Choral Chameleon (Chorus): 2019 - Bigger Than My Body Program

Friday, November 22, 2019 | 8:00 PM Saturday, November 23, 2019 | 8:00 PM Irondale Center 85 S Oxford St, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Vince Peterson, Founding Artistic Director Season Artwork by Jake Lem, Former Student of Robyn Prezioso

Message from Vince Peterson, Founding Artistic Director Dear Friends, Some time ago, my older brother underwent a very serious cardiac operation. As you can imagine, it was an unnerving experience for us.

Even so, I learned something essential about art and the human body at that moment in my life. In 2008, we lost our father after a long cardiac illness. Tony said to me: “I wonder if at the moment they stop my heart on the operating table, I’ll get to see Dad.” At first, this was a little too much for me to handle. Then, as I thought about it more, I realized that every time I am making choral music with other human beings, I have profound moments when time stops, and I know I am so much bigger than the limits of my human body. In these moments, I am still connected with so many people in my life—even those who are no longer physically in their bodies, like my Dad. Robyn and I met five years ago. We have taught together, created artistic experiences for others, laughed, cried, and fought side by side for the arts, advocating for their importance in modern education. I didn’t know Robyn, though, until I saw her paintings and took a yoga class with her. The movement and fluidity of her brush strokes, the change in tone of her voice when she lets out a big “Om,” and her overall connection to her body all communicate a real sense of power she has within her. When I asked her to make this concert with Choral Chameleon, she told me a story about how John Mayer’s song, “Bigger Than My Body”, carried her through her time in her MFA program in San Francisco. She explained that it was a constant reminder that she, herself, was bigger than her body and that no one could ever take that away from her, no matter what.

It was clear to me that we had to do this.

In this very space, Irondale Center, Choral Chameleon presented another concert about the body as a musical instrument. Following that beautiful experience, I thought a lot about the universality of this in the rest of the arts. Symbiotically, this conversation with Robyn came to the foreground. We decided that this space was the best place to present the concert to you.

Unlike the narrative nature of much of our concert programming, this set of choral music focuses more on abstract shapes and lines, colors, brightness, and darkness. We have curated music that is biographical of this wonderful human artist and reminiscent of her aesthetic. She will respond to the singing as a mirror, showing us the visual movement of this music on her canvas. The real strength of her character will be richly presented in a way only possible in this single moment. We’re all so grateful to share it with you.

Remember, too, that you are bigger than your own body, and we celebrate you as part of the fabric of this community.

With Love, Vince Peterson

Message from Robyn Prezioso, Artist The content of my work is inspired by my love of translating what attracts me visually to others. I am drawn to expressing the figure and the landscape in colorful and textural ways. My work is immediate, it is cathartic in a way. There is quick brush stroke, thick chunky color in places, scribbled lines, and a moment that cannot be imitated. My figurative work concentrates mostly on the female form, but I do enjoy combining the figure with the landscape as an abstract element. For me when identifying with the figure as the subject, it is about translating the moment or memory of time. Details of face and body may be obscured, but rather I'm interested in that emotion that existed from that memory, or in the moment of creating.

I was so honored to be invited by Vince Peterson to be a part of this wonderful collaboration of the celebration of being a creative artist, no matter what the medium. I have been listening and imagining what these paintings will look like for months.

I am approaching this work with as much immediate, raw, messy, and process making as possible. I feel this is where the work and the study meets the love and the talent. Working in front of an audience is something I have always shied away from, this show will be a true act of bravery. After all creativity takes courage, right? I hope you all will appreciate listening and watching the process of art making.

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NIGHTFALL Meredith Monk, 1995

Message from composer Nightfall should be sung without vibrato so that the vocal colors and their translucent quality remain pure and clear. Recalling Baroque passacaglia procedure, the bass line underpins the entire work. Nightfall is an incantatory piece inspired by how light changes at the end of the day; the adding and subtracting of color and shadow; the slowly building and diminishing dynamics; the shifting texture as the sun intensifies and then disappears over the horizon.

WHEN I WAS EIGHT Text by Robert Bode, 2015 Each night I’d mount the stage alone (a small red rug with fraying trim) And stand before the Magnavox, When I was eight.

I’d move my arms and lunge and leap with cheeks aflame, And ride volcanic waves Of Beethoven and Barber and Bach and Brahms, When I was eight.

I’d join the eagles in their flight And hear the jackals call; The stars would shudder in their sockets, And stallions would flash in the sun!

Today I feel what knowledge brings, and Craft, so dearly bought: The pride of small-tuned things And the pleasures of the fine.

But oh, I long to feel again The wonder and the flight: As when I’d close my eyes, And lift my arms, And lead the holy angels In their Hallelujah song, When I was eight.

THE ROSE Text by Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894 The lily has a smooth stalk, Will never hurt your hand; But the rose upon her briar Is lady of the land.

There's sweetness in an apple tree, And profit in the corn; But lady of all beauty Is a rose upon a thorn.

When with moss and honey She tips her bending briar, And half unfolds her glowing heart, She sets the world on fire.

SOFT BLINK OF AMBER LIGHT (From the poem “How to Live in a Modern World�)

Text by Julia Klatt Singer, 2013 forget about streets with names follow the fireflies into the thicket smell the damp earth let the darkness inside let the night steep let the world drift off to sleep as you become nothing but the brush of wings, ancient mating dreams, the soft blink of amber light

WITH A LILY IN YOUR HAND Text by Frederico Garcia Lorca, 1898-1936 Translated by Jerome Rothenberg O my night love!

With a lily in your hand I leave you, o my night love!

Little widow of my single star I find you.

Tamer of dark butterflies!

I keep along my way.

After a thousand years are gone you'll see me, O my night love!

By the blue footpath, tamer of dark stars, I'll make my way.

Until the universe can fit inside my heart.

STARS Text by Sara Teasdale, 1884-1933 Alone in the night On a dark hill With pines around me Spicy and still, And a heaven full of stars Over my head White and topaz And misty red; Myriads with beating Hearts of fire The aeons Cannot vex or tire;

Up the dome of heaven Like a great hill I watch them marching Stately and still.

And I know that I Am honored to be Witness Of so much majesty.

PAINT ME Text by Debra Morton, 2019 Paint me, sister, paint me please paint me as you really see Paint my shoulders able to bear your burdens with you, Strong enough to hold you up when you can’t stand alone.

Use your brush to color my hands open and giving, ready to share, ready to dare.

Color my feet sure, not slipping nor stumbling, Steadfast for those in need.

Paint my eyes happy to see you, One may be winking at a joke we share along with my mouth stretched wide with laughter, perhaps gently smiling to say I’m there.

Color my mind with understanding, shade with strokes of wisdom too.

Draw my heart with love and compassion, caring less for me than you.

Paint me sister, and as you paint me, may I really be.

TRUE COLORS Text and Music by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, 1986 You with the sad eyes Don't be discouraged, oh I realize It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all The darkness inside you Can make you feel so small But I see your true colors shining through I see your true colors And that’s why I love you So don’t be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful like a rainbow

Show me a smile then And don't be unhappy Can't remember when I last saw you laughing If this world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear Don’t you know you can call me up Because you know I’ll be there And I see your true colors shining through I see your true colors And that’s why I love you So don’t be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful like a rainbow I can’t remember when I last saw you laughing If this world makes you crazy And you’ve taken all you can bear Just call me up Because you know I’ll be there And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that’s why I love you So don’t be afraid To let them show Your true colors Your true colors Your true colors Are shining through I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that’s why I love you So don’t be afraid To let them show Your true colors Your true colors Are beautiful like a rainbow

BIGGER THAN MY BODY Text by John Mayer, 2003 This is a call to the colorblind This is an IOU I'm stranded behind a horizon line Tied up in something true Yes, I'm grounded Got my wings clipped I'm surrounded (by) All this pavement Guess I'll circle While I'm waiting For my fuse to dry Someday I'll fly Someday I'll soar Someday I'll be So damn much more 'Cause I'm bigger than my body Gives me credit for Why is it not my time?

What is there more to learn?

I've shed this skin I've been tripping in Never a quite return Yes, I'm grounded...

'Cause I'm bigger than my body now Maybe I'll tangle in the power lines And it might be over in a second's time But I'll gladly go down in a flame If the flame's what it takes to remember my name To remember my name, oh Yes, I'm grounded‌ 'Cause I'm bigger than my body I'm bigger than my body bigger than my body now

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This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.