Chanticleer () is a full-time male classical vocal
ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus
* ''En ...
based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California, founded in 1978. It is known for its interpretations of
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...
, for which they were founded, but also a wide repertoire of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
and
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...
. Its name is derived from the "
clear singing rooster" in Chaucer's ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
''.
The ensemble has made award-winning recordings.
History
Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor
Louis Botto Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS Louis, HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated te ...
,
who sang with the group until 1989, and served as Artistic Director until his death from
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in 1997.
As a graduate student of
musicology
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
, Botto found that much of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
and
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...
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.
Originally, the group contained ten singers, but its size has varied from eight to twelve. Currently, Chanticleer comprises twelve men, including two
basses
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass ...
, one
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
, three
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
s, and six
countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...
s (three
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
s and three
sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
).
The original members included Jim Armington (tenor), Ted Bakkila (baritone), Rob Bell (countertenor), Louis Botto (who sang alto as well as tenor), Sanford Dole (tenor), Kevin Freeman (bass), Tom Hart (baritone), Jonathan Klein (baritone), Neal Rogers (tenor), Tim Gibler (bass), Randall Wong (countertenor), and Doug Wyatt (bass). However, only ten of the singers were available to go on tour.
When the ensemble first became full-time in 1991, its members included Eric Alatorre (bass and longest-standing member as of his retirement after the 2018–2019 season),
Frank Albinder
Frank Scott Albinder is a conductor of male choral music. A former director of Chanticleer (ensemble), Chanticleer, Albinder currently conducts the Washington Men's Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble, and the Virginia Glee Club, and is president of I ...
(baritone), Kevin Baum (tenor), Mark Daniel (tenor), Kenneth Fitch (countertenor), Jonathan Goodman (tenor), Tim Gibler (bass and last member of the original ensemble), Joseph Jennings (countertenor and Music Director), Chad Runyon (baritone), Foster Sommerlad (countertenor), Matthew Thompson (tenor), and
Philip Wilder
Philip Wilder (born 1968) is an American counter-tenor and business manager best known for his recording and concert career with the a cappella ensemble Chanticleer.
Life and career
Philip Wilder is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, t ...
(countertenor).
Discography
* 1988 – ''The Anniversary Album'', 1978–1988
* 1990 – ''Our Heart's Joy: A Chanticleer Christmas'' (remastered in 2004)
* 1991 – ''Psallite! A Renaissance Christmas''
* 1992 – Josquin: Missa Mater Patris; Agricola: Magnificat and motets
* 1993 – ''Byrd: Missa In Tempore Paschali''
* 1993 – Cristóbal de Morales: Missa Mille Regretz and motets
* 1993 – ''Mysteria: Gregorian Chants''
* 1994 – ''Where the Sun Will Never Go Down''
* 1994 – ''Out of This World''
* 1994 – Palestrina: Missa pro defunctis; motets
* 1994 – ''Mexican Baroque''
* 1994 – ''Our Heart's Joy / A Chanticleer Christmas''
* 1995 – ''Sing We Christmas''
* 1996 – ''Old-fashioned Christmas''
* 1996 – ''Lost in the Stars''
* 1998 – ''Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection''
* 1998 – ''Byrd: Music for a Hidden Chapel''
* 1997 – ''Reflections''
* 1998 – Jerusalem: ''Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe'', 1764
* 1999 – ''The Music of''
* 1999 – ''
Colors of Love'', works by
Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and professor.
Biography
Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood; Jacob Druckman at Yale University; Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University ...
,
Steven Stucky
Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.
Life and career
Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...
,
John Tavener and
Bernard Rands.
* 2000 – ''Magnificat'',
works by
Josquin Desprez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
,
Giovanni Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading ...
,
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Ren ...
,
John Taverner
John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...
,
William Cornysh,
Vasily Polikarpovich Titov
Vasily Polikarpovich Titov (russian: Василий Поликарпович Титов; c. 1650 – c. 1715) was a Russian composer, one of the foremost exponents of the so-called Moscow Baroque. Although Titov's works are not widely known today, ...
and
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
* 2001 – ''Glory to Christmas''
* 2001 – ''Christmas with Chanticleer''
* 2002 – John Tavener: ''Lamentations and Praises''
* 2002 – ''Our American Journey''
* 2003 – ''Evening Prayer: Purcell Anthems and Sacred Songs''
* 2003 – ''A Portrait''
* 2004 – ''How Sweet the Sound: Spirituals and Traditional Gospel Music'',
arrangements by Joseph Jennings
* 2004 – ''Music for a Hidden Chapel''
* 2005 – ''Sound in Spirit'',
works by
Carlos Rafael Rivera
Carlos Rafael Rivera (born 18 August, 1970) is an American composer based out of Guatemala. In 2014, his music score for the movie '' A Walk Among the Tombstones'' advanced for Oscar in the Best Original Score category. He has won an Emmy Awar ...
, Joseph Jennings, Victoria,
Alfonso X of Castile,
Jan Gilbert
Jan Gilbert (born August 6, 1946) is an American composer, cellist, and professor of music.
Life and career
Janet Monteith Gilbert was born in New York City, NY. She studied cello at the Naples Conservatory and was granted her bachelor of arts in ...
,
Patricia Van Ness
Patricia Van Ness (born 1951) is an American composer living in Saco, Maine, U.S.A. She is also the Staff Composer for First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Van Ness's work draws upon elements of medieval and Renaissance music. She primarily ...
, Nectarie Vlahul, Sarah Hopkins,
Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French.
He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...
and
Jackson Hill
* 2007 – ''And on Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass''
* 2007 – ''Let it Snow''
* 2008 – ''Mission Road''
* 2009 – ''I Have Had Singing: A Chanticleer Portrait''
* 2010 – ''A Chanticleer Christmas''
* 2011 – ''Our Favorite Carols''
* 2011 – ''Between Two Wars''
* 2011 – ''Chanticleer Takes You Out of this World!''
* 2011 – ''For Thy Soul's Salvation''
* 2011 – Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur: ''Annunciation''
* 2011 – ''Ludus Paschalis: Resurrection Play of Tours''
* 2011 – ''My Chanticleer: A Collection for Chanticleer''
* 2011 – ''The Boy Whose Father was God''
* 2011 – ''With a Poet's Eye''
* 2012 – ''Love Story''
* 2012 – ''By Request''
* 2013 – ''The Siren's Call''
* 2013 – ''Someone New''
* 2014 – ''She Said/He Said''
* 2015 – ''Over the Moon''
* 2017 – ''Heart of a Soldier''
* 2018 – ''Then and There, Here and Now''
* 2020 – ''Chanticleer Sings Christmas''
In May 2007, Chanticleer released "''And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass''" (Warner Classics) a new mass written by five contemporary
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
s. Israeli-born composer
Shulamit Ran
Shulamit Ran ( he, שולמית רן; born October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her th ...
wrote the
Credo to the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
text "Ani Ma'amin"; US composer
Douglas Cuomo contributed the
Kyrie; Turkish-American composer
Kamran Ince
Kamran N. Ince (spelled İnce in Turkish, born May 6, 1960) is a Turkish-American composer. He is the winner of many prestigious awards, including a Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, and various others. His wo ...
composed the
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
section to a
sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
text; English composer
Ivan Moody composed the
Sanctus
The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition.
In Western Christianity, the ...
; and Irish composer
Michael McGlynn
Michael McGlynn (born 11 May 1964) is an Irish composer, producer, director, and founder of the vocal ensemble Anúna.
Career
McGlynn was born in Dublin and attended Coláiste na Rinne and Blackrock College. He was a student of Music and Eng ...
(director of
Anúna) composed the
Agnus Dei
is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
. The Mass was
premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
d in performance at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and was followed by six performances throughout the
San Francisco Bay area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
.
['']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' has more on the repertoir
here
.
On October 16, 2007, Chanticleer released "''Let it Snow,''" the group's 29th recording. A portion of the album is accompanied by orchestra and/or
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
; as such, the album brings a new sound to Chanticleer's almost exclusively
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
repertoire.
Notable past members
*
Frank Albinder
Frank Scott Albinder is a conductor of male choral music. A former director of Chanticleer (ensemble), Chanticleer, Albinder currently conducts the Washington Men's Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble, and the Virginia Glee Club, and is president of I ...
(baritone), designed the concept and chose the repertoire for Chanticleer's Grammy Award-winning album ''Colors of Love''
*
Philip Wilder
Philip Wilder (born 1968) is an American counter-tenor and business manager best known for his recording and concert career with the a cappella ensemble Chanticleer.
Life and career
Philip Wilder is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, t ...
*
Matt Alber
Matt Alber (born February 6, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and youth advocate based in Portland, Oregon.
Early life
Alber was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He began singing as a child and stu ...
*
Terry Barber
Terry Barber is an American countertenor with his own tours and recordings, many of which have been considered for Grammy nomination. He is additionally known for the creation of the non-profit organization Artists for a Cause.
Career
Barber has ...
Awards and honors
Joseph Jennings (as artistic director) and Chanticleer won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for Best Small Ensemble Performance for their 1999 recording ''
Colors of Love''.
Chanticleer was awarded two Grammy Awards, in categories Best Small Ensemble Performance and Best Classical Contemporary Composition, their 2002 recording of Taverner's ''Lamentations and Praises''. Their 2003 recording ''Our American Journey'' was nominated for a Grammy a year later.
In November 2007, 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
The American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a non-profit organization celebrating past and present individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to classical music—"people who have contributed to American musi ...
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
References
External links
Official site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanticleer
Early music choirs
Grammy Award winners
Choirs in the San Francisco Bay Area
Musical groups from San Francisco
Musical groups established in 1978
1978 establishments in California