{2018-2019} SPRING CONCERTS VOCALESSENCE WITNESS: YET THEY PERSIST THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ VOCALESSENCE CONTENTS 1900 Nicollet Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 CONCERT: VocalEssence WITNESS: Yet They Persist ....................... 5 612-547-1451 vocalessence.org VocalEssence is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. VocalEssence in the Community: VocalEssence WITNESS . 16 VocalEssence in the Community: VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! . 18 facebook.com/vocalessence Reatha Clark King Award Winner ........................................ 19 twitter.com/vocalessencemn linkedin.com/company/vocalessence VocalEssence in the Community: VocalEssence Singers Of This Age . 20 youtube.com/vocalessence instagram.com/vocalessencemn CONCERT: The Times They Are A-Changin’ .............................. 23 About VocalEssence .................................................. 26 PLEASE NOTE: Mining the Never-Ending Impacts of the Artist from the North Country . 28 • Concerts will be recorded for possible broadcast—please help us keep the performance space quiet. Take a moment now Donor Spotlight: Traci Bransford . 30 to check that all cell phones, paging devices, wristwatch alarms, and the like are turned of Thank you, VocalEssence Donors ....................................... 31 before the concert begins. Thank you. • Out of respect for the performers and the music creators, please refrain from using cameras or other recording devices during the performance. • VocalEssence documents its concerts and events through audio and video. As a ticket HONORARY DIRECTORS holder to this event, you consent to use your BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Dominick Argento likeness, without compensation, in any or all David Mona Mary Ann Aufderheide William Bolcom media. Please contact [email protected] President Executive Director Dave Brubeck* with questions. Alfred Moore Aaron Copland* Andrew Alness • Student and group discounts are available for Vice President Håkan Hagegård Production Manager and Artistic Assistant most VocalEssence concerts. Half-price tickets Jacob Wolkowitz Louise Hefelfinger* are available to students (ages 6-18 and college) Treasurer Eskil Hemberg* Jef Bina with a student ID. Groups of 10 or more save 15% Betty Hulings* Director of Finance Roma Calatayud-Stocks on tickets. Sigrid Johnson and Operations Secretary James Earl Jones • Children of all ages are welcome at all of our David Erickson Mary Ann Aufderheide Garrison Keillor Family Series events. Intern Julie Bader Donald Mitchell* Traci V. Bransford Helmuth Rilling Rhiannon Fiskradatz • Visit www.vocalessence.org/welcomefamily for Philip Brunelle John Rutter Operations Manager for more information and a list of events. Tickets for Cassidy McCrea Burns Peter Schickele VocalEssence Singers Of This Age children ages 0-17 are free. Margaret Chutich Dr. André J. Thomas Robert Graham Daniel Fernelius Eric Whitacre • Accessible seating is available at all of our Program Manager for Learning Wayne Gisslen concert venues. However, some of our facilities *In remembrance and Engagement | Conductor, Carolina Gustafson do not have elevator access to the balcony level. Vintage Voices Please make your needs known when you RJ Heckman ARTISTIC STAFF order tickets. Robin Helgen Philip Brunelle Laura Holst Samuel Ingram Artistic Director Development and • You may return VocalEssence single concert Joseph Kalkman Marketing Associate tickets for resale up to 48 hours prior to a G. Phillip Shoultz, III David Myers Amanda Timmer performance. No refunds or exchanges can be Nancy Nelson Associate Conductor | Director of Operations Manager for Learning given; however, you will be sent a receipt for Don Shelby Learning and Engagement your tax-deductible contribution. (VocalEssence and Engagement Timothy Takach Gavin Berg subscribers may call 612-371-5642 to request free Katrina Wallmeyer Jennifer Vickerman Assistant Director and ticket exchanges and lost ticket replacement.) Dorene Wernke Collaborative Artist for Director of Development • Latecomers will be seated at appropriate pauses VocalEssence Singers Of This Age and Communications in the concert according to the conductor’s LIFETIME DIRECTORS Mary Jo Gothmann Elissa Weller wishes. Please plan plenty of time for locating Ann Barkelew Accompanist Institutional Giving and the concert venue and parking. Or, better yet, Ann Buran Events Manager allow an extra hour and join us for Concert Art Kaemmer Conversations with the composers and artists, Nikki Lewis held one hour before most concerts. Mike McCarthy 2018-2019 Season Page 3 BE A WITNESS {2019-2020} Celebrating 30 years of VocalEssence WITNESS in our community. Tales & Tunes Deep Roots, Sat, Sept 28, 2019 a VocalEssence WITNESS Concert Sun, Feb 23, 2020 Divine Light Sun, Oct 13, 2019 The Mendelssohns Sat, Apr 4, 2020 What a Mighty God, a VocalEssence WITNESS Concert Get Minnesota Singing Tour – Worthington Sun, Nov 17, 2019 Sat, Apr 25, 2020 Welcome Christmas Get Minnesota Singing Tour – Morris Dec 7-15, 2019 Sat, May 2, 2020 Winter Wonder Get Minnesota Singing Tour – St. Cloud Sat, Dec 14, 2019 Sat, May 9, 2020 Together We Sing Festival VocalEssence Gala Sat, Jan 18, 2020 Sun, May 17, 2020 Moana Movie Sing-Along VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Sat, Feb 1, 2020 Community Concert Thurs, May 21, 2020 Voices Calling Pre-Tour Concert Sat, May 30, 2020 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR 2019-2010 SEASON: vocalessence.org/subscribe 612-371-5642 Page 4 2018-2019 Season 2018-2019 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON SPECIAL THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT VOCALESSENCE WITNESS: OF THIS CONCERT YET THEY PERSIST Sunday, February 24, 2019 at 4 PM Orchestra Hall Katherine B. Andersen Fund of 1111 Nicollet Mall The Saint Paul Foundation Minneapolis, MN Spelman College Glee Club VocalEssence Chorus VocalEssence Singers Of This Age G. Phillip Shoultz, III, conductor Kevin Johnson, conductor Gavin Berg, accompanist Brittney Boykin, accompanist This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. SPECIAL THANKS Martha Arradondo Louis J. King, II, President and CEO of Sharon Sayles Belton Summit Academy OIC Zoe Bourgerie Connor McNutt Traci Bransford Medtronic The Hallie Q. Brown Center, Jonathan Ilhan Omar Palmer, Executive Director Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) Tazha Buckner Lezlie Taylor, Thrivent James Burroughs Melvin Tennant, II, Meet Minneapolis Asha Harris Andrea Turner Andrea Jenkins Novelli Jurado N. Judge* and Reatha Clark King Family Fund 2018-2019 SEASON SPONSORS Nathaniel and Victoria Davis Charles M. Denny Hellervik Fund of the Saint Paul Foundation Walt McCarthy and Clara Ueland Summit Academy OIC This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota *In remembrance through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. 2018-2019 Season Page 5 WELCOME THE PROGRAM VocalEssence VocalEssence Singers Of This Age WITNESS: Yet Shosholoza Traditional They Persist honors past, present, and future trailblazing Spelman College Glee Club African and African Don’t You Let Nobody arr. Kevin Johnson American women (2003) who persist against all odds to change their communities and the world. VocalEssence WITNESS began VocalEssence Chorus as a single concert with a single school Hold On Margaret Bonds partner in 1991. Now in its twenty-ninth (1962) year, the program celebrates the outstanding contributions of African Americans in the arts through concerts, VocalEssence Chorus & Singers Of This Age conversations, recitals, workshops, and Ella’s Song Bernice Johnson Reagon programming in over fifty schools (1991) throughout the metropolitan region. Each year, with the help of our phenomenal Teaching Artists, we use a theme to VocalEssence Chorus & Spelman College Glee Club highlight past achievements and Lift Every Voice and Sing arr. Roland Carter illuminate our role in making today’s (1979) society more equitable for all. Using songs of protest and progress as our Spelman College Glee Club guide, this afternoon’s concert features America the Beautiful arr. Kevin Johnson music selected to honor four trailblazing (2018) women in our Twin Cities community, beginning with the life and legacy of Hallie Quinn Brown and then moving Cantate Domino Ambrož Čopi to focus on former Minneapolis mayor (2016) Sharon Sayles Belton, Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins, and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. A Jubilant Song Norman Dello Joio VocalEssence WITNESS: Yet They (1946) Persist celebrates entrepreneurship, highlights the importance of education, and advocates for the equality of all. Psalm 23 Franz Schubert (1832) It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Dr. Kevin Johnson and the women of the Spelman College Glee Club as our Glory to God arr. Kevin Johnson featured guest artists. Spelman College (2004) Glee Club is an historically black institution for higher learning in Atlanta, INTERMISSION Georgia known for nurturing the minds and hearts of many prominent African American female leaders throughout the United States, and the world. If this is your first occasion to hear them, you will be mesmerized by their performance. They are FANTASTIC! Now, I encourage you to sit back and prepare to bask in the glory of our community at its finest—people of all ages and backgrounds coming together in song! —G. Phillip Shoultz, III, Associate Conductor | Director of Learning and Engagement Page 6 2018-2019 Season VocalEssence