Southern California-based music and arts organization Chroma held a sold-out celebration Nov. 13 to mark their first anniversary. The “Chromaversary” was loaded with networking opportunities and local jazz musician showcases. It also featured tattoos, games, pizza and an open wine bar.
Organizers and Cal State Fullerton students Sophia Limon and Ian Salas, along with Cal State Long Beach student Nicholas Pigeon wanted to provide a platform for artists of any medium to interact and collaborate outside of a traditional party or club setting.
“We don’t want it to just be known as a music booking company,” said Limon, a third-year environmental studies major. “That’s why tonight is so important because we invited people of all creative fields to kind of come in and get to know each other. You can be an artist and be inspired by a musician, and vice versa.”
Salas, a fourth-year business administration major, said that the crew landed on the name Chroma because its definition characterizes the vibrant spaces they are dedicated to creating.
“The actual definition of the word means saturation and vividness,” Salas said. “So we want to make that as a metaphor for creativity in this local scene.”
Chroma officially formed last year when Salas was promoting and planning a show for local band The Kins during DiscoverFest and ran into Sophia Fascinelli, the marketing and promotions director for Titan Radio. Fascinelli shared an interest in throwing a local show, so the group teamed up and discovered their passion for community building and encouraging artist collaboration.
Since first executing their creative vision, Chroma has hosted six events over the last year, hosting musicians of different genres from hardcore to indie.
Before Chroma launched, Limon threw backyard concerts, showcasing her musician friends and meeting Salas through one of the events. Pigeon, a local musician, most recently joined the Chroma team after meeting Limon while working at the Collective.
To facilitate socializing, Salas said that live jazz music was essential for curating the conversational tone of the night.
“We didn’t want to have people necessarily coming for the music, we wanted more of an emphasis on the networking, and jazz seems to be more of a cocktail party — it’s ambient music in the background,” Salas said.
The jazz band consisted of Matthew Esqueda on keys, Christopher Astoquillca on the saxophone, Andrew Yanes on the drums and Ameer Williams on the double bass. The group met the organizers at another local show and assembled their quartet specifically for Chroma’s anniversary celebration.
Esqueda, a third-year jazz commercial music major enjoys being able to play at local venues and says that playing with his friends is a bonus in itself.
“I think it’s great being able to interact with the local area and talk to different people, meet new people. All that is great and that’s part of why I love playing local areas in general,” Esqueda said. “I’ve never played music to people getting tattooed. That’s freaking awesome.”
For Jas Yalung, a folk and indie singer-songwriter, the event gave him a unique opportunity to connect with other artists.
“I want to meet different people and learn from different people, and just have a fun night to see what other people do because I never usually have the opportunity to go around like this, and I’m a very shy person,” Yalung said.
Chroma’s mission echoes Limon’s intentions with her original DIY concerts, to foster a welcoming space for people to form connections and bond over a shared love of music.
“I just love music, but it’s not even about the music, it’s about giving people this sense of community that I once was kind of seeking in my younger days,” Limon said. “We (the Chroma organizers) found each other by chance, and we want to be able to give people the opportunity to meet each other through a shared space.”