The Minnesota Chorale, named principal chorus of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2004, has sung with the Orchestra for nearly four decades.  In its 40th season—and its 17th under the artistic leadership of Kathy Saltzman Romey—the Chorale is Minnesota’s preeminent symphonic chorus and ranks among the top professional choruses in the United States. Best known for its work with the two major orchestras of the Twin Cities, the ensemble is equally dedicated to programs that build and enrich community.

The Chorale will be featured in several Minnesota Orchestra programs during the 2011-12 season, including an all-Brahms performance, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and a special Evening of Tribute that will mark the last concert in Orchestra Hall before the venue undergoes a major renovation.

The Minnesota Chorale first appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra in a 1972 performance of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, conducted by Henry Charles Smith. Since then, the Chorale has collaborated regularly with the Orchestra in performing such masterworks as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem, and in presenting great modern works including Michael Tippett’s A Child of our Time, Aaron Jay Kernis’ Garden of Light and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. In 2002 the Orchestra and Chorale premiered Sir John Tavener’s Ikon of Eros and recorded it on the Reference label. The Chorale is also featured on the Orchestra’s 2006 BIS recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a performance which drew significant critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance, and on the 2008 CD release of Stephen Paulus’ oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn, recorded by Vänskä and the Orchestra on the BIS label.

The centerpiece of the Chorale’s community-engagement initiatives is the award-winning Bridges program, which draws on the riches of the global choral repertoire to deepen ties in the community and to call attention to pressing social needs. In the 2011-12 season, Bridges, in partnership with Courage Center and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, turns its attention to Minnesotans with physical disabilities, mobilizing and celebrating the untapped creativity of this often-slighted population. Other community programs include InChoir, which invites participants to sing alongside members of the Chorale at a working rehearsal; Men in Music, which throws a lifeline to high-school boys interested in singing; Voices of Experience, a chorus of Twin Cities seniors, organized in collaboration with the MacPhail Center for Music; and the Minneapolis Youth Chorus, a partnership with the Minneapolis Public Schools that enables students in grades 4-8 to develop their musical gifts in an environment that celebrates diversity and artistic excellence.

Highlights of the Minnesota Chorale’s history include three consecutive seasons as chorus-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival, performances in Mexico City with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, recordings of Haydn’s The Creation and The Seasons with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, representing the United States at the America Cantat III international choral festival in Venezuela, and premiering and recording Janika Vandervelde’s Adventures of the Black Dot, a landmark choral storybook for children.

For more information, visit mnchorale.org.


September 2011