic expression with works by Alberto Ginastera, Xavier Foley, Jessie Montgomery, and more. Minnesota-based choral ensemble Border CrosSing will perform a solo piece by Leo Brouwer and join Sphinx Virtuosi for a Carlos Guastavino selection.

https://schubert.org/event/sphinx-virtuosi-tracing-visions/

Natalia is performing with Border CrosSing.

Experience the mystery of the season through a mother’s eyes featuring the VocalEssence Chorus, Singers Of This Age, and members of the Ensemble Singers. Samuel Coelridge-Taylor’s exquisite setting of the Magnificat (Song of Mary) and selections by B.E. Boykin, César Alexandro Carrillo, Julio Morales, and Zanaida Robles shine alongside stories from modern day mothers and familiar carols transporting us to a place of deep love, exuberant joy, everlasting hope, and abiding peace felt on that first Christmas morning.

Natalia is part of an octet comprised of members of the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Three Performances:

Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 4 PM
Plymouth Congregational Church
1919 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 7:30 PM
Plymouth Congregational Church
1919 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 4 PM
Roseville Lutheran Church, Roseville
1215 Roselawn Avenue W, Roseville, MN

Black Voices Amplified, will be led by acclaimed music educator Adrian Davis, director of the choral program at Minneapolis Roosevelt High School and conductor of the University of Minnesota Gospel Ensemble. Selections include works by Rosephanye Powell, William Dawson, Roderick Williams, Sydney Guillaume, and Arnold Sevier.

This concert is the first of a series of concerts designed to reimagine the canon of choral music: guest conductors of color will lead singers from the Minnesota Chorale and Border CrosSing in works by composers whose music has historically been underrepresented on the concert stage.

Natalia will be performing with an octet from Border CrosSing.

Join the VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, and Singers Of This Age, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and a chamber instrumental ensemble in an exuberant return to Orchestra Hall. Reflect on our journey through the pandemic and be reassured in the promise of hope for the future as we experience a fresh interpretation of Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” juxtaposed with Astor Piazzolla’s tango-infused tribute to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, “Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas” (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires). Traverse a range of emotions as you witness movement including original choreography featuring the Company of Minnesota Dance Theatre and VocalEssence Singers Of This Age. VocalEssence will also present the world premieres of Gabriel Kahane’s “We are the Saints,” a meditation on the natural world and our relationship to it commissioned by VocalEssence and Kyle Pederson’s “The Other Side.” Kahane and Pederson are exciting voices in classical composition.

Natalia is performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Founded in 2017, Border CrosSing envisions fundamental change in classical music culture, so that every concert, every audience, and the artists on stage truly reflect the cultural reality in which we live. Our work provides opportunities for people from different communities to understand each other in new ways through our multi-lingual Puentes concert series, educational programs in schools, and collaborations with Minnesota’s most important cultural organizations, including The Schubert Club and Minnesota Orchestra.

Natalia is a featured soloist in this performance.

Un milagro de fe (A Miracle of Faith) presents the spectacular debut recording of the choral ensemble Border CrosSing, based in the Twin Cities, and led by Mexican-Egyptian conductor Ahmed Anzaldúa. Their kaleidoscopic program presents vibrant readings of works of faith by Beatriz Bilbao, Ariel Ramirez's Misa Criolla, Mary Lou Williams's St. Martin de Porres, and selections from Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos.

Join 12 Twin Cities Choral organizations as we share our voices to promote healing, invite dialogue, and call us into action. The concert, curated and led by G. Phillip Shoultz III, Associate Conductor and Director of Learning and Engagement at VocalEssence, featuring Joe Davis and The New Renaissance, Jayanthi Rajasa, and Jovonta Patton, will amplify the perspectives of spoken word, dance, and visual artists and activists from the Twin Cities’ Black community.

Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4GYbMXS_DU&t=11s

Music harnesses the power to move mountains and change the world. Singing has been an integral component of the fight for civil rights and social justice—from abolitionism to Black Lives Matter—mobilizing people, healing hearts, and changing minds. Join the VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, & Singers Of This Age as they explore songs rooted in activism and resistance that challenge the United States to become an equitable nation for all.

Natalia is performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

In every heart lies a song bursting to be heard. Listen deeply as VocalEssence raises up uniquely Minnesotan voices from notable composers like Stephen Paulus and Libby Larsen to new voices like Shruthi Rajasekar. Soak in the “poignantly lovely” world premiere of Carol Barnett’s “When All Falls Silent,” written for The King’s Singers 2020 New Music Prize. Be inspired to hear your own song through Minnesota poetry read by the poets themselves.

Natalia is performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Border CrosSing's annual bilingual production of the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah mashed up with Navidad Nuestra by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's production of El Mesías is assembled through a combination of live singing, virtual ensemble video, and recordings from performances from previous years, including musicians of Minnesota Chorale and a virtual collaboration with The Minnesota Orchestra.

Click here to download the concert program or view it in another window on your device: https://bordercrossingmn.org/wp-conte...