Based in San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
,
Chanticleer is a full-time classical vocal ensemble in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Over the last three decades, Chanticleer has developed a grand reputation for its interpretation of
Renaissance music Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given the gradually adopted "Renaissance" characteristics: musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.- Style and trends :The...
, but it performs a wide repertoire of
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
,
gospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
, and other venturesome new music and is widely known as an "Orchestra of Voices". It was named for the "
clear singing rooster"The Nun's Priest's Tale of the Cock and the Hen, Chanticleer and Partlet" is one of The Canterbury Tales by the 14th century Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer...
" in
Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales...
's
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century . The tales are contained inside a frame tale and told by a collection of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral...
.
Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989, and served as Artistic Director until his death from
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
in 1997.
Based in San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
,
Chanticleer is a full-time classical vocal ensemble in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Over the last three decades, Chanticleer has developed a grand reputation for its interpretation of
Renaissance music Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given the gradually adopted "Renaissance" characteristics: musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.- Style and trends :The...
, but it performs a wide repertoire of
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
,
gospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
, and other venturesome new music and is widely known as an "Orchestra of Voices". It was named for the "
clear singing rooster"The Nun's Priest's Tale of the Cock and the Hen, Chanticleer and Partlet" is one of The Canterbury Tales by the 14th century Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer...
" in
Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales...
's
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century . The tales are contained inside a frame tale and told by a collection of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral...
.
History
Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989, and served as Artistic Director until his death from
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
in 1997. As a graduate student of
musicologyMusicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture. In the intermediate sense, it includes all relevant cultures and a range of musical forms, styles, genres and...
, Botto found that much of the
medievalThe term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends in approximately the middle of the fifteenth century...
and
Renaissance music Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given the gradually adopted "Renaissance" characteristics: musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.- Style and trends :The...
he was studying was not being performed, and, because of this, he formed the group to perform this music with an all-male ensemble, as it was traditionally sung during the Renaissance period.
Originally, the group contained ten singers, but its size has varied from eight to twelve. Currently, Chanticleer contains twelve men including two basses, one
baritoneBaritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
, three
tenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
s, and six
countertenorA countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or more rarely the normal or modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
s (three
altoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high", that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence, for...
s and three
sopranosA sopranist is a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto vocal production. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor...
).
Discography
In May 2007, Chanticleer released "
And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass" (Warner Classics) a new mass written by five contemporary
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
s. Israeli-born composer
Shulamit RanShulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony won her the Pulitzer Prize...
wrote the
CredoA credo is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed.The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the mass.-History:After the formulation of the...
to the Hebrew text "Ani Ma'amin"; US composer Douglas Cuomo contributed the
KyrieKýrie is from the Greek word κύριε , the vocative case of κύριος , meaning O Lord. It is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called Kýrie, eléison which is Greek for Lord, have mercy....
;
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
-American composer
Kamran Ince-His life so far:Kamran İnce was born in Glendive, Montana, but at six moved with his family to Turkey. He entered the Ankara Conservatory at the age of ten, where he began studying cello and piano, and he took composition lessons with İlhan Baran...
composed the
Gloria-In Christian liturgy and music:*Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the main doxology of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Mass**Gloria , a musical setting of the doxology by Antonio Vivaldi**Gloria , a composition written in 1959 by Francis Poulenc...
section to a
sufiSufism or ' , also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ' , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals...
text; English composer
Ivan MoodyIvan Moody, British composer, was born in London in 1964, and studied composition with Brian Dennis at London University, William Brooks at York University and privately with John Tavener. He also studied Orthodox theology at the University of Joensuu, Finland...
composed the
SanctusThe Sanctus is an important hymn of Christian liturgy, forming part of the ordinary of the mass.In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...
; and
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
composer
Michael McGlynnMichael McGlynn is an Irish composer.- Career :In 1987 he founded the Irish choral group Anúna. Anúna have released nine albums, almost exclusively featuring his arrangements and original works. "Deep Dead Blue" was nominated for a Classical Brit Award in 2000 and went top 5 in the UK Classical...
(director of
AnúnaAnúna is an Irish choral group. In 1987 Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded An Uaithne, a name which describes the three ancient types of Celtic music, Suantraí , Geantraí and Goltraí . One of the group's stated aims is to explore and redefine this music . An Uaithne became Anúna in 1991...
) composed the
Agnus DeiAgnus Dei is a Latin term meaning Lamb of God, and was originally used to refer to Jesus Christ in his role of the perfect sacrificial offering that atones for the sins of humanity in Christian theology, harkening back to ancient Jewish Temple sacrifices...
. The Mass was
premiereA premiere is generally "a first performance." This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media attention...
d in performance at the
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and was followed by six performances throughout the Bay Area.
On 16 October 2007, Chanticleer released "
Let it Snow," the group's 29th recording. A portion of the album is accompanied by orchestra and/or
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big bands evolved with the times and continue to today. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and...
; as such, the album brings a new sound to Chanticleer's almost exclusively
a cappellaA cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style...
repertoire.
Current singers
(list taken from
http://www.chanticleer.org/about_singers.cfm)
- Eric Alatorre (Bass)
- Brian Hinman (Tenor)
- Dylan Hostetter (Countertenor, soprano pitch)
- Gabe Lewis-O'Connor (Bass)
- Michael McNeil (Countertenor, soprano pitch)
- Ben Jones (Tenor)
- Gregory Peebles (Countertenor, soprano pitch)
- Alan Reinhardt (Countertenor, alto pitch)
- Cortez Mitchell (Countertenor, alto pitch)
- Adam Ward (Countertenor, alto pitch)
- Matthew Curtis (Tenor)
- Jace Wittig (Baritone, Assistant Music Director)
Notable past members
See the complete list of current and past singers.
- Matt Alber
- Frank Albinder
Frank Scott Albinder is an internationally acclaimed conductor of male choral music. A former director of Chanticleer, Albinder currently conducts the Washington Men's Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble, and the Virginia Glee Club, and is president of Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, Inc., a national...
, designed the concept and chose the repertoire for Chanticleer's Grammy Award winning album Colors of Love.
- Terry Barber
Terry Barber is an American singer. He is the lead vocalist for "Adiemus Vocalise", a past member of the Grammy-winning group Chanticleer, and has recorded several tracks for the Buddha Bar series including the club hit, "The World Is A Stage"....
- Jesse Antin, founder of the men's ensemble Clerestory
- John Bischoff, bass
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second F below middle C to the E above middle C . Its tessitura, or...
singer for Clerestory
- Kevin Baum, tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
singer for Clerestory
- Chris Fritzsche, soprano
A sopranist is a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto vocal production. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor...
singer for Clerestory
- Clifton Massey, alto
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or more rarely the normal or modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
singer for Clerestory
- Tom Hart, bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass that shares certain qualities with the baritone voice type.The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende Holländer, Wotan/Der Wanderer in the Ring Cycle and...
singer for Clerestory
- Kevin Freeman
- Neal Rogers
- Randall Wong
- Steven Ricards
- Ted Bakkila
- Mark Keller
- Matthew Oltman (Current Chanticleer Music Director)
- Joseph Jennings (Former Chanticleer Music Director and Artistic Director, Current Artistic Advisor)
Awards and honors
In 2000, Joseph Jennings (Artistic Director) and Chanticleer won a
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
for Best Small Ensemble Performance for their work
Colors of Love — Works of ThomasAugusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...
, StuckySteven Stucky is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he studied music in the public schools and, privately, viola with Herbert Preston, conducting with Leo Scheer, and...
, TavenerSir John Tavener is a British composer,knighted in 2000 for his services to music.- Biography :Tavener was born on 28 January 1944 in Wembley, London, England, and is a direct descendant of the 16th century composer John Taverner...
and RandsBernard Rands is a composer of contemporary classical music.Rands studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna in Darmstadt, Germany, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan, Italy.He held residencies...
.
In November 2007, whilst in its 30th Anniversary Season, Chanticleer was named Musical America's 2008 Ensemble of the year. This marks the first time a vocal ensemble has received this award. Additionally, on October 9, 2008, Chanticleer became the first vocal ensemble to be inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, Ohio.