The St. Olaf Christmas Festival has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. This year's presentation, “Promise of Peace,” features more than 500 student musicians performing at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Listen now to a one-hour special culled from this year’s program, with host Valerie Kahler.

Started in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, the festival includes hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity. It features the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra, the St. Olaf Cantorei, the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, the Manitou Singers and the Viking Chorus, performing as individual groups and as a massed ensemble.

Playlist

This one-hour presentation of the 2022 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, “Promise of Peace,” includes the following works and performers:

Performers:
St. Olaf Orchestra, conducted by Chung Park (CP)
St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Anton Armstrong (AA)
Cantorei, conducted by James Bobb (JB)
Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus, conducted by Tesfa Wondemagegnehu (TW)
Manitou Singers, conducted by Therees Hibbard (TH)

Program:
George Chadwick: Noel (Symphonic Sketches) – St. Olaf Orchestra (CP)
Gustav Holst: The Heart Worships – massed choir and orchestra (JB)
Marty Haugen, arr. John Ferguson: Awake and Greet the New Morn – massed choir and orchestra (CP)
Olaf C. Christiansen: Song of Peace – St. Olaf Choir (AA)
Spiritual, arr. André Thomas: Keep Your Lamps – Viking Chorus (TW)
Tom Trenney: I Will Make a Way – Chapel Choir and orchestra (TW)
Hubert Parry: O Day of Peace – massed choir and orchestra (JB)
Aaron Jay Kernis: Musica Celestis (excerpt) – St. Olaf Orchestra
Jessica French: Earth, Strike Up Your Music – Cantorei (JB)
Kelly-Marie Murphy: Hodie Christus Natus Est – Manitou Singers (TH)
Mykola Leontovych, arr. Peter Wilhousky: Carol of the Bells – St. Olaf Choir (AA)
Peter Tchaikovsky, arr. Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn: Nutcracker Overture – St. Olaf Orchestra (CP)
Traditional, arr. Charles Forsberg: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – massed choir and orchestra (CP)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem – massed choir and orchestra (AA)
Egil Hovland: Stay With Us, Captive and Free – massed choir and orchestra (TH)
Traditional, arr. F. Melius Christiansen: Beautiful Savior – massed choir (AA)

Sponsors

Radio broadcasts of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival are made possible as a gift to the community by Tad and Cindy Piper.

Video is produced through the generosity and support of St. Olaf's sponsors:

David and Cynthia Hill

The Mark and Laura Johnson Family

The Tomson Family Foundation

Choir director Courtland Pickens is focused on lifting youth up by teaching them how to use their singing voices to create harmony — in and among themselves, their neighborhood and the wider community.

“Music heals,” he says, “and it is my hope that, through our music, our community can be healed.” 

In the summer of 2019, the nonprofit Voicez Inc. was created to develop the next generation of singers and songwriters in north Minneapolis. Founder Pickens is the choir teacher at Henry High School (from which he graduated) and Fair High School, as well as being the worship leader at Epiphany Covenant Church in south Minneapolis, so he has a great deal of experience working with young singers.

Known MPLS at MPR Day

Members of the Voicez team put out a call on Facebook for auditions for a youth community choir. From 162 hopeful singers, they selected 48 between 12 and 25 to become Known MPLS, performing locally.

Students leave for sports or they graduate, so auditions continue to be held regularly. There are now 35 active choir members. Students are asked to submit a one-minute video of themselves singing a favorite song, along with an essay explaining why they wish to join the choir and how they believe their membership will benefit themselves and the wider community.

“Known MPLS first and foremost exists to consistently provide a safe space for youth to thrive,” Pickens says. “We intend to continue making a positive impact on the lives of youth and the community through song. 

“We will record and release original music, as well as allowing opportunities for choir members to develop as solo vocalists.

“We will continue coming alongside our choir members in furthering their education, and plan to create a scholarship fund for choir members who are pursuing postsecondary education, as well as expanding upon the resources we currently use to support youth.”

Why does Pickens devote his time to this mission?

“As an educator and a worship leader, I have witnessed the power and potential of music to lift spirits, give purpose and transform the lives of young people who raise their voices in song,” he says.

“A choir’s work begins long before the concert and continues after the applause. I want our members to recognize themselves as agents of change by promoting self-esteem, leadership skills, cultural awareness, discipline and commitment to excellence.”

The COVID-19 pandemic provided tough challenges for the newly formed choir.

“We shut down in-person rehearsals for a season and held our rehearsals via Zoom,” Pickens recalls. “This was hard on our choir logistically, emotionally and socially. I came to realize that my youth were struggling with all the idle time, lack of in-person community and the modified form of engagement. We made the challenging decision to hold in-person choir rehearsals again, with precautions in place.

“I am grateful to say that, even through the thick of the pandemic, we stayed booked and busy. We were able to continue to thrive and persevere by finding creative ways to participate in performances, many of which required prerecorded video submissions or live performances in venues without physical audiences present.” 

How is a choir director made?

“Growing up, I loved singing in church and how it brings a community of people together,” he says. “It’s actually kind of funny because I was not what some would call a ‘natural-born singer.’ I had to work hard to hone my craft by studying recordings of the church services in which I led worship. I continued to learn and develop over time. I am an extrovert of extroverts. I find refreshment and solace around others, so it’s life-giving to be in a musical space with others who are also passionate and talented in this way.” 

To date, Known MPLS has opened for gospel artists such as Grammy winners Jonathan McReynolds and Le'Andria Johnson, as well as seven-time Grammy nominee Vanessa Bell Armstrong. Last summer, the singers performed on MPR Day at the Minnesota State Fair. (See the video above.)

“We had a blast!” Pickens says. “To share in concert with all those who stopped and enjoyed, as well as having the amazing Tesfa Wondemagegnehu as our host, was an honor. We want to keep illustrating the fact that there are no limits on where our choir members can go professionally, should they continue to strive for excellence and press in when things get challenging.”

For the first time in two and a half years, YourClassical MPR recently hosted visiting classical artists in our flagship recording studio — and what a session it turned out to be. Over three days in mid-November, the Voces8 Scholars, the U.S.-based training ensemble for the U.K.’s esteemed Voces8, recorded a wealth of material, including two Christmas songs prepared exclusively for YourClassical MPR listeners as part of our Carol Countdown.

‘Conventry Carol’

First up is an absolutely stunning performance of “Coventry Carol,” arranged by Voces8’s Barnaby Smith and featuring soprano Caroline LeGrand.

‘Sussex Carol’

The second song is the sweetheart pick of the Carol Countdown, “Sussex Carol.”

Enjoy these delightful holiday performances, and look for more from the Voces8 Scholars’ recording session in the new year.

Meet the singers

The Voces8 U.S. Scholars perform and record under the direction of Voces8 co-founder Paul Smith and managing director Erik Jacobson. Kirby Richards is the Voces8 Foundation’s development director.

The singers include:

Carley DeFranco
Caroline LeGrand
Motomi Tanaka
Ingrid Johnson
Sandy Sharis
Veronica Roan
Aaron Cates
Michael Martin
Maximillian Macias
Christopher Short
Peter Schoellkopff

YourClassical MPR’s live broadcast of 'A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols' from King's College, Cambridge, with host Michael Barone, has ended and on-demand audio is no longer available. Join us on Christmas Eve 2025 for another unforgettable service.

You may still download the Order of Service for the 2024 program below.

Since 1918, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has offered listeners an opportunity to share in a live, worldwide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of biblical readings, carols and related seasonal classical music. This special event is presented by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys, and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the college’s 500-year-old chapel.

This year's national broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is made possible by generous support from the Hognander Family Foundation.

Program

Here is the Order of Service for this year’s program, including this PDF booklet.

PDF: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 2024 - Order of Service

Order of Service

• Processional: “Once in Royal David's City”

• Bidding Prayer (read by the dean)

• Sussex Carol (arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams)

• First lesson: Genesis 3, vv. 8-19 (read by a chorister)

• “Adam Lay Ybounden” (Matthew Martin)

• Second lesson: Genesis 22, vv. 15-19 (read by a college student)

• “Nowell, Nowell, Nowell” (Elizabeth Maconchy)

• Third lesson: Isaiah 9, vv. 2, 6-7 (read by a member of college staff)

• “A Great and Mighty Wonder” (arr. James Whitbourn)

• “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”

• Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11, vv. 1-9 (read by the master over the choristers)

• “The Lamb” (John Tavener)

• “Gabriel’s Message” (arr. David Willcocks)

• Fifth lesson: Luke 1, vv. 26-38 (read by a fellow)

• “Ave Regina Caelorum” (Orlandus Lassus)

• “Nativity Carol” (John Rutter)

• Sixth lesson: Luke 2, vv. 1-7 (read by the mayor of Cambridge)

• “Hereford Carol” (arr. Christopher Robinson)

• “While Shepherds Watched”

• Seventh lesson: Luke 2, vv. 8-20 (read by the director of music)

• “Three Points of Light” (Grayston Ives) - 2024 commission *

• “I Saw Three Ships” (Simon Preston)

• Eighth lesson: Matthew 2, vv. 1-12 (read by the vice-provost)

• “Lullay, Dear Jesus” (arr. Arnold Bax)

• “Benedicamus Domino” (Peter Warlock)

• Ninth lesson: John 1, vv. 1-14 (read by the provost)

• “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (arr. Willcocks/Daniel Hyde)

• Blessing

• “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (Felix Mendelssohn, arr. Willcocks)

Organ voluntaries

• In Dulci Jubilo (Johann Sebastian Bach)

• Finale from Symphony No. 6 (Louis Vierne)

Credits

• Rev. Stephen Cherry, dean

• Daniel Hyde, director of music

• Rev. Mary Kells, chaplain

• Harrison Cole, assisting organist

* A new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983, and this year Grayston Ives has set a poem by Peter Cairns, a choral scholar at King's in the 1960s — “Three Points of Light.” The composer says: “The Star in the East is well known as an integral part of the Christmas story. But the poem extends that idea of light: the shepherd's fire and the glow from the inn. It conjures a compelling picture of the birth of Jesus, viewed from an unusual angle. The music aims to reflect the atmosphere of that scene: the cold, the stillness, the drama and the joy.”

Christmas With Cantus is a beloved holiday tradition for YourClassical MPR listeners featuring the eight voices of the male vocal ensemble live in concert. From the Ordway in downtown St. Paul, Cantus delights audiences with stories and songs for the season in its annual holiday performance.

Program

“The Mirthful Heart” — Abbie Betinis

“O Tannenbaum” — arr. Alice Parker and Robert Shaw

“Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” — Elizabeth Poston, arr. Matthew Goinz

“Beside Thy Manger” — Rachel DeVore Fogarty

“Christmas Angel” — Corlynn Hanney

“I Saw Three Ships” — arr. Reginald Bowens

“Go Tell it on the Mountain” — arr. Marvin V. Curtis

“Croatia” — Adam J. Simon

“Silent Night” — Franz Gruber, arr. Christopher H. Harris

INTERMISSION

”Dakota and the Snow Phoenix” — Chris Foss

“Gamelan” — R. Murray Schafer

“Must Be Santa” — Hal Moore and Bill Fredricks, arr. Jon Nicholas

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” — Albert Hague

“Love is Christmas” — Sara Bareilles

“Aguinaldo Carols” — Saunder Choi

“Ave Maria” — Franz Biebl

All Is Bright, with host Lynne Warfel, offers an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman, and a variety of choirs.

Playlist

• Traditional: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel — Robert Shaw Chamber Singers

• Anonymous: Angelus ad Virginem — Monteverdi Choir

• Traditional Basque: Gabriel's Message — Choir of Clare College, Cambridge

• Part: Magnificat — Tallis Scholars

• Traditional: The Angels and the Shepherds — The Dale Warland Singers

• Culloton: Angels We Have Heard on High — Summer Singers

• Traditional French: Quittez, Pasteurs (Come, Leave Your Sheep) — Seraphic Fire

• Traditional: Huron Carol ('Twas in the Moon of Wintertime) — Chanticleer

• Higdon: O Magnum Mysterium — Handel and Haydn Society Chorus

• Rutter: Carol of the Magi — VocalEssence

• Traditional Medieval: The Friendly Beasts — The Dale Warland Singers

• Gruber: Silent Night — Utah Chamber Artists

• MacGimsey: Sweet Little Jesus Boy — Jessye Norman

Each December, the Center for Faith and Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, rings out with the sacred and the exuberant: the sounds of the Christmas season. Enjoy the 2023 program, Love, the Rose, Is on the Way.

Playlist

• Taylor Scott Davis: Magnificat anima mea

• Boyd Bacon: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

• James R. Day: A Spotless Rose

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Regina Coeli K. 276

• Libby Larsen: Natus Est Emmanue

• Emile Desamours: Noél Ayisyen (A Haitian Noël)

• Dave Matthews Arr. Joshua Shank: Christmas Song

• B.E. Boykin: Coventry Carol

• Ulrike Emanuelsson: Arctic Yule

• Zachary J. Moore: Hope

• Elaine Hagenberg: All Praise To Thee

• Traditional Arr. by Dan Forrest: Angels We Have Heard on High

• Ivan Trevino: Make a Joyful Noise

This year’s annual residency by the Voces8 U.S. Scholars at Minnesota Public Radio attained new heights thanks to a special appearance by Lyyra, a new women’s ensemble. They joined forces to sing the holiday classic “Ding Dong Merrily on High.” Then the Scholars, the U.S.-based training ensemble of the Voces8 Foundation, went solo for a delightful rendition of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman.” Watch now!

In Christmas With Cantus, the vocal ensemble weaves together holiday stories with time-honored carols and new classics. Blending narration and song, the program features Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Christine Lê’s The Hawai’i Snowman, alongside Mark Twain’s A Letter from Santa Claus, offering an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and joy of the holiday season.

Playlist

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen arranged by Sandra Eithun

• The Mirthful Heart by Abbie Betinis

• Threads of Joy by Dale Trumbore

• Wassail arranged by Erick Lichte

• Love Came Down at Christmas by David Dickau 

• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh Martin; arranged by Stacey V. Gibbs

• Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen) by Cesar Carrillo

• Joy to the World by George Frideric Handel; arranged by Reginald Bowens

• Thankful Heart by Paul Williams

A Letter from Santa Claus by Mark Twain

• Man in the Moon by Chris Foss

Short Excerpt from The Hawai’i Snowman by Christine Lê

• Mele Kalikimaka by R. Alex Anderson

Join us for Songs of Thanks, an innovative new production by the Minnesota-based vocal ensemble Cantus, presented exclusively by YourClassical MPR. Through their signature narrative programming, these acclaimed performers will weave together stories and songs celebrating gratitude and community. Listen now — and then tell us why you’re thankful (using the form below) so we can include your feedback in next year’s program!

What are you thankful for?

Playlist

• Fiddle Tune by Chris Foss 

• Wankantanhan Hotan’inpe, Traditional, arranged by William Linthicum-Blackhorse 

• El Manisero by Moises Simons 

• Wedding Qawwali by A.R. Rahman 

• Choros No. 3 by Heitor Villa-Lobos 

• Little Potato by Malcolm Daglish 

• That Which Remains by Andrea Ramsey 

• Fatherhood Is by Paul Scholtz 

• Simple Gifts by Joseph Bracket, arranged by Stephen Caracciolo 

• 23rd Psalm (dedicated to my mother) by Bobby McFerrin 

• I Would Live in Your Love by Christopher Harris 

• Canto a Eleggua by Yudelkis Lafuente 

• Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins by Julie Andrews 

• What a Wonderful World by Bob Thiele and George Weiss, arranged by Paul John Rudoi 

Do you have a special Thanksgiving memory that you hold near and dear to your heart? Let us know below how you give thanks! You might be included in next year’s program.

By Todd Melby and Anika Besst

Jake Runestad doesn’t shy away from challenging topics.

In “Dreams of the Fallen,” the Minneapolis-based composer worked with a poet and war veteran to create a piece of music about post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s one of two songs he composed on the Grammy-nominated album A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad.

Runestad learned of the Grammy nomination on Friday.

“I’m really, really excited,” he says.

Runestad, who also snared a Grammy nomination in 2020, worked with Arizona-based choir True Concord Voices & Orchestra on the album, which was nominated in the “best choral performance” category.

“There’s so much power you can pack into that use of words when pairing it with music,” he said. “There is really no other art form like it.”

For “Dreams of the Fallen,” Runestad worked with U.S. Army veteran Brian Turner, who was a writer and poet before serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The composition is for choir, orchestra and solo piano.

“It’s like a piano concerto, where the pianist is out front, in front of the orchestra,” he said. “And then there is a choir that sings Brian’s words, and the orchestra creates kind of a sonic landscape as we go through this journey of what it’s like to go through the PTSD experience.”

The other piece Runestad composed on the album is “Earth Symphony,” which is for choir and orchestra with libretto by Todd Boss, a poet formerly based in Minneapolis, who now lives in Austin, Texas. The piece examines the climate crisis from the perspective of Mother Earth as she tells the history of an extinct humankind.

“Mother Earth is recounting our history from our evolution into our lust for power and greed and essentially, she sings about our demise, and her own recovery,” Runestad said.

Runestad’s previous Grammy nomination was for the album The Hope of Loving, recorded by Conspirare.

Only recordings commercially released in the U.S. between Sept. 16, 2023 through Aug. 30, 2024 were eligible for nominations. The final round of Grammy voting, which determines its winners, will take place Dec. 12 through Jan. 3.

The 2025 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 2 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The view of one’s life’s work has taken on different meanings in societies and eras across the world. From servant and slavery systems of old, to the industrial revolution, to labor unions and the gig economy, our idea of work is ever-changing.

As in all aspects of our culture, music has been a part of work every step of the way. Today, both the advent of remote-work and the emerging question of universal basic income are creating new paradigms and discussions about the meaning of work. This Labor Day, join Cantus for I Hear America Singing, a joyful examination of the role work has played in our lives in years past and how work might evolve into the future.

Playlist

Traditional: “Simple Gifts”

Marge Piercy: “To Be of Use”

Melissa Dunphy: “Work”

Jennifer Lucy Cook: “Time”

Kenji Miyazawa: “Be Not Defeated by the Rain”

Traditional (arr. Yudelkis LaFuente): “Song to Yemaya”

Traditiona (arr. Osamu Shimizu): “Mogami River Boat Song”

Stacey Gibbs: “Ain't Got Time to Die”

Traditional (arr. Robert de Cormier): “Rainbow Round My Shoulder”

Traditional (arr. Chris Foss): “We Shall Not Be Moved”

Traditional (arr. Jeffrey L. Ames): “Tshotsholoza” (“Go Forward”)

Ralph Carmichael: “A Quiet Place”

Chris Foss: “I Hear America Singing”

Natasha Bedingfield: “Unwritten”

Dolly Parton: “9 to 5”

Fans of four-part harmony won’t want to miss Como Chorus Cascade, a 125-voice mass choir concert Tuesday, Aug. 20, hosted by St. Paul’s North Star Chorus at Como Park Pavilion.

The 25-member North Star ensemble will be joined by other regional choruses, including the Minneapolis Commodores, the Lakelanders (Faribault), the Croix Chordsmen (Stillwater), the River Blenders (Mankato) and the Singing Saints (St. Cloud).

The groups, which follow in the grand, all-American tradition of barbershop quartet singing, each will perform three numbers before a grand finale featuring all the choruses.

“We get together to sing ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and ‘God Bless America,’ and people leave with a smile on their faces,” said bass Steve Zorn, North Star Chorus’ membership vice president.

That’s the goal of the chorus, which is under the umbrella of the Barbershop Harmony Society, which had its roots in the Depression era.

“You can tell when people are hooked on what you’re singing about,” Zorn said. “I’m the emcee [at the concerts], and I’m scanning the audience at all times. Whenever I see a face that looks like it’s longing to sing barbershop, I find them afterward.

“It’s such a joy. It’s a way of lifting people’s spirits, our own and others’.”

Zorn, 72, is one of the “youngsters” of the group, which he joined in 2004. He had finished a doctorate in public administration at 51 and was “coming up for air” when he attended a North Star Chorus concert.

“My wife asked me why I had such a big smile on my face,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I want to do this, to be up on that stage.’ I got super-duper hooked. The next year I was not just on that stage, but in a quartet.”

Zorn also is a member of one of the chorus’ quartets, Note’orious.

The North Star repertoire is what might be called classic.

“We tend to choose music that’s not contemporary,” Zorn said.

He acknowledged that many people think of barbershop as “four straw hats and the same old songs.” But he hints that this view is simplistic; these are accomplished singers who rehearse weekly and keep themselves sharp at such events as “harmony university,” or choral retreats.

He mentioned the jazz standard “Bye Bye Blues” and excerpts from the musical South Pacific as representative numbers. Concertgoers also just might get a chance for audience participation with the Neil Diamond favorite “Sweet Caroline.”

Zorn advises attendees at the Aug. 20 concert to arrive early. The concert and parking are free, and the organizers expect a big crowd — including faithful followers of the various groups and others who just like good singing.

“We’re challenged because we’re not bringing in younger generations” to barbershop-style singing, Zorn said. “But we continue on, and the joy we get when we get a chance to sing for a small group of people in a nursing home or 500 at Como Pavilion lifts our spirits. It makes all the difference in the world.”

Event details

What: Como Chorus Cascade
Where: Como Park Pavilion, 1360 Lexington Pkwy. N., St. Paul
When: 7 p.m. Aug. 20
Tickets: Free

On a recent Friday evening, a hooded figure in dark sunglasses climbed the pulpit at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Just below, a few dozen singers gathered at the front of the packed sanctuary, conducted by a woman on stilts — elevated to see the choir in full.

This was a first for Louis Cole, the man in the pulpit. Cole is known primarily as a drummer, and his music over the past decade has fallen in the nexus of jazz, funk and rock, albeit with a flair that’s hard to categorize. But now, Cole had given himself a new musical challenge, which might be best described by the tagline he included on the poster for this concert: “Louis Cole attempts to write new music for a choir.”

“It is a new thing for me,” said Cole in an interview with All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang. “I’ve always stacked my voice for my own harmonies, for my own music. But that’s just me by myself. It’s so different having a group of people, tuning with each other, singing with each other in the same space.”

The night of choral music wasn’t the only new musical territory Cole had been testing out recently. He also just released a new album of orchestral music, called nothing, which was recorded with the conductor Jules Buckley and the Dutch orchestra Metropole Orkest.

All Things Considered caught up with Cole in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles as he was prepping for his show of choral music, and probed the musician about his creative process, the challenges of arranging for an orchestra, and the classic look of a Halloween-style skeleton suit.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Ailsa Chang: You never get bored. You’re always making sure you don’t get bored, it seems like.

Louis Cole: Yeah, I don’t have any vices, I just like making music. That’s how I grab… I don’t want to sound pretentious, but it’s how I grab magic out of the boring air around me. I think that’s my vice. That’s all I do. I mean, that’s really what I enjoy.

Chang: This new album is unlike anything else you’ve ever done. You worked with a Dutch orchestra, the Metropole Orkest, and the conductor Jules Buckley. Had you ever written arrangements for an orchestra before?

Cole: No, I never had. I’d written arrangements for little sections of, you know, string players or horns or something like that. But never a full orchestra, which is really a different thing. It’s like everyone, all the instruments playing at once. I’ve really spent a long time listening to music like this, but I don’t really know how to do it. But I’m gonna just do it.

Chang: You’re also this really prolific collaborator. Like, beyond this album with Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest, you’ve worked with Thundercat, the pianist Brad Mehldau, your longtime collaborator Genevieve Artadi, loads of other people. And it made me wonder — you seem to have such a specific musical vision for each of your songs, how do you stay true to that vision while incorporating the musical brains of all these other people?

Cole: Because I’m a gigantic control freak [who’s] really hard to work with. That’s how I do it. That’s my secret.

Chang: So the people you work with just put up with your dominance.

Cole: Oh yeah. Definitely. It’s like, "Oh I have this vision, it needs to be this, otherwise I’m just gonna do it myself." Usually when I’m collaborating with someone, like even in these orchestra rehearsals with Metropole, even if they changed one note, I’d be like "What’s that? What was that? Can we go back? What is that? Who did that?" You know? And then I’m like, "Can we change it back?"

Chang: But you keep working with bigger and bigger groups of people. Why would you do that, like include more and more minds and musicians into your world when, in this day and age, you could just manufacture all of that?

Cole: I still think that the energy of a group and the sound of a group can never be fully emulated with… I dunno, I’m gonna sound like an old guy… like computers, digital technology. Like, I think there is some magic in there that really does come across still. And I think there’s also the experience of doing it. Working with a group of people, it’s just like, "Wow, I really love doing this. This is fun. I spiritually feel good doing this." But the sound of it, too. I think there is some magic that’s actually tangible in there, and whether you notice it right away or not, I do think it is in there, and I think it’s special.

Copyright 2024, NPR

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Shimmy Jiyane and Latroit about their new project to reimagine classic House tracks to tell the story of the roots of the genre – translated and sung by the choir in Zulu.

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: In the late 1980s, this track helped house music become a global sensation.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOOD LIFE")

INNER CITY: (Singing) Let me take you to a place I know you want to go. It's a good life, yeah.

SHAPIRO: It's called "Good Life," by Inner City. Music producer Dennis White, aka Latroit, was part of Inner City's live touring group.

LATROIT: We would play "Good Life" every night. I could feel when we were touring around the world - this music was from Detroit and Chicago, the Midwest, but there wasn't a big audience for it at that time. But "Good Life" had already become an international radio hit. And it was the first song in dance music, I believe, to go from underground parties to the radio, to take this music mainstream.

SHAPIRO: Well, more than 35 years later, Latroit has now helped create a new version of that song with South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOOD LIFE (CHANTTY NATURAL REMIX)")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

SHIMMY JIYANE: "Good Life" was the biggest hit in South Africa. We brought the Zulu in it. We brought the traditional and the culture of the South African people.

SHAPIRO: That's the Soweto Gospel Choir's co-music director Shimmy Jiyane. Latroit and the gospel choir are two of the forces behind a new album called "History Of House." Along with the Australian producer known as Groove Terminator, they reimagined 50 years of house music in a dozen tracks. There are new choral arrangements of familiar tunes, lyrics that people have belted out on the dance floor for decades translated into Zulu. Jiyane told me house music has been a deep part of South African culture.

JIYANE: House music played a very important role. It was relevant to us because we would be like, oh, I know this song. Oh, my sister used to play this song. Oh, my brother loved this song. I used to play this song all the time, which is nice.

SHAPIRO: He was on the line from South Africa while Latroit was here in the States. I asked how they even began to narrow down half a century of house music into one album.

LATROIT: It was universal positivity, message-wise, the most positive of the tracks. House music is typically very positive and uplifting of itself. But because this is the Soweto Gospel Choir, we wanted to find tracks that had, you know, emotive and spiritual meanings, some of them, that could be amplified by the choir's vocals.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREE")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

LATROIT: Our mission, the idea for the project was to bring dance music, which is undeniable - Western dance music, which is undeniably African American music, back to an African project and then re-export it to the world through an African perspective. That was the original sort of mission statement of the project.

JIYANE: It's actually putting our spark, our soul on top of what house music has. So also to infuse it and also redo the hits, like, the old hits into Zulu, and singing not in English but in Zulu, it was so important for us to do that and also to give it that - and also with that rhythm that comes with the traditional stuff.

SHAPIRO: The most evident difference between these tracks and the originals is the vocals, but percussion is also a huge part of house music. And, of course, drumming is also a huge part of traditional South African music. So how did you approach the beats on these tracks?

LATROIT: Our approach to the beats was to try to capture as much energy through live percussion performance as possible.

JIYANE: Yeah.

LATROIT: What's common in music production, particularly dance music production, we wanted to make sure from the very beginning that we weren't making a dance music album that had a gospel choir on top of it. That's been done. It's been done well. The world doesn't need that from us. We wanted to do something authentically, organically built from the ground up, that most of the molecules pushed around through the air belonged to us or were created by us, that were captured by performances that our percussionists and our live players did.

So as much live performance and percussion as possible explains, I think, how it is that the record breathes the way it does. And I'm really - Ari, I'm so grateful that you brought that up as a thing to mention because we worked really hard to capture that. And there were times - honestly, as a producer, there were so many times I was like, why am I trying so hard? No one's going to notice this.

(LAUGHTER)

LATROIT: And so that you asked the question means a lot.

SHAPIRO: One track where I definitely heard it was "Ride Like The Wind."

LATROIT: Oh, that one is so good.

SHAPIRO: So tell us what we're hearing.

LATROIT: You are hearing one of the greatest house music percussionists of all time named Duke Mushroom. Duke Mushroom played on the biggest New York house records in the '90s and I wanted him to have the opportunity to really shine on a recording in this project. And that is Duke Mushroom going for it, man.

(SOUNDBITE OF SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR SONG, "RIDE LIKE THE WIND")

SHAPIRO: Shimmy, can you tell me about translating the lyrics? Were there changes that you made or ways that you reinterpreted what the songs were about? Or did you try to be as loyal as possible to the original meaning of the words?

JIYANE: We actually changed a bit of the words. But we tried to maintain the originality of the words just to give - because we have to respect the song also and the hard work that was put on it, especially when it comes to the vocals and the writing of it. So but we changed and we put it - because sometimes interpreting an English word to a Zulu word, sometimes it gets very difficult.

SHAPIRO: Can you give us an example?

JIYANE: Yes, "World Hold On." (Singing in Zulu).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORLD HOLD ON")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

JIYANE: So if you go to the original, it says something else. And it's like, in English it's short. But in Zulu it sounds very long.

SHAPIRO: So the original English lyric is, world, hold on. Instead of messing with our future, open up inside. Is the meaning in Zulu the same as the meaning in English?

JIYANE: Yes, yes.

SHAPIRO: Got to say, I think it sounds better in Zulu.

JIYANE: (Laughter).

LATROIT: Ari, with the greatest respect to the English language, we all agree with you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORLD HOLD ON")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

SHAPIRO: So what do you hope listeners take away from this project about the connections and overlaps among South African music, Black American music, house music, dance music, the history of 50 years that you're covering here?

LATROIT: Speaking for myself, I hope they didn't notice any of that, Ari. I hope that they just come away with a musical experience that makes them feel naturally, organically good, that puts them in a better mood, that makes them nicer to their coworkers and their family members and their loved ones.

(LAUGHTER)

LATROIT: That's what we're going for here.

SHAPIRO: Shimmy?

JIYANE: I just hope and I wish they could just, you know, embrace this album, you know, and also love the music and also try and experience what we experience when we're in the studio and creating it but through feeling and emotions, you know? And I just hope they just get to go track by track trying to sing in Zulu.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRIDE (A DEEPER LOVE)")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

JIYANE: Just imagine the whole world singing in Zulu, you know?

LATROIT: Oh, I like it. That's a world I want to live in.

JIYANE: Yeah, just imagine how it would sound. We just want to send a message of joy, peace, love and happiness throughout the world - people to be smiling, people to be positive about everything. Just be free, because that's what this album is all about.

SHAPIRO: Well, is there a track you would like us to go out on?

LATROIT: "Silence."

JIYANE: Yeah, that's beautiful. Yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILENCE")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

LATROIT: Phew. What happened there, Ari, is there was music over it. And I wasn't quite so sure about it, and I just hit mute, and it was just the choir. And I was like, all right...

JIYANE: (Laughter).

LATROIT: ...Well, let me get right out of the way of everybody here. Ladies and gentlemen, the choir.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILENCE")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

SHAPIRO: That's producer Dennis White, aka Latroit, and Shimmy Jiyane co-music director of the Soweto Gospel Choir. Their new album "History Of House" is out now.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILENCE")

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: (Singing in Zulu).

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

The Choral Arts Ensemble, Rochester’s premiere choral ensemble, presents The Wisdom of Nature, a choral program that celebrates the wonder, the power and the beauty of nature. The performance, recorded in Rochester in 2023, includes four world premieres commissioned by the ensemble. Enjoy new works by Minnesota composers Carol Barnett and Timothy Takach, as well as premieres by Marques L. A. Garrett and Jennifer Lucy Cook. Listen to the concert now with host Steve Staruch.

Playlist

• Johannes Brahms: “Waldesnacht”

• Carol Barnett: “Orchard in Bloom” *

• Giselle Wyers: “I Go Among Trees”

• Steve Heitzig: “Elegy on Water”

• Timothy Takach: “Things Worth Praising” *

• Heinrich Schutz: “The Heavens Declare the Glory of God”

• Marques L.A. Garrett: “The Lesson” *

• Charles Stanford: “The Blue Bird”

• Norman Dinnerstein: “An Old Silent Pond”

• Jennifer Lucy Cook: “Underneath My Feet” *

• Stephen Chatman: “Mosquitoes”

• James Cohn (Arr. Alf Houkom): “Oh, Shenandoah”

* World premiere

The Minnesota-based vocal ensemble 29:11 International Exchange recently presented a fantastic display of African-rooted music and traditions to the enthusiastic students of Harding High School in St. Paul.

The group, co-founded by husband and wife Brendon and Gaylene Adams, is made up of eight singers and four instrumentalists who hail from South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their songs tap into their shared culture to, as Brendon Adams says, “spread love and reconciliation through our music.”

29:11’s visit to Harding, which was coordinated by YourClassical MPR in collaboration with its Class Notes program, included a workshop with choir students, in which the singers taught the teens a song in Zulu, and two energetic performances in the school’s auditorium.

Enjoy these three songs from 29:11’s first concert.

‘Ndinguye’

“Ndinguye,” which means “I Am,” is a traditional Xhosa song sung in honor of God. Its title is taken from a scripture in the Bible, Exodus 3:14, where God appears to Moses as the burning bush. God tells Moses that he must go to the pharaoh and tell Egypt’s ruler to let his people go. When Moses expresses fear of not knowing what to say, God instructs him to tell them “I am who I am” has sent you. This infectious performance had the Harding students clapping and dancing.

‘Mkhululi weZoni’

"Mkhululi weZoni," which means “Savior of All Sinners” in Zulu, is a simple Zion Church sing-along song. Drummer Siyathemba Sotshononda is the featured vocalist.

‘iZitolo’

This song, which is sung in IsiZulu and roughly translates as “Stores,” is usually heard at wedding celebrations in South Africa. It would typically be sung by the parents of the bride, saying they sent their daughter to the store and instead she met up with boys, according to Adams: “You might be sent to the store, and you might just meet your future spouse; you never know what could happen.”

The featured vocalist is Siyasanga Mpondo. While she sings, she does a traditional dance called Indlamu, which is performed by Zulu girls at rituals or celebrations.

Credits

29:11 International Exchange: ⁠Brendon Adams (artistic director); Elijah Buba; Manasse Kaoma; Skyleigh Kennedy; Zoe Mgxaji; Bonisa Mlondleni; Siyasanga Mpondo; ⁠Xolisa Ngculu; Bontle Nxoyi; Roshane Solomons; and Siyathemba Sotshononda.

For YourClassical MPR: Produced by Randy Salas, with Ines Guanchez and Jenny Cvek; video by Jon Reynolds of Venn Design & Media, with audio by Mike Hallenbeck of Cool Cat Audio.

Recorded March 21, 2024, at Harding High School, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Thanks to James Yao of Harding High School and Katie Condon of YourClassical MPR’s Class Notes.

All songs © 29:11 International Exchange. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

29:11 at Harding

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Matthew Mehaffey is a professor of music at the University of Minnesota. He’s also the artistic director of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota. On Friday, the Oratorio Society of Minnesota and the University Singers, with orchestra and soloists, will perform the U.S. premiere of British composer Charles Villiers Stanford’s The Three Holy Children.

This will be the first complete performance of the work in 140 years. The performance is part of a collaboration with the English Heritage Music Series at the University of Minnesota and uses a modern performing edition from the over-a-century-old original manuscript.

Host Steve Staruch spoke to Mehaffey in advance of the piece’s performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota. Listen to their conversation now.

Pages from Stanford's 'The Three Holy Children' manuscript

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You hear it everywhere around the holidays — in concerts, in churches, in shopping malls. George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah is one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works, whether it’s Christmas or Easter. There’s much more to it than its greatest hit, the “Hallelujah” chorus.

Handel wrote the work in 1741 (in only 24 days!) based on text from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter, by Handel’s friend Charles Jennens. The composer had already written five oratorios, in keeping with changing public musical tastes, when Jennens sent him the libretto for what would become Messiah.

In a letter to another friend, Jennens wrote: “I hope [Handel] will lay out his whole genius and skill upon it, that the composition may excel all his former compositions, as the subject excels every other subject. The subject is Messiah.”

Behind the music

The extended meditation on the life of Jesus Christ is divided into three parts, a structure that echoes an opera. Each part encompasses scenes and movements in the form of arias, recitatives and choruses, reflecting an amalgam of musical influences (German, French, Italian and English). Although it has a religious theme, Handel wrote the theatrical work for the concert hall, not the church, which contributed to its popularity.

Here are the sections:

• Part I - “Prophecy and Fulfillment”: This includes “Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted,” “And the Glory of the Lord” and “For Unto Us a Child Is Born,” and it incorporates the Old Testament prophet Isaiah foretelling the birth of Jesus.

• Part II - “Suffering”: This concentrates on the Passion and concludes with the triumphant resurrection chorus, the famous “Hallelujah.”

• Part III - “Redemption”: This recounts Paul’s teachings on the resurrection and Christ’s glorification.

Holiday tradition

But let’s back up. Why is “Hallelujah” — an Easter anthem — and the entire work so popular at Christmas?

“By 1900, the Messiah was so closely linked to Easter that people began to expect to hear the oratorio every year,” author Ace Collins writes in Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. “A performance of the Messiah was the surest way to fill up a church or concert hall.”

He adds that Messiah’s move to Christmas was a marketing ploy: “The large crowds that turned out each Easter to hear the oratorio prompted marketers to rethink the timing of the annual presentation of Handel’s work.”

For a long while, it was a standard for both holidays, but since the 1960s, Messiah has been largely transformed into a Christmas event.

And what about the custom of standing for the “Hallelujah” chorus?

It originates from the story that, at the work’s London premiere in 1743, King George II was so moved that he rose from his seat, obliging the rest of the audience to do the same. However, there is no persuasive evidence that the king attended the first or any subsequent performance. Since reaction to the work was originally modest, this perhaps was always a suspect theory.

But if you attend, you stand, king or no king. As Handel wrote after completing the chorus, “I saw heaven before me and the great God himself.”

Great recordings

Because of Messiah’s history and variations in interpretation, there is no “perfect” recording, but here are a few acclaimed ones to explore.

Hermann Scherchen: The German conductor helmed the first recording based on Handel’s original scoring in 1953, leading the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir. That version is out of print but can be found used on CD and vinyl. Here is Part I (featuring Scherchen’s signature drawn-out tempos) recorded in 1959 with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chamber Choir.

Christopher Hogwood: In 1981, the British conductor led a version with the Academy of Ancient Music that is the first recording to use period instruments and largely vibrato-free voices. The arrangement was based closely on the charitable concerts Handel staged at the London Foundling Hospital in the 1750s.

Stephen Cleobury: Another Brit, he led the Brandenburg Consort and the King’s College Choir in a recording from the Cambridge college’s chapel. The sublime all-male choir is supplemented by soloists Lynne Dawson, Hilary Summers, John Mark Ainsley and Alastair Miles. (Cleobury also was known worldwide for leading the choir in its annual A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, which is broadcast annually in the United States by YourClassical Radio on Christmas Eve, from 1982 until his death in 2019.) Here is “Lift Up Your Gates” from Messiah.

Stephen Layton: The noted British choral conductor’s 2009 recording captured a live performance by Britten Sinfonia, which uses modern instruments played in a historical musical style, and the Polyphony choir. The BBC was inspired to declare: “Layton’s musicians bring an unparalleled freshness to this familiar work, combining power with a delicacy faithful to Handel’s Baroque sensibility.” Here’s “Hallelujah.”

This Easter, as always, the Messiah oratorio is in full play. But do you want to venture beyond Handel's masterpiece? Then check out these 10 other great works for Holy Week.

The compelling story of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ has been told and retold for centuries. Artists in every genre have put their stamps on the saga, resulting in some of the most striking, gorgeous music in existence, much of it sung.

In the immediate days leading up to Easter, Christians celebrate Holy Week, which traces that story through a series of liturgies (worship services or Masses), each day focusing on one part of the story. Lent, the 40-day season that precedes Easter, is a time of honest reflection and learning. The Triduum (three days) retells the story of the Passion. Maundy Thursday is about the first Holy Communion, ending in the stripping of the altar. Good Friday is about the bearing of the cross and the crucifixion itself. Holy Saturday is a day of quiet reflection on Jesus in the tomb. Easter Sunday, beginning with the Vigil service the night before, celebrates the resurrection.

Whatever your religious experience, sitting with some or all of this music will enrich your spirit.

Maundy Thursday

Carlo Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responses for Maundy Thursday — Both the Gesualdo and the Couperin are written for Tenebrae services, in which candles are extinguished one by one, with prescribed readings and music interspersed. The mood is somber, ending in darkness and, in some traditions, concluding with a loud slam (maybe a hymnal on a pew?) that symbolizes the earthquake at the moment of Jesus' death — followed by the relighting of one candle, representing hope.

Francois de Couperin: Première Leçon de Ténèbres

Good Friday

Arvo Pärt: Passio — The stark, gleaming perfection of this setting and performance of the story of Christ's passion is like a spear through the heart.

Antonio Vivaldi: “Stabat Mater” — Mary at the foot of the cross on which her son hangs — this haunting setting of the 13th-century text captures all the anguish and grief that she must have felt.

Jessye Norman: “Were You There?” — The inimitable Norman uplifts every inch of this well-loved spiritual, sung from the point of view of a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus.

Holy Saturday

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: “Sicut Cervus” — This is a sublime setting of Psalm 42, which is sung during the Easter Vigil. Its quiet longing suits the contemplative mood of Holy Saturday: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God."

Tomas Luis de Victoria: Lamentations for Holy Saturday — Jesus refers to his body as a temple that will be destroyed and rebuilt in three days. The story is an allusion to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was a body blow to all faithful Jews at that time; spiritually, the Jerusalem Temple was God's home among his people. Practically, the sacking of Jerusalem led to the Babylonian Exile. Jesus uses this reference to let people know that his resurrection will change the story of the faithful, pointing away from suffering, toward hope and oneness with God. That transformation is underway on Holy Saturday, as Jesus lays in the tomb.

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Easter Sunday

Nikolas Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture — There are biblical allusions built into this piece, but Rimsky-Korsakov's intent was not overtly Christian; rather, he was trying to depict "the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning." Wonderful music!

Gustav Mahler: Resurrection Symphony — Listen for the themes of destruction in the early movements, pointing toward redemption at the end. Magnificent!

Johann Sebastian Bach: Easter Oratorio — And, of course, Bach. Although not as well-known as his St. Matthew and St. John Passions, Bach's oratorio is a glorious celebration of the resurrection.

Celebrate Holy Week with the North American premiere of Psalm 103, a choral and orchestra setting of the biblical text by Johann Schelle, a predecessor of J.S. Bach and cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig from 1677 to 1701. The Schelle setting is both tender and comforting as the text speaks of heavenly compassion and care. The piece was recorded at Mount Calvary Church in Eagan, Minnesota, on Feb. 18, with the Buxtehude Festival Chorale and Orchestra under the direction of Brian A. Schmidt. Listen now using the player above.

Program

Buxtehude Festival Chorale and Orchestra
Brian A. Schmidt, conductor

JOHANN SCHELLE Psalm 103

Minneapolis’ Augsburg/Mirandola Chamber Collective recently had the privilege of recording with British vocal powerhouse Voces8 and its Voces8 U.S. Scholars, a stupendous event captured by YourClassical MPR. Listen now as they perform Paul Smith’s breathtaking “The Day Sky” and Charles Wood’s majestic “Hail, Gladdening Light.”

"I was so happy seeing my students experience their full preparedness to join accomplished musicians in these gorgeous choral performances,” said Kristina Boerger, who directs the Augsburg/Mirandola singers. “It was a tremendous reinforcement of all that they are learning about the requirements of the discipline: If they answer those requirements, they will be rewarded with that transcendence of communication that only vocal harmonizing can bring! I am grateful to the Voces8 community and to MPR for such a rare and precious opportunity."

Smith’s piece was conceived for the happiest of occasions: the wedding of his brother (and Voces8's artistic director), Barney Smith. Making this recording extra special, Barney Smith leads the massed choir in the work.

“The wedding took place in Cambridge just after Christmas and was a moving, joyous and beautiful occasion," Paul Smith says. "This piece is very much written as a ‘miniature,' a moment for thought, reflection and beauty. I presented Barney and [his now-wife] Libby with a number of choices for the text and was thrilled when they chose this beautiful poem by Hafiz.”

This performance of “The Day Sky” also was meaningful for the Augsburg/Mirandola singers, Boerger said, because a major benefactor was able to observe from the studio booth.

"This remarkable session was significantly underwritten by John N. Schwartz, Augsburg alumnus and peripatetic benefactor of choral study and performance,” she said. “John passed three months later, having lived valiantly and well for years in defiance of a threatening diagnosis. On this day, he was present in the sound booth, raptly attentive to the process and suffused with joy. We thank MPR for hosting this opportunity for him to experience fulfillment of his fervent wish: to ensure life-changing involvement in the choral arts for Augsburg's students of today."

The singers would later go on to perform the song at Schwartz’s memorial service.

Barney Smith also leads the choral forces in Wood's classic hymn, which was translated from its original Greek into English by John Keble, from the ancient Christian hymn “Phos Hilaron.”

The Voces8 U.S. Scholars, under the direction of Erik Jacobson and Paul Smith, are the U.S.-based training ensemble of the Voces8 Foundation and include up-and-coming professional singers who seek to hone their vocal craft. Their curriculum includes a recording residency at Minnesota Public Radio each fall with Minnesota-based composers and performers.

Credits

“The Day Sky”
Composed by Paul Smith
Music © 2023 by Voces8 Publishing. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Sheet music: https://voces8.com/publishing

“Hail, Gladdening Light”
Composed by Charles Wood; lyrics translated from the original Greek by John Keble
This performance © 2023 by Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved.

Recorded Oct. 31, 2023, in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser studio at Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, Minnesota.

By Cathy Wurzer, Chris Farrell and Ellen Finn

Philip Brunelle has done it all. He’s the founder and artistic director of VocalEssence. VocalEssence is based at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Brunelle has led the choir for 55 years.

A former member of VocalEssence once wrote, in addition to his choral work, he is often “simultaneously employed as a church musician, organist, opera conductor, and orchestral musician and conductor.”

MPR’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell recently met with the 80-year-old Brunelle. Farrell shares highlights of the conversation with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Right, it's time for our series, Connect the Dots, where we ask community elders to share their wisdom about what really matters in life and lessons learned about living. So, we're going to start off with some music, shall we?

VOCALESSENCE: (SINGING) The day is done

And the darkness falls from the wings of night

CATHY WURZER: This is the VocalEssence choir singing "Day is Done" by Stephen Paulus. VocalEssence is based at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Philip Brunelle, its founder and artistic director, has led VocalEssence for 55 years. MPR's senior economics contributor Chris Farrell recently met with the 80-year-old Brunelle. Welcome back, Chris.

CHRIS FARRELL: Oh, it's great to be here.

CATHY WURZER: Where have I been? Philip Brunelle turns 80 years old. That just doesn't seem possible. For goodness' sakes. Now, for folks who are not familiar with Philip-- I love him-- he is internationally known. VocalEssence internationally famous organization, has flourished under his leadership. But for folks not familiar, how did VocalEssence get started?

CHRIS FARRELL: You know, Cathy, it's really-- it's a critical part of this lifelong love story between Brunelle and music, and became a church organist when he was 14 in Bloomington. He moved to Park Avenue Covenant, then Holy Trinity Lutheran. And then when he was 25 years old, he got a call from Plymouth Congregational Church to be its organist and director.

Mind you now, he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in music. And he was one of the youngest musicians ever hired by the Minnesota Orchestra. Shortly after he got the job, he said, I want to start a music series that would draw on people in the community who want to sing.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: It started really as a kind of outreach from Plymouth Church, such that today, some people still think that it's a Plymouth Church choir, which it isn't at all. I mean, now, we've got 150 singers, and there are two in the group who are Plymouth Church people. So, it's evolved.

CATHY WURZER: Yes, it has. Oh, my goodness. So, I know Philip and the group have traveled the world, promoting opera and choral music. I mean, I have to say, he's like the Energizer bunny. He just always goes and goes and goes.

CHRIS FARRELL: I love that. He's also commissioned some 350 compositions over the years. And he was the music director of the Minnesota Opera for 17 years. And this is what a former member of VocalEssence once wrote-- in addition to his choral work, he is often simultaneously employed as a church musician, organist, opera conductor, an orchestral musician, and conductor.

CATHY WURZER: Did I say he was the Energizer bunny? Yes, I'm right. He's tireless. And I don't know this. Where did Philip Brunelle grow up?

CHRIS FARRELL: So his early years were in Austin, Minnesota. His father was a minister. And the family moved to Northeast Minneapolis when he was seven. And Brunelle says his parents were really supportive. And he carries with him a life lesson from his mother-- stay positive and look for opportunities.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: It was an unusual upbringing in that my father, the minister, had a heart attack and died in front of us on Christmas morning when he was 43 and left my mom with five kids, who were 15, I was 13, eight, two, and 11 months. And after the funeral, I remember she pulled us together and just said, well, I don't know how this is going to work. It's going to be an adventure. And God will provide.

And I can tell you, there was never a feeling around the house of, oh, poor us. Oh, we've been dealt this bad luck. It was, it's all going to work out. And her positive attitude about life was something that I know I inherited and I know my siblings inherited because you just simply had to go ahead. So, I've always just felt very positive about what life gives you.

CATHY WURZER: I wonder how that positive approach to life has affected his career.

CHRIS FARRELL: Well, Cathy, I want to give you a practical example. And this practical example really holds lessons for the rest of us. Call it his "you'll never know if you don't ask" approach. So, let me set this up with an example from a brief meeting he had with Aaron Copland, the great American composer. So, one summer, when Brunelle was young, he studied at the Metropolitan Opera, and he was asked to follow the score during a rehearsal.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: And as I'm sitting there with this score, this voice out in the audience before the rehearsal started says, Who has a score? And I raised my hand. And suddenly, Leonard Bernstein sits next to me. And then a very quiet voice right behind said, May I also share? And that was, yes, Mr. Copland. So, he sat on the other side of me. And we were there. And so that was the one time that I had met him. So, I felt very comfortable calling him up.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh. You're kidding me, sitting between two legends. OK, so that led Philip Brunelle to call up Aaron Copland?

CHRIS FARRELL: Yes, so he had just started at VocalEssence. And of course, he was looking to make a splash. And Brunelle fondly remembers his conversation with Copland.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: It's one of my mottos, which is, you don't know if you don't ask, because all people can say is yes or no. And so, and the chance of yes, you've got 50% right there. So, I picked up the phone and called this guy named Aaron Copland and said, Mr. Copland, I'm starting a music series, and I want to focus on choral music that's outside the 8 or 10 pieces that everybody knows-- "Handel's Messiah," "Brahms Requiem," et cetera.

And I'd love to have a concert of your music for choir with you conducting. And he paused and said, young man, no one has asked me to do that. I would love to do it. I love my choral music. Tell me the date. I'll cancel what I have and be there. And that's how it started.

CHRIS FARRELL: And the concert was packed because people wanted to see Aaron Copland and hear his choral music.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, I can only imagine. I love the "answer is always no unless you ask" motto, you know? You have a 50% chance of a yes, which is good advice to keep in mind. Don't be afraid of rejection.

CHRIS FARRELL: So, the trick is how practical he is with his approach. He always finds some kind of connection, Cathy, however it's small or thin, to the people he's successfully approached, including Copland, of course, James Earl Jones and Benny Andersson of ABBA.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, [LAUGHS] ABBA, no less. OK, so, what has always stuck with me over these many years of covering Philip Brunelle and his music is just the diversity in his music choices.

CHRIS FARRELL: Well, Cathy, we had this just lovely moment when he talked about the impact that the texts in choral music have on him. Sometimes, the words come from the Bible, but often, it's the words of a poet, a contemporary poet. And he loves composers. And the music gets him excited, and the words move him. And that led him to say, you know what? Keep music in your life, he says. Music matters.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: I think music has a depth to it that young people, sometimes, aren't aware of how much this can affect who they are and how they respond to the world. And I know for many people, that music can be something that goes inside of you. And years later, you may go, oh, I remember this wonderful piece of music. I've never forgotten it. And the reason they often can remember it is because they remember the words that went with it.

My mother is an example. When she was in her later '80s and she had some dementia, and I went to see her and she was kind of vague, and then I would say, oh, but do you remember-- and I'd name an old hymn. Right away, she starts singing it. Remembered the words, remembered the melody. And, you know, I just find people have this longing to hold on to something that's special and dear to them. And oftentimes, that something that's special and dear is music.

CATHY WURZER: I tell you what, Chris, that's so true. I remember how my friends who have had dementia, Alzheimer's, how they can easily sing, word for word, a song specifically. And I also see the difference that music makes in some of the harder conversations that I've had around Minnesota involving purposeful living with the non-profit I founded, the End in Mind Project. Getting back to Philip, what else stood out to you? You covered a whole lot of ground here.

CHRIS FARRELL: Well, it's always struck me whenever I'm around him that his singular trait is his endless curiosity and enthusiasm. I mean, the combination of the two is infectious. And he's always encouraging people to put themselves in a position where they can be surprised. Whenever he gives a class, for example, he stresses the importance of curiosity, of being willing to learn something new.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: I always talk about how important it is to be inquisitive and how important it is to keep asking questions and getting to know things. The more you can know is the more you don't know. And I know a lot of choral music, but I don't know all the choral music. So, I'm always fascinated when some young person says, Hey, do you know composer X? And I go, No, how do I find them? But I do find that the sense of curiosity is really an important fact that I've always gone for.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, I know. That's what I love about my job, too. I always keep curious and always learn something. Now, you mentioned that Philip Brunelle is 80 years old, which I can't believe. And I'm sure he's not retiring, knowing him.

CHRIS FARRELL: Not even close. He just joined a committee, Cathy. It was formed to come up with ideas on how to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Constitution in 2026. And I just want to end this conversation. It's on a note that was inspired by Brunelle, and it's both for younger people and older people to think about.

Talk to one another. Learn from one another. Reach out if you have a question. I mean, there's nothing new about intergenerational conversations. Socrates and Plato, Merlin and Arthur, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker-- sorry, I had to put that one in there. The thing is, the learning goes both ways.

PHILIP BRUNELLE: If a young person calls me up and says, Can I ask you some questions? I go, yes, let's do it. And I will tell you musicians that have gone through life and are continuing their life are thrilled when a young person comes to them and says, I have some questions for you. I may not always have the answers they want, but I can certainly advise them. And I just want to encourage them, keep being surprised.

CATHY WURZER: Keep being surprised. Oh, I love that!

CHRIS FARRELL: Isn't that a great motto?

CATHY WURZER: Oh, yeah. Chris, I've really enjoyed this. Thank you so much.

CHRIS FARRELL: Thanks a lot, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Chris Farrell is MPR's senior economics contributor.

In the Land of 10,000 Choirs, this might be heresy: The College Rank website has listed its top college choirs, and although two Minnesota ensembles (and one in Iowa that we’ll gladly claim) are included in the top 10, none rises to the top.

The venerable St. Olaf College choir, based in Northfield, comes in at only No. 3. The website calls it “one of the most renowned college choirs in American history,” but even that didn’t bring up its rating. The choir’s longevity, many recordings, impressive tour schedule and Emmys are cited, but apparently it wasn’t enough to edge out the No. 2 entry, Washington’s Pacific Lutheran University and its five ensembles.

Coming in at No. 8 is the choir at Concordia College in Moorhead, noted for its distinction as the nation’s “second-oldest Lutheran University choir.” The website also notes: “Not only is this an exclusive ensemble to be in, but it also requires a lot of time and commitment.” A various form of this boilerplate language appears in nearly every entry, which almost makes it seem as if AI were involved in the writing. Of course choral singing is a time commitment!

The Nordic Choir of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, sneaks in at No. 9. Besides touring the world, it has performed in “famed venues” such as Carnegie Hall, the Mormon Tabernacle — and the Historic State Theatre in Minneapolis. We love the State Theatre, but can it truly be classified with the others? According to College Rank, it can.

Confusingly, the tremendously talented Aeolians of Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, come in at No. 4, even though they are listed as “arguably the best university choir in the United States” and “ranked third worldwide.” You’d think that might put them at No. 1, but no.

So, which choir is No. 1? California’s Mount San Antonio College, which apparently gets the nod because as a community college it punches above its weight. Its two ensembles have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Monterey Jazz Festival, toured extensively and made multiple recordings. Since the other choirs have similarly impressive credentials, we can only assume it’s the “little choir that could” aspect.

Rounding out the top 10 are St. Mary’s College (California) at No. 5, Georgia Southern University at No. 6, University of Louisville at No. 7 and University of Houston at No. 10.

There’s not much rhyme or reason to these rankings, which claim to be “based on things like competition results, world rankings, touring, historical significance, performing schedule and audition competitiveness.” We’re not even sure if College Rank is worth taking seriously, especially since the rankings carry no byline or cite sources. The site carries no staff listings, and an email inquiry to the only contact listed was returned as undeliverable.

We in the Land of 10,000 Choirs will console ourselves with our over-representation on the list, but we’ll also take it with a grain of salt.

The last time the celebrated King’s Singers visited the Twin Cities, in 2018, they drove through a raging April snowstorm, fortified by Red Bull, for a performance at a packed Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis as part of their 50th-anniversary tour. Their return on Feb. 18, in milder weather and in the more intimate confines of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, promises to feel different.

The six-member group, originally formed in 1968 by alumni of England’s King’s College (Cambridge) Choir, represents the gold standard of a cappella singing, renowned for its varied repertoire, matchless technique and lush harmonies. The current ensemble, together since 2019, has put together a program for this seven-city U.S. tour (see list below) celebrating “Legacies” — including those of English composers Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd, whose 400th death anniversaries occurred last year, and Disney, celebrating 100 years.

Fittingly for a concert at a Minnesota Lutheran church, the group also will “take a tour of Scandinavia,” first baritone Chris Bruerton said, with “beautiful music from Norway, Sweden and Finland, before we get to our close-harmony stuff.” That includes works from their 2020 album Finding Harmony, which Bruerton describes as “music that has brought communities together throughout the world, that has been a unifying force.”

That community feeling was tested a year ago, when the group’s concert at Pensacola Christian College in Florida was canceled on two hours’ notice because of the school’s concerns about the “lifestyle” of some group members. The singers pointed out that they had sung at the college previously with no issues and had just led a preconcert workshop.

“It hasn’t actually come up in conversation recently,” Bruerton said of the incident. “We’re not marking the occasion — we’ve moved on and moved forward. Sadly, the conversation itself is still one that needs to be had.

“We just want to share positivity and love. We’re not preachy; all we wanted to do was sing for them. We feel strongly that music is for everyone,” he said. “We didn’t have ill feelings toward Pensacola College. But it would be nice in the future to go back, to entertain them and have a conversation. I suspect it will have to come from them initiating, but I don’t think we’ll be sitting by the fire waiting for that call.”

Tenor Julian Gregory added, “If anything, it brought us closer together. All we can hope for is for people to accept us for who we are.”

Bruerton said the cancellation brought their supporters to the fore.

“One thing I do remember was how special it felt; our profession and our world reached out. It’s an extraordinary thing to be part of — it was bigger than us. Our journey there was a catalyst for that sort of outpouring of love.”

It perhaps was that outpouring that spurred a burst of creative output from the group, which released three albums in 2023. They include Tom + Will, honoring Weelkes and Byrd; When You Wish Upon a Star, embracing nine decades of Disney movie soundtracks, and Wonderland, comprising music commissioned by the King’s Singers. Indeed, the group is well-known for its championing of new music: Its 1988 commission, György Ligeti’s six Nonsense Madrigals (“fiendishly difficult,” in Gregory’s words), provides a framework for Wonderland.

Such an output — unusual for a one-year span — would be a challenge, Gregory said, but for the rapport and comfort level the group has built up. The six singers (besides Bruerton and Gregory, they are first countertenor Patrick Dunachie, second countertenor Edward Button, second baritone Nick Ashby and bassist Jonathan Howard) have varied musical backgrounds but have melded into a cohesive unit. Gregory pointed out that Howard’s former advertising career and Button’s law career have provided invaluable input.

“If we were all just choirboys, it would be quite different,” he said. “As six human beings, you spend 200 days together touring. We have some different perspectives, but it feels like a very wholesome and healthy community of six guys having fun and hanging out.”

Through the group’s Global Foundation, the singers try to instill that sense of joy in communities “that don’t have access to the kind of work we do,” Bruerton said. The foundation puts on workshops, supports composers with commissions, and brings children and teachers to free concerts.

For some in the audience, it’s their first live performance.

“It’s just joyous to see the look of these kids’ faces,” he said. “That’s something we feel really passionate about, taking new music to new audiences. When the opportunity arises, we just jump at it.”

The singers also are holding their second USA Summer School June 24-28 at Princeton University, billed as an “opportunity to learn the formula that has defined the King’s Singers as one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles.”

Gregory said, “Honestly, what I’ve learned is that by teaching, you often learn more about your own craft.”

King’s Singers on tour

Besides the Feb. 18 concert, Bethlehem Music Series will sponsor its own workshop for vocalists, choral directors and church musicians on Feb. 19, bringing together the King’s Singers and several choirs. The concert also will include a pre-performance conversation with YourClassical MPR’s Steve Staruch.

Minneapolis is the second stop on the King’s Singers. Their national tour also includes:

• Feb. 16: St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s City, Maryland

• Feb. 20: Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska

• Feb. 22: University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut

• Feb. 24: Opelika Center for the Performing Arts in Opelika, Alabama

• Feb. 25: Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia

• Feb. 26: Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Watch as the Minnesota-based ensemble 29:11 International Exchange performs "Angiwanaki," a traditional Zulu song arranged by Nomvula Maneli. Find out why it has gone viral on Facebook with more than half a million views!

The Oslo Chamber Choir was founded in 1984 by Grete Pedersen with the ambition of being one of the top choirs in Norway and an innovative voice in the international arena. In addition to singing classical repertoire, the choir started experimenting with Norwegian folk music. Through intensive work with the best performers of the tradition, the Oslo Chamber Choir — now under the direction of Håkon Daniel Nystedt — has acquired a unique expression by being the only choir where all the singers are profoundly trained in Norwegian folk music singing. Listen now to the Oslo Chamber Choir’s October 2023 performance at St. Olaf College, with host Steve Staruch.

Each December, the Center for Faith and Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, rings out with the sacred and the exuberant: the sounds of the Christmas season. Enjoy the 2022 program, The Gifts They Gave Emmanuel.

Playlist

Prologue to Isaiah’s Dream
Based on hymn tune: Lasst uns erfreuen
Terre Johnson
Text by St. Francis of Assisi, paraphrased by William H. Draper
Combined choirs, Symphony Orchestra

The Dream Isaiah Saw
Glenn L. Rudolph
Text by Thomas H. Troeger
Combined choirs, Symphony Orchestra

While by My Sheep
Traditional German carol
arr. Mark Potvin
Text by Friedrich Spee and Mark Potvin
Norskkor

Christmas Carol
Adrianna Tam
Text by Sara Teasdale
Collegiate Chorale, piano

Where Riches Is Everlastingly
Bob Chilcott
Text adapted from 16th century
Nordic Choir, percussion

Christus Natus Est
Rosephanye Powell
Text by Countee Cullen
Sung in English and Latin
Combined choirs, Symphony Orchestra

Donkey Carol
John Rutter
Cathedral Choir, Symphony Orchestra

Troika (from Lieutenant Kijé Suite)
Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony Orchestra

How Far Is It to Bethlehem?
English carol
arr. Mark Hayes
Text by Frances Chesterton
Aurora, piano

O Magnum Mysterium
Kevin A. Memley
Sung in Latin
Nordic Choir

What I Can I Give Him
Andrea Ramsey
Orchestration by Luke Benton
Text by Christina Rossetti
Commissioned for Christmas at Luther 2022
Combined choirs, Symphony Orchestra

Jesus Nasciera / Ríu Ríu Chíu
16th-century Spanish villancico
arr. Brett Stewart
Text by Thomas H. Troeger
Sung in Spanish
Combined choirs, Symphony Orchestra, guitar

In Dulci Jubilo (from Carol Trilogy)
German traditional
arr. Laura Hawley
Sung in German and Latin
Aurora, piano

We recently offered a playlist of 10 great choral works, and listeners responded with their own choices. Here are some of their favorites.

Messiah (George Frideric Handel, 1741): This is the one that everyone knows — at least that one really famous movement. The oratorio had modest popularity in its day but has become one of the most-performed choral works. Handel wrote Messiah for a more intimate vocal and instrumental presentation; it has been adapted for the larger-scale productions we most often hear today. You probably know the “Hallelujah” chorus — so here’s “For Unto Us a Child Is Born.”

Mass in B Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1749): Completed a year before his death, this work was based by Bach largely on earlier works, such as the “Sanctus” he had composed in 1724. This section, “Et Incarnatus Est,” was composed just for the Mass.

Requiem (Gabriel Fauré, 1887-90): The composer wrote of this work, “Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.” Fauré’s version differs from the usual requiem format in that it omits the usual “Dies Irae,” subbing in this “Pie Jesu:”

Requiem (Maurice Duruflé, 1947): Duruflé was among the French composers commissioned in 1941 by the collaborationist Vichy regime to write works for a monetary award. Asked to write a symphonic poem, he decided to write Requiem instead, and he was still working on it when the regime collapsed in 1944. He got the last laugh, eventually collecting three times the agreed-upon price.

“The Ground/Agnus Dei” (Ola Gjeilo, 2008): The composer defines this final movement from his Sunrise Mass with the terms “resolution,” “release” and “relief.” Indeed, it is a respite from the tension and emotion of all that goes before. Listen and feel the tranquility come over you.

YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio’s Bring the Sing returned to the Fargo-Moorhead area on Aug. 15, led by Fargo-Moorhead Choral Artists and director Michael Culloton. Check out a video of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and photos from this wonderful community sing-along held in downtown Fargo.

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