Anna Calamari
FOUNDING PRESIDENT
Ms. Calamari is a creative development specialist dedicated to transformation and peacebuilding. Combining an outstanding background in both aerospace and performing arts with expertise in cognitive psychology, she offers a unique blend of technological fluency and artistic mastery. A retired opera singer known as Anna Cley, she has graced prestigious stages like Carnegie Hall and authored "The Journey of the Heart," an empowering fairytale praised by media personalities and clinical psychologists.
Committed to shaping a brighter future for children and youth, she is deeply invested in educational initiatives, including early childhood curriculums and experiential design. She has shown her dedication early on through volunteering for emotional support and entertainment in hospitals for children. In founding Vocalise, Anna had the dream to develop initiatives that would empower abused children to break their traumatic patterns and own their destinies. She also envisioned how to reach the many children whose suffering has not been identified, and that is through public content.
Originally from Normandy, France, Anna now resides in New York with her husband and their young son. Her personal and professional journey exemplifies a passion for making a positive impact on the lives of children, using her multifaceted skills and experiences to contribute to the fields of education, the arts, and mental health.
Rachel Hall
BOARD DIRECTOR
SECRETARY
Rachel Hall is an American soprano singer and teacher in the NYC area. Born in Princeton NJ, but raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Rachel moved to the Big Apple to pursue her musical career in 2008. Ms. Hall earned her Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of illustrious soprano, teacher, and director Catherine Malfitano. She holds Bachelor degrees in both Music Performance and Music Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
Ms. Hall has been praised as "a force of nature… with a gracefully huge voice" (Berkshire Fine Arts) for her August 2017 breakout performances in the title role in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen with New York's Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. The New York press lauded her as "simply astonishing… a warm soprano of full body, easily fluidity and perfectly consistent tone… completely alive to every moment on the stage" (New York Classical).
Rachel performs opera, musical theater and symphonic works with orchestras and opera companies all over the US. She's passionate about helping people and loves being able to connect with others through music.
Rachel is a big advocate for the arts, the power of positivity and empowering children to find their true voice. These things are what interested her in being part of the VOCALISE team. Rachel knew Anna from her performing life, but is thrilled to be working alongside her on this new project with such a talented and diverse team.
Some favorite roles and performance include her contemporary opera debut in the role of Madeline Usher in Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher at the iconic MASS MoCA; making her role debut as Fiordiligi in Opera on the James' production of Così fan tutte, and rejoining the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana.
Additional recent stage performances include Ms. Hall's role debuts as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera and Adina in L'elisir d'amore (the latter with Shreveport Opera), her Lincoln Center debut as Gretel in a new production of Hansel and Gretel with the Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall, and an eight-month stint as Adeline in the original off-Broadway production of Serenade. Her concert appearances include a Mostly Mozart program with Annapolis Opera, her Santa Fe Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate, her Canton Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and her return to the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
Ms. Hall initially earned national attention for her mainstage debut as Barbarina in Santa Fe Opera's 2013 production of Le nozze di Figaro, for which she was hailed as a "musically nuanced, clear soprano with a perfectly charming stage presence" (Ionarts). She fulfilled two seasons as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera and also fulfilled a young artist residency with Shreveport Opera, performing Micaëla in La tragédie de Carmen and Valencienne in The Merry Widow. In 2015, Ms. Hall won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (North Carolina district).
Rachel has been giving teaching privately and giving master classes since 2010 and is thrilled to be a part of the Long Ridge Music Center in Stamford, CT. Rachel lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and enjoys a life full of music, art and nature!
Patricia Sheridan
BOARD DIRECTOR
Ms. Sheridan is a New York Singing Teachers’ Association Distinguished Voice Professional, having completed The Oren L. Brown Professional Development Program core curriculum of Vocal Anatomy, Vocal Acoustics, Developmental Repertoire, Vocal Health and Comparative Pedagogy. She has served on the board of NYSTA and is a member of NATS and NATS/ENY. She is the co-founder of ACTING OPERA and presently serves as the president of the board of The Midwest Institute of Opera based in in Bloomington, IL, at Illinois State University.
Students in the Sheridan Studio have performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, regional opera companies, on- and off-Broadway, as well as in jazz and country music venues. A specialty of her studio is training a healthy, more beautiful sounding speaking voice for women in business and in the public eye.
She is a philanthropist and thrives to make the world a better place.