Board of Directors
Jesse Antin, President
Natalie L. Bridgeman, Esq.
Jim Meehan, Vice President
Justin Montigne, Secretary
Jess Perry, Treasurer
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Clerestory is (Left to right, back to front): John Bischoff, Chris Fritzsche, Clifton Massey, Jesse Antin, Kevin Baum, Tom Hart, Dan Cromeenes, Fernando Tarango, Justin Montigne
Clerestory is the Bay Area's acclaimed eight-man classical a cappella ensemble. Veterans of San Francisco's finest vocal groups, Clerestory's singers, from countertenor to bass, remain members of the Bay Area choral community and pride themselves on providing unparalleled performances to local audiences at progressive prices. Clerestory is named for cathedral windows that let in daylight; we tell the "clear story" of the music we sing through sophisticated performances grounded in decades of experience singing together. Clerestory is a tax-exempt non-profit that relies on you to sustain our unique mission.
Jesse Antin is the founder of Clerestory. He has performed with many of the finest groups in the Bay Area since moving to California in 2000, including five years with the esteemed men's ensemble Chanticleer. He appears on seven Chanticleer recordings, including one Grammy winner. Other recent local performances have been as a soloist and chorus member with the American Bach Soloists and the choir of Grace Cathedral.
Jesse is a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he grew up singing countertenor in a cathedral men-and-boys choir, and is a graduate of Brown University, where he majored in music and philosophy. During Jesse's early career in church music he was also an organist, choir director, and composer; a number of his pieces continue to be performed and recorded by choirs throughout New England. During his studies Jesse was also student conductor of the Brown University Chorus and a member of the Schola Cantorum of Boston.
Having lived solely in college towns, Jesse has been a proud resident of Berkeley for nearly ten years. He is a bicycle racer for the Berkeley Bicycle Club team, a Sierra backpacker as often as possible, and a tennis player trying to find his strokes again. Jesse and his wife, Lindsey, live on a steep hill with their rescue cats Camper, Nike, and Sprite, and maintain the pace of life with a steady diet of vegetarian carb-loading and home-brewed ales. Jesse works as a fundraiser for the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice, and if you still haven't found Jesse in any of these places, he is probably at a Cal football game or an Oakland A's baseball game, losing his voice.
Tenor Kevin Baum is currently section leader at Church of the Advent Episcopal Church, as a member of the ensemble Schola Adventus, and is also a cantor at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, both in San Francisco. As well as singing with Clerestory, Kevin sings with the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, and with the ensembles Schola Cantorum and the San Francisco Lyric Chorus. He will be singing this spring as an alternate with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
Kevin is a sixteen-year veteran of Chanticleer.
John Bischoff, bass, has been privileged to sing with some of the country’s finest choral groups. In addition to Clerestory, these have included Chanticleer, the Dale Warland Singers, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorale, the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, the American Bach Soloists and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. As a soloist, John is appearing this year with the Sacramento Choral Society, Festival Opera in Walnut Creek, Pacific Repertory Opera, West Bay Opera, and Berkeley Opera. He has also sung roles with companies in Sarasota, Des Moines, and Dayton, and was an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera.
John received his Masters Degree in Voice from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelors Degree in English with honors from Princeton University. Before recklessly pursuing a career in music, John taught English in Guangzhou, China, and worked as a journalist for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, using his voice in a different capacity - as newscaster, reporter and host of regional and national broadcasts. John lives in San Francisco with his bass-baritone shepherd Lucy, where he enjoys cooking, serving and consuming dessert – at all hours of the day.
Countertenor Dan Cromeenes hails from sunny southern California where he studied piano and voice at Biola University. He went on to achieve a master's degree in Accompanying at East Carolina University, where he sang with Capella Antiqua and made his alto solo debut in Purcell's Te Deum Laudamus and Jubilate Deo. After spending three years at Biola as Staff Accompanist, he joined Chanticleer for their 2005-06 season, singing concerts across Europe, Japan, and the United States. Recently, Dan has performed throughout the Bay area both as an accompanist and singer. He has played for the Santa Clara Chorale, the music and theater departments at Santa Clara University, West Bay Opera, Lamplighters, and as a freelance accompanist and coach. As a singer he has performed with various ensembles—including American Bach Soloists, Clerestory, Artists' Vocal Ensemble (AVE), San Francisco Renaissance Voices, and Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys—and as a soloist with San Francisco Lyric Chorus, Bay Area Classical Harmonies (BACH), Santa Clara Chorale, and SCU’s Faculty Recital Series. When not onstage or behind a piano, Dan can usually be found either on a hike in the mountains or at home baking gourmet goodies.
Chris Fritzsche, soprano, is a native of Santa Rosa CA. He has been a "performer" since the tender age of two, when he was first dragged (literally) across the stage, playing the part of young Michael's teddy bear in the play, Peter Pan. Flush with such early success he took up the guitar at age seven and immersed himself in music of the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, and John Denver among others. He discovered the joys of choral singing in high school and went on to study voice in college as a tenor. Several leading musical theatre and opera roles later he graduated with a degree in music, and was about to get a real estate license (in order to satisfy his Capricorn desire for money) when someone informed him that the falsetto voice he had only ever used in jest could actually be put to use on the concert stage. This led him to join the men's ensemble Chanticleer as a soprano for the next 11 years, performing in many of the world's greatest concert halls, and singing on well over a dozen recordings, two of which won Grammy Awards. Having retired from the road in 2003, he has since expanded his solo and ensemble career, appearing with various groups and artists in the SF Bay Area and beyond, and served on the vocal faculty at his alma mater, Sonoma State University, 2004-2009. He is a member of the Redwood Empire Chapter of NATS and continues to teach vocal classes for the Sonoma County Bach Society. He is currently the Music Director for the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa.
Bass-baritone Tom Hart has enjoyed a lengthy presence in the West Coast musical scene, having performed with many notable musical organizations since moving to the Bay Area. From ensemble positions with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony Choruses to ensemble positions and soloist engagements with American Bach Soloists, Carmel Bach Festival, Chanticleer, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Sanford Dole Ensemble, to name a few, he has consistently strived to strike a balance between dedication to art and the enjoyment of it. He also holds a professional position with Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.
Although for the past 10 years he has largely concentrated on music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, he is happiest when he is able to encompass a variety of music and performing opportunities. During his 10 years with Chanticleer and later, he has managed to visit and perform in all 50 states as well as several countries abroad, a fact for which he will be eternally thankful and one that continues to enrich his understanding and appreciation of people. Tom was instrumental in organizing the business operations of Chanticleer and served as General Manager of the company in the early years as well as being a member of the ensemble. After leaving, he managed four hugely successful tours of Les Mysteres de Voix Bulgares in the United States before "settling down in a real job" with the City and County of San Francisco. He continues to work part-time for the Recreation and Park Department while singing as much as possible.
Clifton Massey, alto, is in frequent demand for both solo and choral repertoire, having performed to critical acclaim with ensembles in the Bay Area and beyond, including American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chanticleer, Schola Cantorum SF, Dallas Bach Society, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Theater of Voices, Concert Royal NYC, and the New York Philharmonic with Skitch Henderson. Being raised by country musicians in Dallas led him to a rather eclectic taste in music, including numerous collaborations with electronica composers, the role of Skzyp in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Bloomington, IN), and recent investigations into standardized beat-box notation. Clifton has a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Texas Christian University, and a Master's of Music in Early Music from Indiana University. He currently directs three choirs for the Piedmont Choirs, teaches private voice, and is a choral clinician throughout the Bay Area. Upcoming projects include the Christmas Oratorio of Bach with the San Francisco Choral Society, the Bach B-minor Mass with American Bach Soloists in January, and making gallons upon gallons of iced tea to remind him of the good ol' days of an Ann Richards Texas!
James Nicholas Monios, bass, enjoys a varied musical career as a performer and teacher. A native of Long Beach, California, Mr. Monios studied piano, contrabass and voice while earning the Master of Arts in Historical Musicology. Since moving to San Francisco in 1991, Jim has performed with many of the finest ensembles in the Bay Area, including San Francisco Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, American Bach Soloists and San Francisco Choral Artists, and has appeared as soloist with San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco City Concert Opera, Soli Deo Gloria, and Magnificat. He has been bass soloist at Temple Sherith-Israel and several San Francisco churches, including Church of the Advent, where he also served as Associate Director of Music. He began working with Piedmont Children's Choir in 1994 and has continued teaching and conducting in private schools ever since, while maintaining a private piano studio in San Francisco. Jim has sung with several Clerestory members in various musical capacities, and now enthusiastically joins the ensemble for the 2009/10 season.
Justin Montigne, countertenor, is originally from Des Moines, Iowa, where he was forced from the piano bench after a dismal accompanying stint into the middle school choir. After this fortuitous switch, he went on to receive his Bachelor in Music from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and his Masters and DMA in vocal performance from the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. An active teacher, as well as performer, Justin taught voice for the University of Minnesota and toured Minnesota and the upper Midwest performing with many ensembles including the Minnesota Opera, the Minnesota Orchestra, Western Plains Opera, and the Des Moines Symphony. Justin then moved to San Francisco and sang alto for three years with the acclaimed male vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, performing a wide variety of works with the group in venues around the United States and the world. He has sung with the Oregon Bach Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, City Concert Opera, Seraphic Fire, Conspirare and more. Justin is the artistic director of the Bay Area a cappella men's ensemble Musaic, teaches voice at the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and is a registered yoga teacher. When not singing, teaching, or practicing yoga poses, Justin enjoys time at home with the other three J’s–his husband Joe and their two challenging canines, Jasmine and Jorge.
Originally from McMinnville, Oregon, tenor Mark Mueller left with his parents' blessing for the sunny climes of Stanford in 1973 to become a doctor ("Look at those hands — those are surgeon's hands!"). Four years and a drama degree later, instead of medical school, he found himself working for Berkeley Repertory Theatre as an actor, singer, composer, assistant stage manager, set builder and music director. His repertoire is extremely varied, ranging from performances of medieval mystery plays to writing, singing and playing guitar with the (now defunct) punk parody band Porque. He is one of the few musicians to perform at both the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Carmel Bach Festival. Mark has performed with many SF Bay Area groups, including the Choir of Grace Cathedral, Schola Cantorum San Francisco, the California Bach Society, the Baroque Choral Guild (now Cantabile), Contemporary Opera of Marin, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble and the San Francisco Choral Artists. He is currently a member of the American Bach Soloists and the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale as well the choir of St. Mark's, Berkeley. By day, he is the Program Administrator for the Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley. He lives in Point Richmond (a stone's throw from "The Plunge") with his wife Elisabeth and sons Michael and Max.
Board Members
Natalie Bridgeman is an independent consulting attorney and Director of Accountability Counsel, based in San Francisco, California. Ms. Bridgeman's work emphasizes litigating international environmental and human rights violations, and work toward accountability in international finance and development (www.accountabilitycounsel.com). Ms. Bridgeman is also an alto in the a cappella trio, Mayim, based in Santa Cruz, California. Since 1992, Mayim has released three albums and has received wide acclaim for the trio's unique performances of original folk and soul, classical and sacred music from around the world (www.mayimtrio.com). Ms. Bridgeman comes from a family of musicians with a deep appreciation of choral music; her parents sang with the Berlin Philharmonic and currently sing with the Santa Cruz Chorale. Ms. Bridgeman received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law's Program in Public Interest Law and Policy in 2002 and her B.A. from Cornell University in 1999 where she sang in the a cappella group The Touchtones and the Cornell University Chamber Singers.
Adam Cox is the Director of Strategy and Analytics for Sheet Music Plus, a distributor of sheet music for singers and musicians worldwide. He has previously held strategy, finance, and operations positions for HOK, San Francisco Opera, and Bank of America. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama with focuses in English Literature, Business, and Computer Science.
Jim Meehan is a regular at choral concerts, symphony, and the opera. A software engineer by day, he has sung with Cantabile Chorale and the Sanford Dole Ensemble. He has a Bachelor's degree in Math and Music Theory and a PhD in Computer Science from Yale.
Jess Perry is currently the Senior Budget Manager for the San Francisco Opera, after having sung in the Opera Chorus for nine seasons. Previously, Jess was the Business Manager of Chanticleer for well over a decade. As an avid fan of excellent choral music, Jess is thrilled to be on the founding Board of Directors of Clerestory.
Nancy Roberts has years of experience in marketing and public relations, communications and project management for non-profit organizations, including five years as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Chanticleer. She is a co-founder of The Idea Hive, a Bay Area sustainability consultancy. Previously, Nancy was Director of Marketing for San Jose Symphony, COO for Opera World, and Information Service Director (in charge of research and publications) for OPERA America, the international service organization for professional opera. In addition to a Green MBA from Dominican University of California (completed in 2008), Nancy holds a bachelor's degree in History (Phi Beta Kappa) and a master's in French Literature from The George Washington University. She began her working life at the age of 17 as a professional ballet dancer in Europe.
