Danville's Chromatica Makes History

Founded in Danville in 2011, Chromatica is now a 35-singer chorus with a record of two seasonal performances every year (apart from the pandemic!) Directed since its foundation by David Huff, an opera tenor with a distinguished career, and accompanied by the exceptional pianist Julie Rieth, Chromatica has presented eclectic programs of classical and modern music ranging from the 12th century’s Hildegard von Bingen to Twist and Shout. Chromatica has consistently attracted large and enthusiastic audiences to its concerts at Peace Lutheran Church in Danville and other local venues.

On April 27, Chromatica will perform the world premiere of Transfigurations written by Grammy winning composer Christopher Tin and lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek. Transfigurations is a six-part instrumental and choral suite commissioned exclusively for Chromatica by former Chromatica singers Dan and Maria Peterson. It is unprecedented for a community chorus like Chromatica to perform a new work by a distinguished composer and a lyricist who has worked with most of the current generation of choral composers.

How did this happen? Dan Peterson, with a long and successful history as an entrepreneur had always said that if he sold his current company successfully, he would fund a commission for Chromatica. While no longer singing with the chorus (he had moved to Santa Fe) he was willing to underwrite a unique musical event for Chromatica. Working with Chromatica’s founding artistic director David Huff, Dan developed some musings (his term) on his life experiences and turned them over to Charles Anthony Silvestri, a much-commissioned lyricist who developed them into the backbone of Transfigurations. Silvestri had long wanted to work with composer Christopher Tin and the Transfigurations collaboration was born.

“It has been Chromatica’s dream since its foundation 12 years ago to commission and perform major choral works well outside the normal repertoire for community choruses” said David Huff, founding artistic director. “It was far beyond our expectations to be able to work with such remarkable composers and lyricists as Christopher Tin and Charles Anthony Silvestri. Together with the whole of Chromatica, I am enormously excited to bring this work to the public for the first time and hugely grateful to Dan and Maria Peterson for making this possible.”

Christopher Tin is a multiple Grammy winning composer with several additional Grammy nominations. He won his first two Grammys for his classical crossover album Calling All Dawns. His choral piece Baba Yetu, from the video game Civilization IV, became the first piece of video game music to win a Grammy Award. His subsequent composition, Sogno di Volare, from Civilization VI, was performed by Chromatica at its recent concert. Tin has won multiple video game industry and songwriting awards. His 2022 classical compendium The Lost Birds debuted at number two on the Billboard Classical Charts as well as receiving another Grammy nomination. It has received millions of listens across streaming platforms. Tin is currently completing a final act for Turandot, an opera that Puccini was unable to finish. It will have its world premiere with the Washington National Opera in May 2024.

Charles Anthony Silvestri is a poet, lyricist and composer. He is the author of more than fifty published works in collaboration with celebrated composers such as Eric Whitacre, Dan Forrest, Ola Gjeilo, and Kim Arnesen, and for groups such as the King's Singers, VOCES8, San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the Tallis Scholars, Westminster College Choir, the Turtle Creek Chorale, and the Houston Grand Opera.

"I'm very honored to be able to work with Chromatica,” said Christopher Tin. “I was born and raised in the Bay Area, so getting the opportunity to work with a group so close to my hometown will be a treat. Charles Anthony Silvestri has delivered a truly thought-provoking suite of poems that I've diligently set to music, and I'm looking forward to working with the choir to transform them from mere notes on a page to a transcendent concert experience."

Transfigurations includes six movements that focus on the transfiguration of life into light, of life into dust, of gender, of the son of God, and the transfiguration of the soul. Accompanied by piano, bass, cello and oboe, Transfigurations will comprise half of the April 27 world premiere concert.

For more information and for tickets to the April concerts, go to www.chromaticachorale.org.