AN IMAGINARY SOIRÉE AT DOWNTON ABBEY with Maria Jette & Philip Brunelle

Downton Abbey’s 15 year reign ends with Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale in September. Get in the mood via the Dunsmore Abbey musical time machine! Anglophiles Maria Jette and Philip Brunelle present a program which any guest at Downton Abbey would recognize: songs about the noble British Empire, dear little fairies, creepy stalkers, Bedouin sheiks, horrible children, and the mysterious Lost Chord, as sung by the Adele of the era: Dame Clara Butt.

Maria Jette: Vocals

Philip Brunelle: Vocals & Piano

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. Editor of two choral series for Boosey & Hawkes and chairman of the review committee for Walton Music, Philip is also Organist-Choirmaster at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis—every Sunday!

Maria Jette has appeared with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston, Kansas City, San Luis Obispo, Santa Rosa, Charlotte, Buffalo, Grand Rapids, Austin, San Antonio and New York Chamber Symphonies, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Musica Angelica, and was a regular guest over many seasons at the San Luis Obispo Mozart and Oregon Bach Festivals and the Oregon Festival of American Music. At home in Minneapolis-St. Paul, she’s performed seemingly countless concerts with VocalEssence (under the baton of longtime friend and colleague, Philip Brunelle), Chamber Music Society of Minnesota and Lyra Baroque Orchestra. She was a regular guest for 20 years on Garrison Keillorʼs A Prairie Home Companion—and recently performed Christmas concerts with him et al. in St. Paul, NYC and Galveston.

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