Vince Peterson is an award-winning conductor, composer and arranger of choral music based in New York City. He is the founding artistic director of the critically acclaimed ensemble Choral Chameleon and artistic director of Empire City Men's Chorus. He is responsible for the premieres of over 200 new choral works to date and his work has been profiled in The New York Times, The Brooklyn Eagle, The San Francisco Examiner, I Care if You Listen, The National Sawdust Log Journal, and other reputable publications. Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Vince received his Master of Music in Composition from The San Francisco Conservatory where he studied with the legendary composer Conrad Susa. He received a double Master of Music in Composition and Choral Conducting from Mannes College of Music, where he studied with the pioneering conductor Dr. Mark Shapiro.

The spiritual Rise Up Shepherd and Follow is said to originate during the Reconstruction Era in the United States. It originated first as text written within a short story recounting how Christmas was celebrated on a plantation between slave owners and slaves in 1891. The first appearance of a musical setting happened in 1902. Because the first appearance of this song, clearly evolving via oral tradition over many years, was that of theatrical performance during a plantation Christmas celebration, this arrangement aims to restore some sense of dramaturgy to the performance. In so doing, the arranger hopes to honor the song's original purpose while offering a modern harmonic twist to the typical chord progression. This arrangement was first composed for the New York City-based ensemble Choral Chameleon on their first series Christmas concert in December of 2008. It has been specially revised for this performance, and the arranger dedicates this new version with love and respect to Matt Oltman.​