LISTEN AND WATCH
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
arr. Vince Peterson
Commissioned by Chanticleer
Score Available in the online Store
arr. Vince Peterson
Commissioned by Chanticleer
Score Available in the online Store
Love's Philosophy - II.
Commissioned by Ensemble Companio
Text by Percy Shelley
Score Available in the online Store
Commissioned by Ensemble Companio
Text by Percy Shelley
Score Available in the online Store
Full Fathom Five
Commissioned by Chanticleer
Text by William Shakespeare from "The Tempest"
Score Available in the online Store
Commissioned by Chanticleer
Text by William Shakespeare from "The Tempest"
Score Available in the online Store
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel)
arr. Vince Peterson
Written for and premiered by Choral Chameleon
Score Available in the online Store
arr. Vince Peterson
Written for and premiered by Choral Chameleon
Score Available in the online Store
Conducting Choral Chameleon singing
Conrad Susa's "Joyce Songs - Set II"
Conrad Susa's "Joyce Songs - Set II"
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PRESS
Review of Eri Yamamoto’s “Goshu Ondo Suite” on allmusic.com by Thom Jurek, November 2019
“There have been countless jazz masses and gospel-jazz recordings, with some iconic and influential recordings among them including Mary Lou Williams' Black Christ of the Andes (1963), Donald Byrd's A New Perspective from 1964, Duke Ellington's 1965 Sacred Music Concert, and Dave Brubeck's Truth Is Fallen from 1972, to name a few. Add to this prestigious legacy Eri Yamamoto's Goshu Ondo Suite, her first work for chorus and jazz trio recorded by her longtime group with the 50-voice Choral Chameleon directed by Vince Peterson. … The trio illuminates the singers whose use of a celebratory chant is sung in staggered rounds to a processional tempo. … In the fifth part, the trio follows Yamamoto's hard-swinging lyrical investigations down a rabbit hole. Choral Chameleon comes in to get them at the four-minute mark and the tune explodes with transcendent joy.” To Read the Full Article, Click Here Review of Eri Yamamoto’s “Goshu Ondo Suite” on stereogum.com by Phil Freeman, November 21st, 2019 “The swooping voices of the choir, delivering the Japanese phrases in an exultant and life-giving manner over the powerful performance of the trio, brings to mind the work of Alice Coltrane, as well as Andrew Hill’s 1969 album Lift Every Voice. This is joyous music.” To Read the Full Article, Click Here Review of Eri Yamamoto’s “Goshu Ondo Suite” on wbgo.org November 11th, 2019 “Goshu Ondo Suite, the new album by pianist and composer Eri Yamamoto, takes as its inspiration a Japanese folk song traceable to the Meiji Era. Using a melodic fragment as her core building block, Yamamoto composed a suite in seven parts, to be performed by her trio and a new-music vocal ensemble, Choral Chameleon. The fluid interaction between vocal chorus and jazz trio is clear within the first minute of the opening movement, a literal convocation. (What the singers are expressing, in English, would be: ‘Everyone, let’s get together!’) Yamamoto steers this ship from the piano, with the help of a deft rhythm section, featuring David Ambrosio on bass and Ikuo Takeuchi on drums.” To Read the Full Article, Click Here Datebook of the San Fransisco Chronicle February 8, 2019 Performance of new arrangements by Vince Peterson named a Datebook Pick for Feburary 2019 The arts aren’t luxuries, an assertion that’s long been the raison d’etre of San Francisco Arts Education Project, a 51-year-old nonprofit dedicated to giving San Francisco children hands-on arts classes, no matter which neighborhood they live in. Each February, the organization’s theater arm, SFArtsED Players, produces a fully staged work of musical theater. This year’s is a world premiere, “Building Broadway,” which deconstructs the art form to its standard component parts, from an early “I want” song declaring the protagonist’s central desire, to the 11 o’clock number. To Read the Full Article, Click Here Chorus America July 19th, 2018 Vince Peterson is a creator. In founding the groundbreaking New York City ensemble Choral Chameleon, he has cultivated a nurturing space that develops every dimension of the professional choral artist and acknowledges the multi-faceted careers of working singers. He designs immersive, multi-sensory concert experiences—sometimes on a stage, sometimes on multiple stages, sometimes on no stage at all. And in this way, Peterson has created the sense that a chorus can do—or be—practically anything. The dizzying breadth of projects that Peterson tackles with Choral Chameleon truly embodies the entrepreneurial and innovative drive of the award’s namesake, Louis Botto. A fully-staged, multi-roomed production with puppetry. Food pairings designed to be eaten on cue to the music. A walking tour concert through Central Park. A piano concerto in which a chorus is the orchestra. These are just a few of the performances that set this ensemble apart. But make no mistake—Peterson’s ethos couldn’t be further from gimmick or fad. His true legacy lies in the sustained meaningful relationships he has engineered between singers, conductors, and composers—through Choral Chameleon’s Summer Institute where composers have a laboratory to workshop their experimental compositions, and four year-long composer residencies in the ensemble’s first decade. Even when considering his penchant for imagination, perhaps Peterson’s most vital gift is his compassion. His art is fueled by his belief that our broken world demands genuine connection and life-changing moments to experience healing—and that the best solution, as the Choral Chameleon website states, is “to put choral music in the last place you'd expect it.” We’ve come to expect the unexpected from Vince Peterson—and we pay tribute to his singular vision with the 2018 Louis Botto Award. View YouTube Documentary QNews: Qonstage.com - Sherri Rase May 26, 2018 "...an amazing concert of new music...ECMC knocked it out of the park!" "The thrilling exploration of the heart held many colors, as Spring does, and what I enjoyed was the collaborative listening, so often absent in the world outside..." "Vince Peterson’s expert artistic and concert direction took us on a summer sojourn we will all long remember, ably supported by principal pianist Sean Forte." "ECMC gives voice to will, blending, listening creating beauty whose energy carried us out into the Spring night ready to take on the World!" To Read the Full Article, Click Here OUR TOWN the Local Newspaper of the Upper East Side, New York - Shoshy Ciment March 22, 2018 Evidently, for many New York musicians, sticking to the oldies doesn’t quite cut it. Rejecting any restrictive form of old-school ensemble singing, conductor Vince Peterson took choral performance to the next level when he founded Choral Chameleon in 2008. “I discovered that there is a fair amount of elitism out there,” said Peterson, a graduate of the Mannes School of Music who was saddened by what he saw as a tendency to reject “vernacular” music of the world as substantial musical compositions. “A composer from 500 years ago might be saying the same fundamental thing about life and living as a pop music composer of today,” he reasoned. Hungry for new, meaningful music, Peterson began experimenting with genre-blending and performance-infused work, neglecting the one-sided nature of traditional choral showcase. With 12 members in its original ensemble, Choral Chameleon pushes the limits of musical experience for its singers and audiences. In its performances, the group has incorporated body movement, aspects of traditional Japanese puppet theater, shadow puppetry and food. In addition to its regular showcases, Choral Chameleon is the vocal ensemble-in-residence at National Sawdust, a new music venue in the city. The group also runs a yearly institute, an eight-day Brooklyn-based think tank where composers and conductors from all over the world flock to study and experiment with new music, using Choral Chameleon as a lab choir. For Peterson, making meaningful art is his impetus to conduct. “It is very much an act of humility,” said Peterson. “It’s not about me.” To Read the Full Article, Click Here VINCE PETERSON named 2018 Chorus America Louis Botto Award Winner April 4th, 2018 The Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal was established in memory of Louis Botto for his artistry, selfless service to the choral art, and entrepreneurial spirit in founding the men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer. The award is given periodically to a mid-career choral leader who, through his or her work with a member ensemble of Chorus America, has demonstrated innovative action and entrepreneurial zeal in developing a professional or professional-core choral ensemble. Vince Peterson is the 2018 recipient of the Botto Award. In founding New York City’s groundbreaking choral ensemble Choral Chameleon, Peterson has focused on creating new and innovative repertoire for chorus, and stretching the perception of what a choral ensemble can be. In ten years, Peterson and the organization have established the Choral Chameleon Summer Institute for composers and conductors, inviting composers to take risks and receive supportive feedback while writing for the voice; offered four year-long composer residencies; and sought to continually redefine the concert experience through interdisciplinary and multi-sensory performances. In 2017, Choral Chameleon was named the first Vocal Ensemble-in-Residence at Brooklyn’s innovative performance venue National Sawdust. 21CM.org POP PICKS October 2017 VINCE PETERSON named October 2017 Pop Pick on 21CM.org Each month, 21CM asks a leader in music to select the People, Organizations and Projects that have inspired them most. We then hand the voting over to our readers to select their favorites. THE NEW YORK TIMES - Corinna da Fonesca-Wollheim April 30th, 2017 "Philip Glass's 'Madrigal Opera,' Transparent and Opaque" In the weightless reading by the violinist Johnny Gandelsman, the violist William Frampton and the vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon, the music unfolded in contemplative beauty, with the juxtaposition of the instruments’ throaty individuality and the even-tempered coolness of the voices creating just enough tension to sustain interest. To Read the Full Article, Click Here THE LOG JOURNAL / NATIONAL SAWDUST - Steve Smith February 23rd, 2017 "Caroline Polachek and Choral Chameleon - Giving Useful Music a Voice" National Sawdust essentially offered me their “black book” of choirs. I listened to some MP3s of Choral Chameleon, and I think 10 seconds into the first track I knew this was the choir I needed to work with... It was very pure, which is what I was looking for on this one. It was very finely articulated, pure sound. I needed a choir that would be able both to understand the mood of the music and to have the vocal control to be able to imitate the phasing that I’m doing with the synths. And these guys completely got it...Vince is so sensitive to tone, and he really knows his singers so well, which was really fascinating for me, because I was really thinking in terms of harmony – “let’s have this interval sustain this long” – and Vince was thinking in terms of “let’s shape it like this.” This is how much breath they’re going to have, this is how much they can sustain, this is the color the singers can have versus another. To Read the Full Article, Click Here THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Joshua Kosman September 16th, 2012 "Vocals to savor" For sheer, seductive allure, though, it would be hard to top Vince Peterson's choral arrangement of Tom Waits' song, Temptation, with a snaky, infectious beat, and sinuous solos by soprano Casey Breves and tenor Ben Jones. To Read the Full Article, Click Here EXAMINER.COM - Seth Gilman April 27th, 2012 "Choral Chameleon - a sublime rainbow of tone colors" It is...a great credit to the musicians of Choral Chameleon and especially their director, Vince Peterson, that the group can so superbly and aptly tackle new works of varying aesthetic proclivities, perform each idiomatically, and yet not compromise its particular sound...The final work of the evening was Mr. Peterson’s arrangement of the Jackson 5's “I Wanna be where You Are.” A satisfying conclusion to an exceptional performance, it exemplified the show as a whole, Choral Chameleon changing colors once again, into a fully-fledged pop choir. Mics came out for the soloists, tenor Michael Gullo transformed into a human beatbox, and Mr. Peterson even abandoned his classical conducting technique for a gospel one, instilling the appropriate spirit, sense, and sound in his singers, as well as to have some fun. The singers responded by physicalizing the music, happy to indulge their fluency in yet another genre. To Read the Full Article, Click Here BROOKLYN COLLEGE EXCELSIOR - David Teitelbaum November 28th, 2011 Maestro Peterson is known for his insatiable curiosity and devotion to healthy exploration. It is this drive that leads him to create such spectacular performances that introduce the most eclectic but magnificent repertoire, expertly...His style is more that of a potter: shaping and molding sound, virtually with his hands, to make the delight that fills the hall come alive as if from nothing. It recalls the art of Furtwangler in how music is malleable rather than precise - the mastery of which is extremely difficult but equally rewarding. To Read the Full Article, Click Here I CARE IF YOU LISTEN November 26, 2011 The musical direction was handled confidently by Vince Peterson and the choir was overall quite polished. In particular, the sopranos as a group achieved a beautiful pure tone and their voices were balanced nicely with the others. Also, the choir should be commended for their excellent diction. The words were consistently crisp and intelligible...In a city with countless choirs and vocal groups, Choral Chameleon has indisputably etched out a comfortable niche and they are certainly a group to watch. Keep an eye out for their innovative programming, tight harmonies, and infectious enthusiasm. To Read the Full Article, Click Here DAYTON MOST METRO July 5, 2011 Music Director Vince Peterson and Cellist Dan Delaney receive special recognition among the season's best for their accompaniment of Hot Mess in Manhattan on tour in Dayton, OH. To Read the Full Article, Click Here BROOKLYN COLLEGE HONORS ACADEMY profiles Prof. Vince Peterson by Thomas Bennici Peterson will go the extra mile for his students. In one instance, he taught a legally deaf student how to “sight-sing” by having her feel the vibrations of different notes through a pitch pipe. The student ultimately sang in the choir. “It fills me with great joy to know that somebody is making the effort to understand, not for me, but for himself or herself.” Peterson’s teaching philosophy is centered on a concept that the Jesuits employ called cura personalis, which means “care for the whole person.” “I really believe in that. I think that for students who are taking the core music class, it is a form of cura personalis. It’s developing the soul, the psyche and consciousness. I want to give students confidence. I want them to feel smart." To Read the Full Article, Click Here BROOKLYN COLLEGE EXCELSIOR - David Teitelbaum May 2, 2011 (print only) [Peterson's] striking resemblance to - and similarly fiery passion of - a young Vladimir Ashkenazy is not lost in the context of the generations that separate them...[he is] arguably one of the finest professors Brooklyn College has seen in a long time, especially among those in the conservatory...His achievements with the chorus have been monumental. Professor Peterson is a master of drilling a chorus. Indeed one of his signature features, he generously instills a can-do attitude in his students, no matter their level of proficiency. NYCArtScene April 11th, 2011 Article on Chanticleer's Performance of "Cells Planets" To Read the Full Article, Click Here SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE September 16-27, 2010 http://www.sfcv.org/preview/chanticleer/chanticleer-out-of-this-world THE NEW YORK TIMES May 29th, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/arts/music/30sfculture.html THE NEW YORK TIMES December 7th, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/nyregion/westchester/07musicwe.html NY Times Slide Show with Audio Interview LOVE MINUS ZERO on Vince Peterson and Choral Chameleon: http://nycmick.blogspot.com/search?q=choral+chameleon |