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From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.

‘VocalEssence WITNESS: Symphony of Spirituals’

Twin Cities-based singer and St. Olaf educator Eric Broker is looking forward to 

VocalEssence WITNESS: Symphony of Spirituals.”

 This concert pulls together the VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Vintage Voices, and teen singers alongside an orchestra, all conducted by Associate Artistic Director G. Phillip Shoultz III. 

The concert is 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22 at Northrup on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. The concert is part of the larger 

This event is part of a weekend celebrating Black music and art at Northrup. On Saturday, Minneapolis poet Joe Davis and The Poetic Diaspora hold a pay-what-you-wish album celebration concert. “Diaspora: On the Rise” takes place 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21.

 The program is a great example of how choral music can tell history and also build community at the same time. The program centerpiece is “The Justice Symphony” by Damien Geter, which is a sweeping, urgent, really powerful work that weaves together different anthems from the Civil Rights Movement. And it also includes a commissioned world premiere by B. E. Boykin.

It's something that's moving, musically thrilling, and reminds you that a lot of the pieces from the Civil Rights Movement speak directly to the moment that we're living in right now. Just maybe, these shared artistic experiences can play a meaningful role in helping us to process and inspire positive action and navigate injustices.

Fadumo Mohamed says the best way to unwind after a long day at work is to watch live improv, and tonight she recommends attending “

Good Camel Comedy Theater Presents: Oasis Laugh-Battle.

BIPOC creatives compete through a series of improv games, with the funniest person of the night left standing. Come prepared to offer your suggestions for location, relationship, and whatever other scenarios the actors ask for to spark a skit. Thursday at 7:30 at LUSH in Minneapolis.

 It’s kind of like an inverse ‘“Survivor.” But instead of alliances and backstabbing, it's creativity, play and big laughs. Basically: high stakes, low ego and pure imagination.

Theater maker Kurt Engh is looking forward to seeing a new, immersive adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play 

 Many people know Wilde for his humorous play “The Importance of Being Ernest,” but this play, about the Biblical woman who requests John the Baptist’s head on a platter, strikes a more adult tone as it explores male and female power. 

Written in 1893 and initially banned, this adaptation is being staged at PAIKKA, an event center in St. Paul, presenting its first creative cohort. Grant Sorenson directs the play, which runs Friday, Feb. 20 through Feb. 28. Recommended for ages 18+.

Kurt says attending an immersive theatrical experience usually gives him pause, but he trusts this group of talented actors.

 It's more about the staging of the show than you actually being a part of the show. So there will be some seating, but it's done in promenade, so you are part of the banquet of Herod.

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Emily Bright

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Art Hounds recommend “VocalEssence WITNESS: Symphony of Spirituals,” “Oasis Laugh-Battle” and “Salomé.”

Art Hounds: Spirituals, stand-up and a bold 'Salomé'

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