 |
Kay Caldwell ~ Board ChairSanta Rosa, California I am honored to be part of this inspired organization and to contribute to its development toward being even more vibrant and sustainable. I once told Kate Munger I would follow her anywhere. It has led me to some surprising places, the most profound being bedsides. With other choir members I sang for my mother and many others as they were dying. I sang for elephants in Bali and for the black Madonna in Spain. And in the shower room at Ives Pool after water aerobics. I feel blessed by this music which sustains me and so many on the threshold and I am delighted to get to work with such a wonderful group on the Threshold Choir Board of Directors. I am retired and have a small graphic design business. I was a licensed counselor in private practice for almost 20 years. I have experience running my own business and teaching at the community college and university levels. I taught beekeeping in Paraguay in the Peace Corps from 1996-1998. I bring this experience of communicating, caring, listening, finding creative solutions, and looking for clarity to my participation on the Board. |
|
|
|
 |
Cesca Wright ~ Vice ChairDavis, California Greetings to all. I wish you the joy I have found in the Threshold Choir. Here I have connected with wise, sweet, and playful women who are generous with love and service. I have discovered my own singing voice. I have been allowed into families’ sacred time as their loved ones waiver between worlds. I have witnessed the profound passage of souls as they leave their bodies. Besides the quirky physical reminders of my own body’s decades on the planet, my years have brought opportunities to work and learn from masters of organizational development. I remember the guidance I received from the retired ministers who coached me as a green staffer with Witness for Peace. I learned how an inspirational mission is attained with sound organizational practices. I worked for a collaboration of California grant-makers and saw how intention, shared work-plans, and the monitoring of progress allow a team to “row together.” I’ve been challenged by excellent trainers and have been inspired by fellow leaders of mission-driven agencies as we participated in the University of Southern California Leadership Programs. I apply my life’s lessons in my business as an independent consultant to organi- zations that foster vibrant communities for residents of all ages. This is an exciting time for the choir as we establish an organizational framework to support ever-blossoming choirs while preserving the precious qualities established by our founder, and as we invite others to join and sustain this ancient healing gift of gentle song. |
 |
|
 |
Susan Randazzo ~ SecretaryLittleton, Massachusetts As Executive Director of Indian Hill Music, I am proud to lead the first community music school in the nation to offer a Threshold Choir to the community. Our organization encompasses a community music school, a professional orchestra, chamber music and jazz concerts, and an extensive outreach program. So why add a Threshold Choir? In early 2007, we created a strategic plan in which one of the key objectives was “To deepen our musical philanthropic presence in the community.” Shortly thereafter, a faculty member read about Threshold Choir and approached me about starting such a choir at Indian Hill. It was easy to say yes. What better demonstration of musical philanthropy than to give the gift of music to those on the threshold? What better way to live our mission “to benefit individuals, families and communities through music?” That fall, Kate Munger offered the first Threshold Choir Northeast Regional Gathering at Indian Hill and, as they say, the rest is history. A professional cellist by training, I had not done any singing other than in the pews at my Unitarian Universalist church since childhood. In fact, I was a fairly self-conscious singer, having once been chided by my elementary school teacher not to move so much when I sang. I was so mortified, I never sang in a choir or chorus again. But when I came to observe Kate’s workshop at Indian Hill Music, I was so moved by the work and felt so safe singing in the circle that I've never stopped. I found my singing voice through this work. I’ve performed orchestral and chamber music all my life, but I can say without hesitation that the most important music I make is singing at bedside. The directness of the connection, from heart to heart, is unlike any other experience—truly a gift of song. As a founder of Indian Hill 25 years ago and now Executive Director for 11 years, I’ve been involved in the process of moving an organization from its infancy to maturity. I hope my experience with governance, fundraising, and program implementation will be helpful to this board as we shape the future of the Threshold Choir organization. |
|
|
|
 |
Kelsey Ramage ~ TreasurerSanta Cruz, California Since 2002, singing with the Santa Cruz Threshold Choir (which I co-direct), and with the larger Threshold community of singers at our powerful gatherings, has buoyed, sustained, and transformed my life. Myriad blessings of singing and serving, grief and healing, tears and laughter, songs and harmonies bring me deep joy and wonder. I feel honored to serve on this Board of Directors and am deeply grateful to give back. I bring my love of networking and community and my years in independent bookstores, mothering, marine conservation, parks education, massage therapy, home funeral vigils, green burial, spiritual study, and astrological counseling. Our Threshold Choir community weaves a wide and resilient web of gifted singers who gather to inspire, nourish, and comfort in gentle, lilting harmony. We offer kindness made audible. It is exciting to collaborate in support of the expanding Threshold Choirs network and to help sustain the choirs in supple evolution as a lasting musical legacy, true to Kate Munger’s brilliant vision, gorgeous repertoire, and tireless, remarkable leadership. May our beautiful healing tradition of singing thrive long after our own voices are gone. |
|
|
|
 |
Leeann EnrightChicago, Illinois I am so honored to be joining the Threshold Choir Board of Directors. As soon as I heard about the Threshold choirs I knew I wanted to sing at bedside. I had done that intuitively for both my father and mother as they were at the threshold. I didn't know our beautiful Threshold songs so I sang everything from hymns to popular songs as I sat with them. I am excited to bring my energy, skills and experience to the Board as we navigate our future as a national organization in this next stage of growth and service to the individual choirs and singers. My background includes my professional experience in organizational development and organizational change management as well as my service in various ways with several not-for-profit organizations. I look forward to creating our exciting future together. |
|
|
|
|
|
Karen FriisSutter Creek, California It is a privilege and an honor to serve on the Threshold Choir Board of Directors. As we often share at gatherings, hearing Threshold Choir for the first time brought shivers and tears to my whole being. Each time I sing, I still experience that wonderful feeling of wonder and connectedness. I love being in the presence of the wise and compassionate people who have made our singing such a blessing to our clients, who invite us into very sacred and intimate moments in their lives. Choir has become, for me, an essential spiritual practice and part of my core. I am a retired fifth grade teacher, lover of history and the connections and understandings it can bring to the young mind. During my twenties, and now again in retirement, I've been a real food activist, having worked with several food advocacy groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, and now in my community to support local organic farmers through community-supported agriculture, as well as growing a large family garden of my own. As a public school teacher, I loved organizing special events for kids and producing an after-school musical theater production each winter. I look forward to using my talents and skills to benefit such a wonderful group of singers in service and song. It is such an exciting time in our organization's development, and to be in the midst of this birthing is a thrill. |
|
|
|
 |
Susan GravesNew York City, New York I am proud to be one of the first women who sang with Threshold Choir when it began in March of 2000 in El Cerrito, California. I felt, as Kate describes, many “shivers up and down my spine” during that first sacred gathering. I bring to the board my tenure of singing at bedsides for over 12 years. Singing enhanced my massage work with the elderly at a convalescent home, and it enriched the last year of my studies as I earned a degree in communications from the University of California at Berkeley. My degree inspired me to teach media literacy in elementary schools and led to various positions in marketing, public relations and media, including work at The San Francisco Chronicle, Wired magazine, and currently, Prevention, a women’s health magazine with over 10 million readers. It has been beautiful to watch Threshold Choir grow organically to become the worldwide service of love and kindness it is today. When I moved back home to Manhattan, I helped start Threshold Choir New York City. At five years old and growing, we are a thriving community of warm and lovely women who take joy in continuing this unique service to our community. My life interests are endless, but in essence, I adore travel (especially to CA for the annual gathering), documentaries, writing, making art, singing, fitness, and I’m never without my camera. I am thrilled to have an opportunity to work more deeply with the board and share my skills, ideas and time. Being a part of this community continues to shape my life in meaningful ways. I am blessed to serve and in return I am reminded of what truly matters in life. |
|
|
