OUR VALUES • Innovation: We fearlessly explore and bring new possibilities in choral music to our members and audiences • Excellence: We pursue the highest standards in preparation, performance and repertoire • Collaboration: We foster and celebrate diverse partnerships with composers, conductors and organizations to expand our reach in the community we serve • Enrichment: We strive to touch the lives of our audiences, while preserving fun and gratifying experiences for our performers • Education: We are committed to providing mentorship and practicing the care of the musician as whole person
OUR STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES • Commission new work every season • Bring audiences a dynamic blend of musical genres and art forms • Nurture artistic growth of all singers, conductors, and composers • Encourage fun, openness, and joy in the process of learning and performing
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THE ACTIVITIES OF CHORAL CHAMELEON, INC.
Choral Chameleon Ensemble A professional group of 12 singers that champions new music within amalgamated programming to inspire creative collaborations 
 Choral Chameleon Chorus An auditioned volunteer choir of 30 to 40 people that provides an environment of learning and exploration for singers, composers, and conductors alike Choral Chameleon Institute An intensive 8-day workshop for conductors and composers of choral music held annually in June, which culminates in a public performance of premieres of the music written and developed during the session, sung by Choral Chameleon and recorded live
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PRESIDENT’S NOTE
NICOLE BELMONT BOARD PRESIDENT
Season 9 was a Season utterly unlike any the organization has experienced to date. During Summer Break between the Summer Institute and start of the Season, we were suddenly presented with an avalanche of opportunities for contracted work from external producers and artists (including 3 alone at National Sawdust in only its 2nd Season) which were so compelling in their variety, scope and revenues, for both our Ensemble and Chorus, that we made the bold decision to accept them all and to incorporate these alongside our planned self-produced Season.
Aware that the milestone of our 10th Season was around the corner, and that such a volume of invitations may well be an anomaly, we were not sure where these projects would lead us, or what we would learn, but we were keen to pursue these opportunities to give us clues on where the mission of the organization wants to go in its second decade. When your mission is to reinvent an art form, you have to ask questions in order to get answers. Choral Chameleon singers performed a total of 16 times in 9 different locations in the New York City area during Season 9. From an administrative standpoint, our small and lean Board-as-Staff took on the additional load, and I want to thank our Treasurer Michael Squitieri and Chorus Manager Jessica Wong for absorbing so many additional moving parts with such grace. We would not have been able to coordinate our professional roster for so many gigs without Vince’s wise decision to hire Robbie Cowan as our singer contractor (alongside singing Bass), providing an invaluable conduit of information, timing and logistics to our pros, especially when many of our projects had a lot of tbd’s attached to them with short lead-times. 2016-2017’s self-produced Season was a rich one in its own right, in no small part to Vince’s appointment of Rex Isenberg as Composer in Residence. The mutual value of this appointment to a composer vs. 1-off commissioning was
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really brought home to me over the Season. New venues continued to be explored: The Studios of Paul Taylor Company, Shapeshifter Lab, Church of the Holy Apostles, each with a new administrative context to absorb. From a fundraising standpoint, our move to running a Kickstarter campaign early in the Season, with an ambitious target, was an effective strategy for reducing the frequency of asks to our supporters, leaving them freer to enjoy hearing from us on a regular basis about our art-making. Board Member Brian Rosen was instrumental in enabling us to implement our campaign using known bestpractices and for creating a campaign film that was amusing and engaging. Strategic Planning in March 2017 asked: “What will the second decade of Choral Chameleon look like?”. The Board spent the day reviewing Vince Peterson’s original vision and measures of success to see what had been achieved, what goals still have not been realized, what are no longer our goals. The session concluded with new goals set for doing more to enable scores to be published of commissioned work, the desire to test out touring beyond New York City to merchandise our programming ethos, and our continued desire to record. Season 9 was full of memorable riches for our performers. Thank you to all collaborators, supporters and audience members who followed us on our adventures. Nicole Belmont President of the Board
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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S NOTE Artistically, Season 9 was unsurprisingly a pivotal one for Choral Chameleon.
VINCE PETERSON ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
We re-branded our chorus, Chameleonic, by bringing it into a single shared name with the Choral Chameleon Ensemble. When I originally envisioned the large avocational group, I wanted to build a loving ecosystem of learning, mentorship, and exchange between avocational musicians and those who work professionally or semi-professionally in the field. This was the first of several important steps toward the full artistic realization of that dream.
We performed our first concert as a combined, semiprofessional chorus of 50+ singers. This represented a new sound and a further realization of the aforementioned vision. It taught us quite a bit about what our groups sound like at their very best. We welcomed our fourth composer-in-residence, Rex Isenberg. This visionary composer, replete with deeply theatrical sensibilities brought a new air to the residency, opening doors for both the Chorus and the Ensemble to stretch past the boundaries of normal choral performance. First, with his new work “Feathers in the Wind,” the Chorus was called on to paint the picture of Jewish townsfolk in an emotionally charged scandal involving a Rabbi and a Gossip. It was also our first foray into singing in Yiddish. Next from Rex’s pen, a feat never before attempted in my knowledge – a complete, three-movement piano concerto with the chorus as the orchestra. Make no mistake though, it ended up being just as virtuosic in its demands of the chorus as it did of the world-class soloist, Robert Fleitz. Finally, a moving political commentary on the identity of being American in such chaotic political times: a re-imagining of the classic patriotic anthem, “America the Beautiful” which devolves first slowly, and then faster into an alarming, heartfelt lament for this country, wrought with agonizing self-convincing of a hopeful future. Of particular meaning to me, personally, was the March concert “Me and (All of) You,” when we had the occasion to perform my beloved teacher, Conrad Susa’s seminal masterwork, “Joyce Songs, Set II.” Arguably one of the most important American choral works written in the 20th Century, this enchanting piece, based on six of the 30+ poems in the James Joyce “Chamber Music” set, ended up providing us with a sort of canvas to experiment with and discover the new sound of the Chorus and Ensemble combined. It felt as though Conrad’s hand was touching us and guiding the development of that sound through his magically deft pencil. This was a truly pivotal
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and moving experience for me as a conductor and for the singers as well. Having been willed his conducting baton from his estate, I used this opportunity to lead the performance with it. The Ensemble made incredible waves this season – mostly at National Sawdust – which has garnered us an invitation to become Artists-In-Residence at this pivotal Williamsburg venue just in time for ringing in our Tenth Anniversary Season! Of particular note were two projects performed there. First, the album release of Caroline Polachek’s breakthrough work, “Drawing the Target Around the Arrow,” in which the Ensemble enhanced the live experience by singing neutrally in an early music nouveau fashion against surprisingly lulling sine waves. This was an incredibly healing and centering experience for all involved and represented a major shift in Caroline’s successful career. Next, in celebration of the 80th birthday of Philip Glass, a performance of his rarely experienced chamber piece, “Madrigal Opera,” directed by R.B. Schlather and performed in the presence of the composer, himself. This was one of the greatest honors Choral Chameleon has ever had. Glass himself remarked that he had not heard “Madrigal Opera” in over 40 years, and he deeply appreciated our work on a piece which was so personally important to him. Of course, the New York Times also had very generous things to say about the quality of the Ensemble’s performance. The Institute was extremely successful, as usual, and we welcomed yet more students from other countries. We were also able to provide a good amount of scholarship assistance to students in need thanks to generous direct giving from longtime supporters. I am extremely grateful and moved to the core at the growth and love of this amazing organization. Vince Peterson Founder & Artistic Director
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SEASON 9 – OUR MISSION IN ACTION
JULY
AUGUST
NEW ASSOC. CONDUCTOR ALEX CANOVAS
SUMMER SING
JULY
New Associate Conductor Alex Canovas Replacing our first Associate Conductor, Jacob Stensberg, who left New York for Graduate School in Indiana, Choral Chameleon Ensemble tenor stepped into the role this Season. Alex was the only conductor this season to share the podium with Vince Peterson.
AUGUST
Summer Sing For the second year in a row, Choral Chameleon opened its doors to welcome singers from New York’s choral community for a festive evening at St Paul’s Carroll St of sight-reading, washed down with cold beers supplied by Brooklyn Brewery. The music included pieces by Eric Whitacre, Randall Thompson and pieces arranged by Vince Peterson. We met many new people who ended up joining the Chorus!
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SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
TAYLOR MAC, ST. ANN’S WAREHOUSE
MSU RECITAL
SEPTEMBER
Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music at St Ann’s Warehouse, Dumbo The performance Season started off with a bang! 14 of our singers (including Vince Peterson) played the part of a sniffy, bonneted Temperance Choir in this Pulitzernominated and Kennedy Prize-winning show. On stage with Taylor Mac for an hour: we had ping-pong balls thrown at us, we squirted the audience with water bottles in revenge and had a collective nervous breakdown in the face of depravity.
OCTOBER
Recital Performance at John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University Members of both Ensemble and Chorus performed the premiere of a piece ‘Pulse America’ by Kevin Cummines at his Masters Recital. The work was written in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando that year, in which a close friend of the composer had died. Kickstarter Campaign We took our online fundraising to another level with a more concentrated campaign featuring an engaging campaign video and lots of great digital rewards. It was a success and it enabled us to smoothly plan the artistic program for the entire season without constant campaigning. It was also a wonderful way to reconnect with many people in our broad family. 9
NOVEMBER THE TELEPHONE HOUR
NOVEMBER
‘The Telephone Hour’ – Studios of Paul Taylor Dance Company, Lower East Side The Chorus performed our Season’s first self-produced concerts: themed around the corrosive nature of gossip and the power of words to spread goodness or to do harm. The centerpiece was the first of 3 commissions from our Season 9 Composer-in-Residence Rex Isenberg ‘Feathers in The Wind’. Technically challenging, mostly in Yiddish and very theatrical, we couldn’t have asked for a better piece to sink our teeth into. This was our first time performing in the unique space of the Paul Taylor Dance Company on the Lower East Side.
DECEMBER
Holiday Break We made the choice this Season to avoid the Holiday rush-hour and allow ourselves time to prepare for an onslaught of performances in the 1st quarter. Vince Peterson spent time with collaborator Caroline Polachek writing arrangements for our concerts at National Sawdust in February. 10
JANUARY
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
SXIP SHIREY, FERUS FESTIVAL
NEW OPERA SHOWCASE
CAROLINE POLACHEK
JANUARY
Sxip Shirey Album Launch Concert, Ferus Festival National Sawdust, Williamsburg In the same week as our Opera America showcase, Sxip Shirey and choreographer Coco Karol created another iteration of their choral installation ‘The Gauntlet’, with 20 members of our Chorus surrounding the seated audience. The event celebrated the release of Shirey’s album ‘A Bottle of Whiskey And a Handful of Bees’ on VIA Records. Opera America’s ‘New Opera Showcase’ The Town Hall, Midtown The Ensemble showcased excerpts from 4 recently commissioned operas at this opera industry event, presented by Sonos Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Eric Ochsner.
FEBRUARY
Caroline Polachek Album Launch Concerts National Sawdust, Williamsburg With Vince Peterson as co-arranger, and our professional Ensemble as the instrument, Caroline Polachek, a resident artist at National Sawdust created live vocal textures around her album of music written solely with sine waves: ‘Drawing The Arrow Around The Target’ by C.E.P. Dressed in scrubs, Polachek presented two latenight concerts accompanied by stunning projectionmapped visuals by artist Eric Epstein, which bathed listeners in a visual and aural medicinal experience. 11
MARCH
APRIL
ME AND ALL OF YOU
PHILIP GLASS’ MADRIGAL OPERA
MARCH
‘Me and All of You’ Church of The Holy Apostles, Chelsea The second self-produced event of Season 9, Chorus and Ensemble performed a program of pieces fronted by virtuosic solo instrument performers, with the choir in secondary or equal role, including 2 concerti. Audience reaction to this role-reversal was tremendous. The program included the 2nd commission from Rex Isenberg ‘Concerto for Piano and Chorus’. Our stellar solo performers included Robert Fleitz - piano, Gene Koshinski - marimba, Blake Allen - viola, and Liam Boisset - oboe.
APRIL
Philip Glass Festival: Madrigal Opera National Sawdust, Williamsburg The Ensemble performed this rarity under the stage direction of resident artist R. B. Schlather, with Vince Peterson as music director and accompanied by violinist Johnny Gandelsman (Brooklyn Rider) and violist William Frampton. Singers were dispersed informally amongst the audience and had to sing without sight-lines to each other or to a conductor, for much of the time in darkness. The production received great press coverage including the New York Times and great feedback in person from Philip Glass himself, who attended the production.
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JUNE
JUNE
AROUND AND AROUND
LYCÉE FRANCAIS
JUNE
‘Around and Around’ Shapeshifter Lab, Gowanus The third of our self-produced events, Chorus and Ensemble performed an eclectic mix of pieces and genres exploring repetition, beginnings and endings within the intimate space of an informal jazz venue in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The program included 4 world premieres, 3 commissions and 2 pieces written by our own members. The work incorporated live looping, backing tracks, aleatory, canon, mash-ups. This concert featured the 3rd commission ‘The Beautiful’ from Composer-in-Residence Rex Isenberg. Guests of The Lycée Francais de New York Upper East Side For the third year in a row, our Chorus was invited to perform with the pupils of this bilingual school in their Summer Concert. Associate Conductor Alex Canovas directed.
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JUNE
JUNE
SXIP SHIREY, MAKEMUSICNEWYORK
SUMMER INSTITUTE
JUNE
MakeMusicNewYork: ‘The Gauntlet’ Central Park Members of the Chorus once again became a singing instrument for composer Sxip Shirey. 30 of our singers stationed themselves in two rows under Playmates Arch in Central Park while members of the public walked in between. Shirey fed fragments of music into each row, which could only be fully appreciated by the listener when moving through the ‘tunnel’ of singers. Choral Chameleon Summer Institute & Concert St Paul’s Carroll Street, Carroll Gardens Another intense week of music-making culminating in what many say was the best Institute concert yet! The intake once again saw students coming to Brooklyn from far afield, and we were excited to return to a healthier ratio of male and female students after a dip in female applicants for a couple of years.
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FEATURE: 4TH COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE – REX ISENBERG
PIANO CONCERTO
CONCERT Q & A
ROBERT FLEITZ, PIANIST
(L TO R) REX ISENBERG, VINCE PETERSON
Vince Peterson invited Rex Isenberg to write for Choral Chameleon, after hearing his contemporary masterpiece, ‘Messiahs False and True’, which had been commissioned by his friend and teacher Mark Shapiro for Cantori New York and subsequently performed by the Cecilia Chorus of New York in 2016. Over the course of the season, Isenberg was given 3 dramatically different briefs from Vince, which, in turn, each enabled the composer to play to his strengths in theatricality and storytelling, fluency in the language of jazz and the ability to use music to throw a fresh light on well-known, non-poetry text sources, such as public speeches. These works were: Feathers in the Wind Premiered at ‘The Telephone Hour’, November 2019 An instant classic, which had the audience gripped from the get-go. Isenberg came out of the gates with a terrific 20-minute piece of choral-storytelling in Yiddish and Hebrew with English narration, based on a well-known Jewish cautionary tale about the true consequences of gossip. The composer leveraged Choral Chameleon’s strength in theatrical presentation with a perfect balance of spoken passages and musical scene-setting, weaving together traditional Jewish melodic conventions with the best of contemporary tonal choral writing.
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Concerto for Piano and Chorus Premiered at ‘Me and All of You’, March 2018 As far as the composer is aware, Vince Peterson’s brief to produce a 3movement concerto for piano and choir, was the first of its kind. A daunting challenge for Isenberg, the choir’s role was to provide the orchestra for a virtuosic solo piano part. Isenberg met it with gusto and produced a challenging work which contained no words - only vowels and consonants (not necessarily in combination). The intended effect was to recreate 3 different sections of an orchestra: strings, percussion and brass. The solo piano was performed magnificently by the adventurous Robert Fleitz, who himself was asked to play both the keys and body of the instrument. The Beautiful Premiered at ‘Around and Around’, June 2018 A thought-provoking re-arrangement of ‘America The Beautiful’, which expertly juxtaposed the words of the famous song with political speeches from across America’s history. Isenberg’s skills as a composer at first appear deceptively effortless, with the familiar melody adhered to throughout. The real genius is how Isenberg uses the changing colors of the arrangement to take the audience on a journey through history with fresh eyes, and with new insight, using music itself as the illustration. For more information about Rex Isenberg visit www.rexisenberg.com
CHORAL CHAMELEON PERFORMANCE OF ‘FEATHERS IN THE WIND’ BY REX ISENBERG 16
TREASURER’S REPORT 2016-2017 Financials FY 2017 was characterized by many external contracted performances, and our financials reflect that. Performance fees alone made up 40% of our total revenue, and, alongside adding more instrumentalists in our self-produced concerts, we tripled our investments in Artistic Personnel as compared to FY 2016. Our Space Rental line item also doubled as compared to FY 2016 as we explored more modern and compelling venues. We are pleased to report a surplus this year, which will allow us to put deposits down to secure venues early for our 10th anniversary season. Michael Squitieri Treasurer
STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITIONS
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DONATIONS Institutional Donors Anonymous (corporate match) Union Street Builders Association Inc. In-Kind Non-Profit Support Programs Brooklyn Brewery Google Slack Canva In-Kind Donation of Professional Services Nicole Belmont, Marketing Kelly Baxter-Golding, Graphic Design We gratefully acknowledge the generosity and support of everyone who donated money and time to us this year. 18
PATRONS: JULY 2016 TO JUNE 2017 $1000+ Nicole Belmont Kevin Cummines David DeLauro Vince Peterson Brian Rosen Michael Squitieri Jessica Wong $500-999 Jerry Cain John Prince and Pat Hick Nick Mancino $200-499 Alan Ahles Alex Canovas Cara Caponi Vince and Robyn Caponi Mark Casey Elisa Castaldi-Moller Dan Cohen Michelle Coladonato Donald and Caroline Gergel Joseph Gilbride Kathleen Gilbride Kelly Baxter Golding Johanna Hirota Jeffrey Hirschman Sophia Lameras Mamakas Winnie Lee Robert Low ‘Quantum Potato’ Frances Squitieri Stefanie Teitelbaum $100-199 Sarah Bates Anne Boynton-Trigg Mark Casey Michelle Coladonato Rita Coladonato David Conte Evan Crawford Gina and Bob Dawley
Elizabeth Dean Tom Duff Matthew Duvall Audrey Elias Joanne Tuck and Stuart Freedman Paul Golding Abner Greene Joseph Gregorio Jeffrey Hirschman Dr. Mona Kennedy Elizabeth Kostelc Jane Kostelc Steve Leamer Donna Lee Margaret Lehr Soyoun Lim Alexandra McKay Cecilia Ann Marlow Karin Miller-Lewis Christian, Alex, and Dashiell Morgan Nanci Khartoon Ohan Jeffrey Parola Jai Sen Edward Thompson Mark Shapiro Tom Shields Steve and Teresa Smith Tyler Wayne Smith Kathryn Squitieri James Taylor Edward Thompson Joanne Tuck Stephanie Tuck Coco Videla Christina Weiland Erling Wold Joseph Wong Alison Wright Susan Wronowski Ron and Kathy Zaffrann
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$10-$99 James Abruzzino Annette Acevedo Beth Allin Richard Anderson Mary Andriano Julia Armstrong Whitney Asante Jason Asbury Jeanne Vecchiola Asdourian Charlie Bellino Joseph Bellino Susan Bernstein Brian Birtwistle Margie Borges Christi Helsel Botello Joan and David Bredthauer David Bryan and Friends Lucy Carr Carrie Courtenay Schowalter Casey Christopher Castaldi-Moller Michael Cheffo Tom Colao Fiona Condon Gus Constantellis Robert Cowan Doug Crowe Mary Crowe Heather Cunningham Josephine Curiale, Timothy Riggins Davey and Jasmine Leland Pamela Dean Richard D’Egidio Sonja Drown Mette Due Mark Endozo Ariel Estrada Laura Eng Andrea Farina Matt Fernandez Kurt Fleischer Julian Fong Erika Friedlander
Ginger Gaines Jessica Giannone Barbara Gilbride Sean Jester Glang Jeffery Goolsby Kevin Grant Janet Griffin-Canovas Mark Grossman Nora Hailey Ricky Hale Doug Hanna Jason Hare Ann Harris-Jacobs Jason Hart Anne Heminger Matt Hempey John Hergenroeder Jessica Herthel Christophe Hery Westley Todd Holiday David House Sarah Power Iozzio Roland Jarquio Cameron Bernard Jones Barney Jones Robyn Kalda and David Lasby Lisa Kaplan Warren and Mary Ellen Katilus Joan Kedziora Mr. and Mrs. Kehlenbeck Ilya Khodosh Craig Kolb Lora Kolodny Denise Končelík Bebe and Peter Landis Ronald Languedoc Jenna Lawrence Ellen Levine Elly Lichenstein Jenny Lin Thomas Lloyd Nolan Love John Maclay
Clare Maloney Jeff Manabat David Marlow Truett Marshall Rebecca Martinez Angela Martello Matteo Anna McQuere David Mold Gary Monheit Bhaskar Mookerji David Moon Morgan Moss Carla Murray Stuart Murray Karryn Nagel Dylan Nagler April and Jeremy Neal Angélica Negrón Lisa Neigut Taylor Neigut Sarah Nguyen Erik Ochsner Kenji Oh Ayumi Okada John Olsen Allie Osborne Ceyhun Ozluer Roxanna Panufnik Jan Panuk Suzanne Patterson Jenna Lynn Peet Matthew Penning Paul and Krissy Pesce Lynn Peterson Brandon Pico Susan Portnoy Josh Powell Robyn Prezioso Robert E. Randall Justin Randolph Susan and Chuck Reedy Pamela Reich Alan & Helene Reiffe Min C. Rhee David Rodwin
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Carol and Gerry Rosen Cary Ann Rosko Mike Rowan Anne Ruthmann Steve Ruthmann Heather Shaw Zal Shroff Sam Shull Boreta Singleton Sara Siobhan Brooke Slemmer’s mom Cara Slemmer Doug Slemmer Neil Smith Danny Smits Brian Sowers Christina Squitieri Elaine & Mike Steinbrecher Krishna Stone Parade Stone Emma Teitelbaum Nancy Tepper Anne Thomson Clare Thomson Ian Thomson Stephen Thomson Jeffery Thyer Dale Trumbore Blair Trunzo Rob Tuck Elena Tullock Matt Vieira Heath Wagenheim Elaine Walsh Peter Walters Stefan Weisman Christopher White Michele Whiteman Jan Wolsey Jennifer Wu Katie Zaffrann and Kannan Vasudevan Meg Zervoulis Dale Alan Zurbrick
BOARD AND STAFF 2016-2017 Board of Directors Nicole Belmont Vince Peterson Michael Squitieri Jessica Wong Brian Rosen Joseph Bellino Alex Canovas
President Founder and Artistic Director Treasurer Member and Chorus President Member Ensemble Singer Representative (ex officio) Acting Secretary / Associate Conductor (ex officio)
Artistic Advisory Board Vance George Matthew Oltman Bruce MacIntyre Emily Keeler Mark Shapiro Chorus of New York Stephen Goldstine David Conte Conrad Susa
Symphony Chorus Director Emeritus, San Francisco Symphony Music Director Emeritus, Chanticleer Musicologist; Director, Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music Artistic Director, San Francisco Arts Education Project Artistic Director, Cantori New York; Conductor, Cecilia Photographer; Consultant Composer; San Francisco Conservatory of Music Composer; San Francisco Conservatory of Music (In Memoriam)
Paid Staff Vince Peterson Alex Canovas Robbie Cowan Sam Shull Ariel Estrada
Artistic Director Associate Conductor Professional Singer Contractor Accompanist Graphic Design and Grant writing
Volunteer Staff Nicole Belmont Michael Squitieri Kathryn Squitieri Kelly Baxter Golding Eddie Maddalena Rob Mosher Carla Angeloni
Executive Director & Marketing Finance Database Manager Program Layout Front of House Front of House Newsletter
Memberships New York Choral Consortium Chorus America
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