Reflections on

BY PHILIP BRUNELLE

When the Covid epidemic arrived shutting down all in-person music activities here in Minnesota and elsewhere, I did not want folks in their apartments and homes to be without a link to music – so the idea of a daily 10-minute focus on a single composer that I had performed during these past 50+ years seemed like a good possibility connecting with the average listener rather than an academic audience. Between my roles at VocalEssence and Plymouth Congregational Church I have performed the music of more than 300 composers, so there would be no lack of names! And, because I have become personal friends with the many living composers, these “Musical Moments” could make the composers come alive to listeners.

I asked my son Tim (an excellent videographer) if he would meet me once every week or two and record a series of these sessions at Plymouth Church with me seated at the piano where I could play choral excerpts from the music being presented Tim agreed and the project was launched The challenge was – which composers, as there were so many to choose from I decided that each week or two would include composers (both men and women), a Minnesota composer, and a mix of composers living and past, keeping in mind international composers To ensure accuracy, I contacted all of the project’s living composers explaining what I was doing, requested a photo and asked approval of their biography Almost all the composers responded

This turned out to be a wonderful exercise for me recalling names I had forgotten as well as experiences with so many of them; anthems they had composed for me and works we had premiered at VocalEssence or Plymouth Church. The first day, March 23, 2020 featured Dominick Argento, Minnesota composer of wonderful choral works, operas, organ music and song cycles for solo voice. He was my professor, a mentor and a dear

Philip Brunelle, artistic director and founder of VocalEssence, is an internationally renowned conductor, choral scholar and visionary He has made his lifelong mission the promotion of the choral art in all its forms, especially rarely heard works of the past and outstanding new music. Under his leadership, VocalEssence has commissioned more than 300 works to date. Philip has conducted symphonies (New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra among others) as well as choral festivals and operas on six continents. He is the editor of two choral series for Boosey & Hawkes and chairman of the review committee for Walton Music. Philip is also the Organist-Choirmaster at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis For two decades Philip was deeply involved with the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM). He served as president of the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music, held in Minneapolis in 2002. He was a Vice President of the IFCM Board and served as Executive Director for the 2014 World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul, South Korea. Philip served as Artistic Advisor for the 2017 World Choral Symposium in Barcelona, Spain and later