Chanticleer () is an American male classical vocal ensemble based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, 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 mus ...

, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. Its name is derived from the " clear singing rooster" in Chaucer's ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

''. The ensemble has made award-winning recordings.

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

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in 1997. As a graduate student of

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

, Botto found that much of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

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, one

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

, three

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

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 (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 four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

s and three sopranos). 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 (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 (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, Steven Stucky,

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

and Bernard Rands. * 2000 – ''Magnificat'', works by Josquin Desprez, Giovanni Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria, John Taverner, William Cornysh, Vasily Polikarpovich Titov and

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

* 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, Joseph Jennings, Victoria,

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...

, Jan Gilbert, Patricia Van Ness, Nectarie Vlahul, Sarah Hopkins, Giacinto Scelsi 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 def ...

s. Israeli-born composer Shulamit Ran wrote the Credo to the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

text "Ani Ma'amin"; US composer Douglas Cuomo contributed the

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

; Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince composed the Gloria section to a

sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

text; English composer Ivan Moody composed the Sanctus; and Irish composer Michael McGlynn (director of Anúna) composed the Agnus Dei. The Mass was

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d in performance at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and was followed by six performances throughout the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

.''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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 and ...

; as such, the album brings a new sound to Chanticleer's almost exclusively

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

repertoire.

Notable past members

* Frank Albinder (baritone), designed the concept and chose the repertoire for Chanticleer's Grammy Award-winning album ''Colors of Love'' * Philip Wilder * Matt Alber * Terry Barber

Awards and honors

Joseph Jennings (as artistic director) and Chanticleer won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

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 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

References

External links

Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chanticleer A cappella musical groups 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