CHANTICLEER ANNOUNCES WINNER OF STUDENT COMPOSITION COMPETITION - KIEUN STEVE KIM

SANCTUS PREMIERES AT YOUTH CHORAL FESTIVAL OCT. 24 IN SAN FRANCISCO FEATURING 200 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL SINGERS AND CHANTICLEER

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20, 2008 - Chanticleer general director Christine Bullin today announced the winner of Chanticleer’s biennial Student Composition Competition, Kieun Steve Kim. The competition is designed to encourage composition students to write quality works for high school-level a capella choirs. Kim’s work, Sanctus, will receive its premiere at Chanticleer’s 8th annual Youth Choral Festival in San Francisco at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 pm.

Sanctus features South American rhythms and a liturgical Latin text. In his compositions Kim endeavors to fuse older music forms and text with a contemporary voice. This work requires the singers to sound like modern instruments such as electric guitars and drums.

The native Korean composer is a two-time Grand Prize recipient of the Christian Times' Gospel Music Competition. He was the finalist in the 17th Christian Broadcasting Station's New Gospel Songs Competition and has since produced his debut CD, My God, sponsored by Joon Records. Kim has received commissions from World Vision and Christian artist Son Young Jin. He is currently a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying composition with David Garner.

"I'm still amazed of that my piece was selected by Chanticleer," reflects Kim. "I am looking forward to the high school mass-choir performance of Sanctus. Working in a high school environment as an assistant conductor at San Francisco School of the Arts, I know that the students love to sing choral music and are hungry for more.”

Artistic advisor Joseph Jennings and all members of Chanticleer participate in the Youth Choral Festival, a day-long, free event for two hundred Northern California high school students. The annual Festival gives the students an opportunity to learn from, and personally connect with, the internationally recognized ensemble, members of which are often accorded “rock star” status by young singers.

During the non-competitive Festival all of the choirs rehearse the works they will perform that night en masse with Jennings. Each choir performs their own songs for the group and then is matched with two members of Chanticleer for an intensive coaching session. The day culminates in a public concert including performances by Chanticleer.

Invited and participating schools this year are Davis High School, Menlo Upper School (Atherton), San Francisco School of the Arts, Acalanes High School (Lafayette), Analy High School (Sebastapol) and Mt. Eden High School (Hayward).

Ben Johns, Chanticleer’s education director, said, “these are the days I look forward to most. The energy of the enthusiastic high school singer is unmatched in the professional music world. But the best thing, by far, is to watch students exceed their expectations.”

The evening performance is free and open to the public, but seating is very limited and reservations are required. Please contact Chanticleer at 415-252-8589, or info@chanticleer.org for reservations and additional information. The performance will be held on Oct. 24, 2008 at 7:30 pm in the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street at Geary Street, San Francisco.

A multi-Grammy® Award-winning men’s choral ensemble, with more than 30 recordings to date, Chanticleer has an impressive repertory and unique arrangements that span the masterworks of Gregorian Chant and the Renaissance to contemporary commissioned works by some of the world’s leading composers.

Chanticleer annually presents more than 100 concerts in cities throughout the United States and in the world’s leading musical capitals at the finest venues, festivals and performing arts centers. The New Yorker proclaimed Chanticleer as “the world’s reigning male chorus” and one of Vienna’s leading papers, Die Presse wrote "Chanticleer is peerless in many ways - with superb performing style, perfect intonation, and infectious joy in making music."

Chanticleer launched its 31^st season in August with the release on Warner Classics of Mission Road, a CD-plus-DVD recording, exploring the music of California’s vibrant mission period. The 2008/09 Bay Area home concert season begins September 25 with the program Wondrous Free. Additional information and the complete concert schedule are available at Chanticleer’s website: www.chanticleer.org.

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