About Crescendo

Crescendo’s mission is to give its audience and performers classical music experiences that are emotionally alive and personally meaningful.

Crescendo Board of Directors

Officers

Maureen S. Bateman, Lakeville, CT • President
Henry (Pete) Putzel III, Sharon, CT • Vice President
Grace Schalkwyk Yowell, Sharon, CT • Treasurer
Brian Farrell, South Egremont, MA • Secretary
Kathleen Friend, Tucson, AZ • Communications

Directors

Katharine Drake, Millerton, NY
Michael Nesbitt, Lakeville, CT
Mary Priestman, Falls Village, CT
Thomas Schindler, Lakeville, CT

Christine Gevert, Ex Officio. Founding Artistic Director

Advisers to Crescendo’s Board

Gaile Binzen, Geoffrey Brown, John Cheney, Susan Emerson Clapp, Donald Freedman, Marilyn Gross, Catherine Hancock, Sally & Fred Harris, Sally Haver, John Katz, Elizabeth Latrobe Place, Cinzi Lavin, Lynden Miller, Sarah Morrison, Randy Orzano, Stephen Potter, Roberta Roll, Jayne Segedy, Dr. Kerala Snyder, Mary C. Sullivan, Mary Verdi, Susan Vreeland, Janet Walker, Larry Wallach, Trudy Weaver Miller

Staff and Volunteers

Amy Eisen, Project Management, Choir Manager
Susan Francisco, Box Office & Data Management
Linda Lloyd, Event Management

“Crescendo is a unique organization with a stellar reputation in the early music world. Members of Boston’s and New York’s early music communities have grown to admire and respect Crescendo as one of the most groundbreaking of ensembles in the U.S.”

Dr. Julianne Baird, Rutgers University

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Audition Notice! For Crescendo’s 2026-2027 Choral Season

Join the award-winning Crescendo Chorus and/or Vocal Ensemble. We have openings for all voice parts, including for professional section leaders. Perform with amateurs and professionals, world renowned soloists, period instruments, and Latin American folk instruments in Salisbury/Lakeville, CT, and Great Barrington, MA. Crescendo’s 23^rd season’s programs include Handel’s The Choice of Hercules, J.S. Bach’s Hercules at the Crossroads, Classic English Carols, and O. Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signor with orchestra, choral works by British, Irish, and Latin American composers, and more. Rehearsals for the upcoming fall project start on August 24, 2026. Schedule an appointment for an audition by emailing Artistic Director Christine Gevert at christine@crescendomusic.org. More information about Crescendo can be found on our website: www.crescendomusic.org

Fall 2026 – Baroque Oratorio

Two Masters, One Myth: Bach, Handel, and the Crossroads of Virtue
J.S. Bach – Hercules at the Crossroads BWV 213 and G.F. Handel – The Choice of Hercules HWV 69
With Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra

December 2026 – Holiday

The Gathering Manger: A Winter Celebration of Voices and Woodwinds
Classic English Carols, and Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signore (1930)
With an ensemble of woodwinds, and piano

Spring 2027 – ‘World Music’

Across the Meridian: A Journey from English Hills to Latin American Skies
Choral Works by British & Irish Composers: C.V. Stanford, H. Balfour Gardiner, C. Wood, C. Lambert, A. Sullivan; and Latin American Composers: C Guastavino (Argentina), A. Estévez (Venezuela), M. Matamoros (Cuba), M. Leite (Brazil), J.A. Rincón (Colombia). With a small instrumental ensemble of traditional and Latin American instruments

All programs are directed by Crescendo’s Founding Artistic Director, Christine Gevert. Rehearsals take place in Lakeville/Salisbury, CT.

Crescendo is a family of music lovers that bring exquisite choral music to audiences throughout New England.

“Over the years some in our area thought that Crescendo couldn’t succeed with music unfamiliar to audiences…Our packed houses and standing ovations have proven them wrong. Christine challenges us, the singers, to master the music, and works with each one of us to be the best that we can be.”

Longtime CRESCENDO singer

“Music makes more people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable.”

Martin Luther

Crescendo’s Policy on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity

Crescendo strives to cultivate a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community where all feel valued and respected.

Diversity, inclusion, and equity are connected to our mission. Crescendo seeks to present music of many traditions to audiences of many traditions. We respect and value diverse experiences and heritages, because an environment that welcomes diversity and inclusion will nurture ideas and perspectives that could not be fostered otherwise.

Crescendo holds that diversity, equity, and inclusion are drivers of institutional excellence. Crescendo expects that its board, staff, partners and stakeholders will reflect and embrace these core values.

Crescendo’s board supports examining how inequities in society affects what Crescendo does and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission. We are committed to equal opportunity for employment and advancement. Crescendo seeks to overcome conventional assumptions about qualifications for leadership and to diversify our board, staff, and advisory bodies.

This policy and how well Crescendo has followed it will be evaluated annually by the Board of Directors, recognizing that permanent change will require continuous effort.