Choral Stream

There’s excitement in Rochester for fans of the arts, with the arrival of two new directors for the city’s premier music ensembles as they begin new seasons. Chia-Hsuan Lin will lead the Rochester Symphony, and Ryan Deignan joins the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble.

Actor James Earl Jones, who died this week at 93, is fondly remembered as the voice of Darth Vader and for many other notable roles. But the man with the powerful pipes also had a profound impact on classical music, including serving as the catalyst for a Twin Cities world premiere.

The view of one’s life’s work has taken on different meanings in societies and eras across the world. 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. Listen now!

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.

Louis Cole is a prolific musician known primarily as a drummer, but whose music over the past decade has fallen in the nexus of jazz, funk and rock. Now he's in a whole new space with choral and orchestral music.

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 Soweto Gospel Choir in Zulu.

As we observe July Fourth, enjoy this soaring performance of "From Sea to Shining Sea" by the Aeolians of Oakwood University and about 750 Minnesota high school choir students.

This Juneteenth we commemorate the holiday with two contrasting and power playlist — Remembrance and Celebration. Remembrance is about the past and represents the struggle of Black Americans to get to where we are today and Celebration is about the joy and jubilee felt in the presence of positive change for now and in the future.

YourClassical MPR’s Bring the Sing returned to Moorhead on April 27 as part of the weeklong event Considering Matthew Shepard: 25 Years Later. Friends and neighbors joined Joseph K. Kemper and Joseph Osowski for an afternoon of fun and singing. Check out pictures from the event below!

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22, with the Choral Arts Ensemble’s performance of ‘The Wisdom of Nature,’ a choral program that celebrates the wonder, the power and the beauty of nature. Listen now with host Steve Staruch.