 In the course of an international career as a choral and opera conductor Brunelle has been awarded Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit and made an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire as well as receiving Hungary's Kodály Medal, the Ohtli medal from Mexico, and Sweden's Royal Order of the Polar Star.He has received honorary doctoral degrees from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. John's University (Collegeville, MN), St. Olaf College, United Theological Seminary, and the University of Minnesota.Brunelle was born in Faribault, Minnesota and studied at the University of Minnesota School of Music.