Our much-awaited season opener, Carl Orff's irresistible Carmina Burana, is just days away. The performances, under the musical direction of the Chorale's Barbara Brooks, are being staged by the Minnesota Dance Theatre, with vocal soloists Bradley Greenwald and Jennifer Baldwin Peden. Performances are November 5th through the 8th at the intimate LAB Theater in the Minneapolis Warehouse District. For tickets, call 612.333.7977 or click here. Don't miss this chorus-powered, multimedia extravaganza!

Sing with Me, this year's Bridges concert, is shaping up as the most heart-warming event of the season--perhaps of any season. A celebration of mentoring and intergenerational relationships, the performance presents the Chorale and our Minneapolis Youth Chorus singing captivating music by locals Stephen Paulus and Janika Vandervelde, and John Corigliano's haunting setting of the Dylan Thomas poem, "Fern Hill." Mounted in collaboration with the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota, the program is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, November 21, at St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis. It's a terrific opportunity to pay tribute to your own mentor(s) and mentee(s)--get a group together! For tickets, call Ticketworks at 952-930-5100 or click here.

We've just received word that the Minnesota Chorale has been selected to receive federal stimulus dollars as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, awarded by the Minnesota State Arts Board with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. We're honored to be among the 21 Minnesota arts organizations (of 150 that applied) to receive this support. The stimulus program is all about jobs, and every penny of this $16,000 grant will go to restoring positions for paid singers throughout our 2009-10 concert season.