Chanticleer
Chanticleer may be the only independent full-time classical vocal ensemble in the United States. Since its inception in 1978, the group has developed an excellent reputation for its interpretation of music from many genres, and its bell-like sound has set a new ensemble standard.
Originally founded to sing Renaissance vocal repertoire, Chanticleer has toured worldwide and released dozens of recordings. While most of Chanticleer's work is done a cappella, the group has collaborated such unusual projects as a fully-staged opera, recordings of jazz standards with the Don Haas Trio, and performances with the unorthodox Japanese dancers Eiko and Koma. Its repertoire ranges from chant to twentieth century pop. In 1978, founder Louis Botto, a graduate student in musicology, was disturbed by the fact that sacred Renaissance vocal music was so rarely performed, so he formed a group to sing this neglected repertoire. Trying to hold to the male-only Renaissance tradition, Botto asked friends who sang with him in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and Grace Cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys to join the group. Rehearsals began, and the ensemble arranged a debut performance in San Francisco's historic Mission Dolores.
The works chosen for the debut included compositions by Renaissance composers whose music would become staples of the group's repertoire: Byrd, Ockeghem, Morley, Dufay, and Josquin. The members settled on the name Chanticleer in honor of the "clear-singing" rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which Charlie Erikson, one of the baritones, was reading at the time. While maintaining its basic repertoire of Renaissance music, Chanticleer also began experimenting with music of other genres. The number of singers varied and eventually settled at 12.
In 1980, the ensemble participated in the Festival of Masses in San Francisco. Robert Shaw was the festival's conductor that year, and after hearing Chanticleer's solo concert proclaimed it "one of the most beautiful musical experiences" of his life. A turning point in Chanticleer's history came when Joseph Jennings, a countertenor, joined the group in 1983. Other members soon recognized his exceptional vocal and interpretive abilities and asked him to become Chanticleer's first music director. Since he accepted that position, Jennings' startling vocal clarity and innovative arrangements have become hallmarks of the ensemble.
International early music audiences began to find out about Chanticleer after a 1984 performance at a large scholarly conference in Belgium. Chanticleer created its own label, Chanticleer Records, releasing a tenth-anniversary CD in 1988. Over the next six years, the ensemble released ten recordings on its private label. These CDs sold well at Chanticleer's concerts, and in 1994 Teldec Classics International signed Chanticleer to an exclusive recording contract. The group's recordings suddenly became available all over North America and abroad. By 1991, Chanticleer was financially able to make all 12 of its members full-time employees, allowing the group to tour more frequently and take on a wide variety of projects. Since then the ensemble has performed and recorded with the London Studio Orchestra, jazz legend George Shearing, and the New York Philharmonic. In 1994, the group presented a critically acclaimed, fully staged performance of Benjamin Britten's opera Curlew River. In 1997 Chanticleer recorded works by Mexican Baroque composers Manuel de Zumaya and Ignácio de Jerusalem with an orchestra of period instruments. It has commissioned works by many of the late twentieth century's foremost composers, including David Conte, Morton Gould, Bernard Rands, and Chen Yi (who served as Chanticleer's composer-in-residence from 1993 to 1996). In 1999, Chanticleer released a collection of these works on its CD Colors of Love, for which it received a Grammy Award. The group commissioned five composers from a variety of faith traditions to contribute movements to And on Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass, which the group premiered in 2007 and also recorded. In 2008, Chanticleer was the first vocal group to be inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, and was honored as Musical America's Ensemble of the Year.
© TiVo
Similar artists
-
-
Palestrina : Missa pro defunctis & Motets
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Warner Classics International on 30 Sep 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brumel and Prez: Missa Berzerette savoyenne
Classical - Released by Chanticleer Records on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass
Classical - Released by Rhino on 24 Apr 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Have Had Singing: A Chanticleer Portrait
Classical - Released by Chanticleer Records on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chanticleer sings Christmas
Christmas Music - Released by Warner Classics on 16 Oct 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sing We Christmas
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jan 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Chanticleer Christmas
Christmas Music - Released by Chanticleer Records on 14 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Then and There, Here and Now
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 12 Oct 2018
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Anthems & Sacred Songs
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Warner Classics International on 29 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas with Chanticleer & Dawn Upshaw
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Teldec on 31 Aug 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Then and There, Here and Now
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 12 Oct 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Our Favorite Carols (Live)
Christmas Music - Released by White Tie Records on 24 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Magnificat
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 5 May 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Psallite! A Renaissance Christmas
Chanticleer, Joseph H. Jennings
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Chanticleer Records on 3 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Wondrous Love - A Folk Song Collection
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 28 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reflections
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 26 Sep 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jerúsalem : Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe 1764 (DAW 50)
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Warner Classics International on 16 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trad : Where The Sun Will Never Go Down
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 3 Jun 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
For Thy Soul's Salvation - Chanticleer Live In Concert Series (Live)
Classical - Released by Chanticleer Records on 17 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo