"One of the Rochester area's cultural crown jewels" (Rochester Post-Bulletin Oct. 23, 2009)

About Choral Arts Ensemble

Since its founding by Rick Kvam in 1985, the forty voices of Choral Arts Ensemble have inspired audiences with performances of marvelous choral repertoire. We concluded our 27th season, the eighth and final under Artistic Director Michael Culloton, and look forward to our 28th season back under the direction of Founder Rick Kvam. Highlights of the 2012-2013 season include premieres of new commissions, Christmas with brass, and two beloved Bach motets. Check the concert page to learn all about it!

Choral Arts Ensemble is equally dedicated to the creation and performance of exciting new music as well as the sensitive presentation of masterworks from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. (Click here for a list of performed repertoire) Auditions are held each spring.

Choral Arts Ensemble coordinates the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Harmony for Mayo Program, a program of Mayo Center for Humanities in Medicine. Free weekly concerts are held Mondays from 12:10-1:00 pm on the Mayo Clinic Campus, featuring a variety of music ranging from classical to country. Concerts are open to patients, staff, visitors, and the general public. Small groups from within Choral Arts Ensemble also have performed for various community events.

Audiences can also enjoy Choral Arts Ensemble music at home. The Ensemble has discography that includes live Christmas recordings, Christmas at Assisi 2005 and Christmas at Assisi 2006; the October 2005 release, Never Be We Mute; our cd of love songs, Seasons of Love, a choral favorites cd, This Shining Night (available digitally only), our compilation cd There is a Balm and our cd celebrating Minnesota composers, Hail Minnesota, released in October 2008. Our two newest Christmas cds are Joy to the World, released in October, 2009, and There is No Rose: Ten Carols Commissioned in Memory of Mary Joyce Frantz, released in December of 2010.