CHANTICLEER TOPS AWARD-WINNING 30TH-ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH 17 SUMMER CONCERTS, INCLUDING RETURNS TO RAVINIA (JULY 29) AND TANGLEWOOD (JULY 31), AND A TOUR OF TWELVE EUROPEAN FESTIVALS (AUG 12 – 31) THAT FEATURES PERFORMANCES IN LATVIA AND POLAND AS WELL AS SIX CONCERTS IN FRANCE

“The world’s reigning male chorus.” – New Yorker

SAN FRANCISCO – July 21, 2008 – The Grammy-winning twelve-male vocal ensemble Chanticleer will give 17 concerts this summer in the U.S. and Europe, topping a remarkable 30th-anniversary season that brought the group extensive critical acclaim and a number of prestigious awards.

In December, Chanticleer received the 2008 Musical America Award for Ensemble of the Year. The award was especially notable because it marked the first time a vocal ensemble had been so recognized. In May, Chanticleer’s long-time Music Director, Joseph Jennings, was recognized as one of ASCAP’s four 2008 Concert Music Honorees. In June, Chanticleer was honored at the National Performing Arts Conference in Denver with two awards: the inaugural Dale Warland Commissioning Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award for the 2006-07 season.

Chanticleer’s busy summer touring schedule begins with five concerts in the U.S., including performances at two of America’s pre-eminent music festivals: the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL (July 29) and the Tanglewood Festival in Lenox, MA (July 31). The Shanghai Quartet will join Chanticleer for both concerts, performing Chen Yi’s From the Path of Beauty. Commissioned by Chanticleer and the Shanghai Quartet for their respective 30th and 25th anniversaries, the work is a musical portrait of beauty in Chinese arts, ranging from ancient totems and delicate figurines to poetry and calligraphy, and from dance to music. From the Path of Beauty was given its world premiere on March 13 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, prompting an enthusiastic review in the San Francisco Chronicle that ran under the headline “Chen Yi woos with a seductive and distinctive Beauty.” The Los Angeles Times called the work “original and fascinating.”

Following performances at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in upstate New York (Aug 1) and Cain Park in Cleveland Heights (August 3), Chanticleer crosses the Atlantic for a tour of twelve European summer festivals that begins in Jurmala, Latvia on August 12. Highlights of the tour include performances in Bad Oldesloe (August 14) and Meldorf (August 15), Germany, six concerts in France (August 17 – 24), and three concerts in Poland (August 26 – 29). Chanticleer has long been one of America’s busiest touring ensembles, giving more than 100 concerts in the U.S. this season alone, but in recent years its profile in Europe has risen dramatically, with enthusiastically-received performances in Vienna’s famed Musikverein and a debut last summer at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival.

Complete tour details follow. Additional information is available at Chanticleer’s website: www.chanticleer.org.

Press Contact: Jon Finck and Brenda Hughes, Encore Communications
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