CHANTICLEER CELEBRATES 30th ANNIVERSARY IN 2007-08 SEASON, WITH MORE THAN 100 CONCERTS ACROSS 22 STATES AND EIGHT EUROPEAN CITIES INCLUDING RETURN TO VIENNA’S WORLD-RENOWNED MUSIKVEREIN

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES IN CHICAGO AND AT NEW YORK’S METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, AS WELL AS CONCERTS AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL IN LOS ANGELES, JORDAN HALL IN BOSTON AND KENNEDY CENTER IN WASHINGTON, DC; PLUS, RHINO/WARNER CLASSICS WILL RELEASE LET IT SNOW, CHANTICLEER’S NEW ALBUM OF POPULAR HOLIDAY FAVORITES

SEASON-OPENING CONCERT ON SEPTEMBER 15, CHANTICLEER’S DEBUT IN SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC’S BRAND NEW CONCERT HALL, WILL FEATURE TWO WORLD PREMIERES

 “They have great unity and discipline… Their voices blend nicely, with the highest ones refusing to dominate, although they could. They have exemplary intonation, rarely veering off pitch in the course of an evening. They could give many an ensemble — vocal or instrumental — a lesson in intonation… they make up one, choral voice. I could go on about Chanticleer particulars, especially technical ones. But the important thing is the feeling they give forth, the musicality they embody. It's hard to be unhappy around Chanticleer.”

– The New York Sun

San Francisco, CA…August 20, 2007 – Called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by the New Yorker, the multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer will give more than 100 concerts in the 2007-08 season, celebrating its 30th anniversary with performances of a wide range of repertoire – from chant and Renaissance polyphony to jazz and gospel standards and innovative contemporary fare – in 22 States across the U.S. and on an eight-city European tour. In addition to its numerous live performances, Chanticleer will also be heard this season on a new album featuring popular holiday favorites: Let It Snow, the group’s thirty-first recording to date, will be released by Warner Classics on October 2.

Chanticleer launches its 30th anniversary season on September 15 with its debut in the brand new San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall, the first of 31 concerts the group will give at home in their Bay Area season. The program, “My Spirit Sang All Day,” features a menu of soul-enriching works that spans centuries – from early music by Byrd and Palestrina to Romantic music by nineteenth- and twentieth- century composers such as Poulenc, Barber and Mahler; newly-commissioned works; and exquisite arrangements of folk and popular songs and spirituals. Chanticleer will give world-premiere performances of both Janika Vandervelde’s All Things Resounding, commissioned by the Jerome Foundation in memory of Maud Hill Schroll, and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Jalapeño Blues, featuring the poetry of the late Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., on this program. “My Spirit Sang All Day” will be repeated at the San Francisco Conservatory Concert Hall on September 22 and 23 and at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at U.C. Davis on September 16 – it will also be Chanticleer’s touring program this season.

One of the group’s most beloved programs, “A Chanticleer Christmas,” returns in late November and will feature 25 performances in twelve cities across the country. With its beautiful blend of traditional carols, medieval and Renaissance sacred works, and moving spirituals, the program has become a holiday classic from coast to coast. Following a performance in Palm Desert, CA (Nov. 23), the group heads east for performances in Boston’s Jordan Hall (Nov. 25); Platteville, WI (Nov. 27); Chicago (Nov. 28 and 29); the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis (Nov. 30); and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (six concerts Dec. 2, 4 and 5).  A series of performances follows on the West Coast, beginning in Berkeley, CA (Dec. 8) and featuring two concerts in San Francisco (Dec. 15 and 23), two concerts at Stanford University’s Memorial Church (Dec. 11 and 12) and a return to Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (Dec. 18).

But even before Chanticleer heads out for its Christmas tour, music lovers across the country can rejoice at the October release of Let It Snow, the first recording featuring Chanticleer singing popular holiday fare.  Among the twelve tracks, which feature both a cappella performances as well as festive arrangements for the group and the Chanticleer Holiday Orchestra, are:  “The Christmas Song,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Feliz Navidad,” Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” arranged by Chanticleer’s Music Director, Joseph H. Jennings, and “O, Holy Night,” also arranged by Mr. Jennings.

Chanticleer’s three previous Christmas recordings have long been especially popular, as has the DVD of the 2002 Christmas concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – the DVD has been repeatedly broadcast nationally on public television.  In the past two seasons Chanticleer sang Christmas songs on NBC’s popular morning television program “Today.”  Paying tribute to Chanticleer’s winning way with holiday fare, a critic for the New York Sun observed, “It has become one of New York’s best Christmas traditions – right up there with Santa Claus at Macy’s.”  A writer for the New Yorker summed it up succinctly:  “No one does a better choral Christmas than the virtuoso male voices of Chanticleer.”

Chanticleer returns to Europe early in 2008 for an eight-city tour beginning in Paris, France on January 30, and featuring performances in Luxembourg (Jan. 31); Bruges, Belgium (Feb. 1); Innsbruck, Austria (Feb. 3), Vienna’s famed Musikverein (Feb. 5); Prague, Czech Republic (Feb. 7); Budapest, Hungary (Feb. 9); and Vilnius, Lithuania (Feb. 11). Chanticleer’s increasing popularity in Europe was evidenced by its several sold-out performances during a summer 2007 tour of European music festivals, including its debut at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Following the group’s debut in early 2006 at Vienna’s Musikverein, Die Presse captured the excitement of the occasion in a rave review that ran under the headline “The Spotless Dozen”:     

“A concert by Chanticleer, the super-clean dozen from San Francisco, was one of the rarest and greatest days in the concert calendar for fans of a cappella singing, in fact, for the worshipful of every persuasion…Chanticleer is peerless in many ways – with superb performing style, perfect intonation, perceptive chamber music ensemble and, especially, infectious joy in making music.  Whether the twelve were singing a Palestrina Jubilate Deo in triple chorus, Clément Jannequin’s ‘Song of the Birds’ complete with all manner of avian chirps, twittering and trills, or – leaping ahead four centuries – whispering, whistling and exhaling to conjure up a breathtaking vocal landscape by Chen Yi, their performance in the Goldener Saal of the Musikverein always combined the greatest precision with the expression of relaxed pleasure in singing. The dozen became a baker’s dozen when Chanticleer’s music director and brilliant arranger Joseph Jennings came onstage to join his group for an encore, sending the audience completely over the top. Please come back soon!”

Chanticleer returns to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on March 13 to give the world premiere of From the Path of Beauty, by the distinguished composer Chen Yi (Chanticleer’s former Composer in Residence). The renowned Shanghai Quartet will join Chanticleer for this remarkable piece, written in memory of San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Lau and Deputy Mayor Peter Henschel and in celebration of the friendship between Sister Cities San Francisco and Shanghai. The composer says of her new work: “The music will bring us through the history of beauty in Chinese arts…It will be deep in expression and rich in color – lyrical yet dramatic.” A second performance at the Conservatory on March 16 will feature a special appearance by the Crystal Children’s Choir. Additional performances will be given in Berkeley (Mar. 14) and Santa Clara (Mar. 15), as well as in New York City in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Apr 9).

From May 15 – May 29 Chanticleer will travel the “Mission road” with “El Camino Real,” a program of Mission-era music to be performed in nine California Missions (locations and dates follow below). This concert series is part of American Masterpieces – California, a program supported by the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Western States Arts Federation. Chanticleer’s longstanding affection for the California Missions goes back to its debut 30 years ago in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores.

Aside from maintaining one of the busiest touring schedules in music, Chanticleer makes time for many ongoing educational initiatives and outreach programs designed to inspire young singers and develop their interest in choral music. With the help of individual contributions and foundation and corporate support, the group conducts artist residencies in schools, “Singing in the Schools” programs and “Chanticleer Youth Choral Festivals.”  In addition to extensive Bay Area educational activities, the ensemble conducts master classes while on tour.

Previous Season Highlights

Though widely acclaimed for the extraordinary breadth of its repertoire, Chanticleer’s 2006-07 season paid special tribute to the music of our own time.  This season of new music, which followed a “Letter of Distinction” the group received from the American Music Center in May 2006 for its commitment to commissioning new works and supporting contemporary composers, began with a program titled “Quotations” which featured the world premiere of Argentine-American composer Ezequiel Viñao’s The Wanderer, and works by Paul Schoenfield, Carlos Sánchez Gutiérrez, Robert Kyr, Arthur Jarvinen and Steven Stucky. The Washington Post wrote: “Music Director Joseph Jennings and the chorus made fine advocates for them all, easily handling some hair-raising technical challenges and going to the essence of each piece.”

At the heart of Chanticleer’s 2006-07 season were the performances and recording of And On Earth, Peace – A Chanticleer Mass.  The work features individual mass movements written by five dynamic composers from different musical and cultural backgrounds: Israeli-American composer Shulamit Ran; TV and film composer Douglas J. Cuomo; Turkish-American Kamran Ince; UK-born Ivan Moody – whose music is inspired by the Greek Orthodox tradition; and Irish folk- and medieval-influenced composer Michael McGlynn. The work received its first performance in the Temple of Dendur at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 26, and a West Coast premiere in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral on May 18. Reviewing the latter, the San Francisco Chronicle called the performance “sumptuous,” noting, “What could be more fitting for these fractious times, if only in a spirit of optimism, than a diverse but wholly ecumenical Mass setting?”  Rhino/Warner Classics’ recording of the work ranked among the top five of Billboard’s classical bestsellers chart just two weeks after the album’s release and it remains on the chart as of mid-August.  The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times each ran major feature stories about Chanticleer’s Mass, the former calling the recording “beautiful and deeply moving.”

Additional information about Chanticleer

Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989 and served as its artistic director until his death in 1997. In 1999, Christine Bullin joined Chanticleer as President & General Director. Music Director Joseph Jennings joined the ensemble as a countertenor in 1983, and shortly thereafter assumed his current title. A prolific composer and arranger, Mr. Jennings has provided the group with some of its most popular repertoire, most notably spirituals, gospel music and jazz standards.  In June 2007, Chorus America gave Mr. Jennings the prestigious Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art.

A list of Chanticleer’s concert dates for the 2007-08 season can be found here.

Contact Glenn Petry (212) 625-2038

gpetry<at> 21cmediagroup.com

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