Anna Chelak, Artistic Director

Anna has been a member of Sirens of Gotham for the last 10 years and consistently held a variety of artistic and managerial leadership positions. Before being appointed Artistic Director in April 2023, her contributions included a rebranding and Core Values initiative as well as a logo redesign in early 2017 as VP of Marketing, costume and staging design for the chorus's international competition debut and first place win at the 2018 SAI Harmony Classic as Associate Visual Director, and establishing Sirens of Gotham's dual charter with the Hell's Kitchen Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society in the Spring of 2020 as Chapter President. Anna also co-directed the BHS Hell’s Kitchen Chapter SATB ensemble GOTHAM to an 8th place finish at the 2022 BHS International Chorus Contest in Charlotte, NC. Anna currently sings Lead in the SSAA quartet Breakfast for Dinner (M-AD, NED).

Always a fan of the stage, Anna began studying Ukrainian folk dance as a child and went on to perform professionally with multiple ensembles in the tristate area through college. She began studying music and singing more seriously in middle school and was introduced to barbershop music by her high school choir teacher, music educator Patty Danner (Hickory Tree Chorus, Baritone of 2013 Region 15 Champion quartet, Drive!), who organized and encouraged multiple barbershop quartets and a show choir.

Anna grew up in New Jersey and lived in New York City for the last 15 years before recently moving into a new home in Westchester, NY with her partner (and fellow barbershopper) Braden Lynk, along with their two cats Otto and Windsor. She is a graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University and also works as a marketing strategy director at an advertising agency in Manhattan.

REHEARSAL CAPTAINS

• Lizzie Culbertson

• Alexis DePersia-Norelli

• Stephanie Ofshinsky

• Helen O’Rourke

SECTION MANAGERS

• Helen O’Rourke, Tenor

• Kara Scharwath and Stephanie Taglianetti, Lead

• Adena Korn, Baritone

• Stephanie Ofshinsky, Bass

Colleen Christi Willett, President

Colleen Christi Willett has been singing as long as she could speak, and really hasn’t stopped doing either since! She has a deep passion for all sorts of musical expression, but adores singing classical repertoire, French & American jazz, musical theater and of course, barbershop and a capella. Sirens is her first deep dive into the barbershop community and she feels she has FOUND HER PEOPLE. She has been a member and alto 1 section leader of Melodia Women’s Choir NYC, a group dedicated to bringing rarely-performed classical and modern pieces written for treble voices, for over 15 years. She is a chef and baker and co-owns Bread & Spoon in Jersey City, NJ, where she lives with her awesome husband, two kiddos and too many cats. In addition to singing, she is questionably obsessed with enamel pins, weight training, salsa verde, Star Trek TNG, true crime anything and fan fiction (writing and reading it). 

Meredith Rich, Immediate Past President

Meredith joined Sirens of Gotham in 2016 after coming across a Gotham afterglow in progress. Since joining the chorus she has served the chorus as Communications Coordinator, Fundraising Chair, and Baritone Assistant Section Manager, and most recently as the President of the board from 2020-2023.

Hailing from Philadelphia, she first fell for 4 part harmony as a toddler after seeing the a capella group The Bobs sing "Psycho Killer" on tv, and never looked back. She sang in the Baldwin B Flats in high school and continued at Franklin & Marshall College, where she was a member of the a cappella group Sweet Ophelia. After college she continued performing in theater with Original Binding Productions, The Adirondack Shakespeare Company, Ego Po Classic Theater, and as Betsy Ross for Historic Philadelphia Inc.

Meredith works as a VP Program Management Lead in New York City in FinTech. Her previous roles have included positions at digital agencies, museums, non-profits, the arts, and also in publishing, where she was the editor of USA Today and The New York Times bestselling fiction. She lives in Brooklyn and spends her free time singing with her barbershop quartet Breakfast for Dinner, and chasing her dog, Rudy.

Lizzie Culbertson, Treasurer

Lizzie joined Sirens of Gotham in March of 2017 and has been in love with barbershop ever since. During her youth in Northern Virginia, Lizzie was active in local wind ensembles, marching bands, and orchestras (playing the french horn!) but between the ages of 11 and 18 was, tragically, not a member of a single vocal ensemble. While attending Stanford University, however, she joined Side By Side, a community service singing group that sings oldies at nursing homes around the Bay Area. Lizzie has always loved tricky harmonies, locking overtones, and tight-knit communities, and after moving to New York City in 2016, she was overjoyed to find all three in the Gotham community! She currently sings baritone in Sirens and tenor in Breakfast for Dinner, a Sweet Adelines quartet.

Outside of barbershop, Lizzie is a software engineer. She loves spending time with her fiancé and cat at home in Brooklyn and dabbling in non-musical arts, with wildly varying levels of success.

Erin Moore, VP of Membership

Coming soon!

Mika Nagashima, VP of Events & Fundraising

Mika started singing in a local kids' choir at 4. She joined a school musical club and participated in "The Music Man" in an ensemble in college. That was her first contact with barbershop-style music, and she immediately fell in love with it. After moving to New York City, Mika became a member of Sirens in 2019 and currently sings lead. She is eager to sing in a quartet and always looking for quartet opportunities.She believes in the power of music in the education field. She held "Let's sing Japanese songs!! " workshops at pop culture conventions in Washington D.C. and Sirens' rehearsals.When not singing, Mika practices Muay Thai kickboxing, and spending time with her family and two black cats.

Kara Scharwath, VP of Marketing

Kara’s musical talents were revealed when she spontaneously performed a perfect rendition of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” for a room full of her parents’ friends at the age of two. Soon after, she became a founding member of the Children’s Chorus of Sussex County, through which she had the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall. Kara pursued her love of the arts throughout high school in concert choir, band and musical theater and studied classical ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance. Kara joined Sirens of Gotham in 2020 and currently serves as lead section manager. She also sings lead in the quartet, Off The Record, which won best Novice Quartet at the BHS Northern Division Contest in 2023.

Outside her musical pursuits, Kara serves as EVP of Global Marketing for BCW, an integrated communications and marketing firm headquartered in New York City. She takes full advantage of her marketing talents as VP of Marketing for the Sirens and as Events & Advocacy chair of the NYC board of Asian University of Women. Kara is also a competitive triathlete who races as part of the Wyn Republic Racing Team. You can follow her on Instagram @karameredith.

Laura Paglione, Member at Large

Laura joined Sirens in February 2019 after a long hiatus from singing. In addition to singing in the bass section, Laura has coordinated costumes and makeup, and now assists with chorus fundraising needs as a member of the Board. Laura grew up in musical theater, with her first role as a singing bumble bee in Winnie the Pooh at age 5. Sixteen years later she was producing and directing (as well as performing in) pre-professional and amateur plays and musicals, singing in choruses and solo performances, and dabbling in instrumental music. But, degrees in engineering, computer science and business eventually led her professionally to technology and business consulting with a company that she owns with other partners, Spherical Cow Group. A proud mom of a 23- and 18-year old, Laura resides in Queens, NY when she isn’t traveling for conferences. She is excited to be reunited with her passion for singing, and loves the energy and community that is so characteristic of Sirens.

Stephanie Taglianetti, Member-At-Large

Stephanie Taglianetti is a Long Island native and has been a member of Sirens of Gotham since 2019. Despite her well-suited barbershop nickname (Tags) 2019 was also Stephanie's first step into the world of barbershop. However, she is no stranger to a capella singing. Stephanie founded the first women's a capella group at her alma mater, Sacred Heart University: SHU L.O.V.E., for which she served as Vice President. At SHU, Stephanie was involved in countless musical theater productions. Some of favorite roles include voicing the part of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, Martha in Spring Awakening, and Sister Hubert in Nunsense.

Her musicality began at the age of 6, when she first started piano lessons. She soon graduated onto the flute. She competed with NYSSMA for many years as a flutist until abandoning the instrument (and the saxophone) to focus on vocalization. She has competed as a jazz vocalist in NY, and is a well-rounded vocal performer.

Outside of music, Stephanie enjoys drawing, painting, watching horror films, and baking/decorating sugar cookies. She studied writing at the California Institute of the Arts, where she earned her MFA, and is an experienced performative poet. Professionally, Stephanie works as the VP of content at Insider Intelligence.

Charlotte Dow, Member-At-Large

Coming soon!

Sarah Christian, Member-At-Large

Coming soon!