Saturday, April 28, 2007, 8 pm
Concert Conversation at 7 pm in the concert hall with host John Birge and guests William Bolcom and Jon Cranney

Sunday, April 29, 2007, 2 pm
Concert Conversation at 1 pm in the concert hall with host John Birge and guests William Bolcom, Jon Cranney and University of Michigan School of Music Dean Christopher Kendall

Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis
Tickets $20, $27, $35 plus service fees. Students half price.
To order, call 612-371-5656 or 1-800-292-4141.
ORDER TICKETS NOW

Featuring over 400 musicians on stage with multi-level staging, live video and projected Blake illuminations during the performance

Cast and crew list

This is a once-in-a-lifetime concert — not to be missed!

Philip Brunelle and a veritable host of musicians representing a myriad of musical genres will bring William Bolcom’s kaleidoscopic song cycle, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, to life at Orchestra Hall. Almost 400 musicians will be involved, not only scores of classical and choral artists, but also musicians from the rock and folk music community. Dazzling visuals by Broadway award-winning designer Wendall K. Harrington and a multi-level stage will enhance the dramatic impact.

William Bolcom spent 25 years writing his interpretation of all 46 poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, which was premiered in Stuttgart in 1984. The New York Times called Songs of Innocence and of Experience “a masterpiece of our time and place—gigantically ambitious”; the Chicago Tribune said the work is “one of the finest and most important new American works of the decade”; and The Boston Globe heralded it as “the greatest achievement of synthesis in American music since Porgy and Bess.”

In his hand-crafted editions of the book Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake’s poems were accompanied by his own colored engravings (“illuminations”). Blake's multi-dimensional approach has inspired VocalEssence to stage the work on a multi-level set and use live video and projected images during the concert, creating an imaginative and unique approach to Bolcom’s music and Blake’s poetry.

The 2004 recording by Leonard Slatkin and the University of Michigan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Choirs, Musical Society and soloists was honored with four 2005 Grammy Awards:

• Best Classical Album
• Best Choral Performance
• Best Classical Contemporary Composition
• Producer of the Year, Classical.

Discover for yourself what is sure to be an amazing musical experience!

Cast and Crew

Philip Brunelle, conductor
Jon Cranney, producer and director
Wendall K. Harrington, projection designer
Marcus Dilliard, lighting designer
Stephen Kennedy, scenic designer
Sigrid Johnson, assistant conductor

Maria Jette, soprano
Kathleen Kim, soprano
Audrey Stottler, soprano
Mary Wilson, soprano
Leland Wright, boy soprano
Angela Young Smucker, mezzo-soprano
Lisa Drew, contralto
Dan Dressen, tenor
Brock Metzger, tenor
Robert Robinson, tenor
Mark Thomsen, tenor
James Bohn, baritone
Nmon Ford, baritone
T. Mychael Rambo, baritone

Minnesota Boychoir,
Mark S. Johnson, Music Director
Minnesota Chorale,
Kathy Saltzman Romey, Artistic Director
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus
Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director
With symphony orchestra

Paul Vershbow, video programmer
Nathaniel Damron, projection technician
Projection Artists:
Ruppert Bohle
Sage Carter
Maya Ciarrocchi
Bo G. Eriksson
Leah Gelpe