Sweet Honey In The Rock to join VocalEssence Chorus

in 20^th annual WITNESS concert

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (November 16, 2009) – Every year since 1991 Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence have honored the choral music of African American composers in the yearly WITNESS concert. The 20^th annual WITNESS performance will be a very special celebration as the VocalEssence Chorus is joined by the acclaimed women’s vocal ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock^®. The concert takes place on Sunday, February 14, 2010 (4 pm) at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. Classical Minnesota Public Radio’s John Birge will host a Pre-Concert Conversation at 3 pm with composer Ysaye Barnwell, a member of Sweet Honey In The Rock.

Tickets for WITNESS are $20-$40 (Service charges apply. Student tickets are half-price and group discounts are available.) For tickets and information, call 651-224-4222 or visit www.vocalessence.org/witness-2010.

The first half of the WITNESS concert will feature Sweet Honey In The Rock performing some of their signature a cappella arrangements, followed by the 100-voice VocalEssence Chorus singing “Truth Pressed to Earth Shall Rise” by Sweet Honey’s own Ysaye Barnwell, “Folks, I’m Telling You” by Twin Cities composer Elizabeth Alexander, and “Give Me Your Hand” by John Work III.

The second half of the concert, created by Ysaye Barnwell and Philip Brunelle, will incorporate the theme of activism in labor, civil rights, and peace. The groups will sing union songs such as “Step By Step,” “More than a Paycheck,” and Philip Brunelle’s arrangement of “Solidarity Forever.” The ensembles will perform a civil rights medley culminating in Rosephanye Powell’s “I Dream A World.”

Representing the theme of peace, the VocalEssence Chorus will sing a setting of Dag Hammarskjöld’s words, “Thou Who Art Over Us,” and Sweet Honey will present “Let There Be Peace” and “Study War No More.” The finale (involving the audience) will be a setting of “This Little Light of Mine.”

Signing for the hearing-impaired has long been an important part of Sweet Honey’s concerts. For the first time at any VocalEssence concert, all the music will be sign language interpreted.

For press information and photographs related to WITNESS, please contact Jennifer Bauer (612-547-1459, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or visit the press section of www.vocalessence.org.

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Founded in 1969, VocalEssence explores music for voices and instruments under the enthusiastic direction of conductor Philip Brunelle.

VocalEssence | 1900 Nicollet Avenue | Minneapolis, MN 55403 | www.vocalessence.org