CHANTICLEER CELEBRATES ITS 30TH-ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH LET IT SNOW, AN ALBUM OF POPULAR HOLIDAY FAVORITES

NEW RECORDING FEATURES GLORIOUS UNACCOMPANIED PERFORMANCES BY GRAMMY-WINNING ENSEMBLE AS WELL AS FESTIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE GROUP WITH THE CHANTICLEER HOLIDAY ORCHESTRA

LET IT SNOW IS AVAILABLE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16 ON RHINO/WARNER CLASSICS,WEEKS BEFORE CHANTICLEER’S ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOUR

ACROSS AMERICA

“No one does a better choral Christmas than the virtuoso male voices of Chanticleer.” – The New Yorker

Chanticleer’s annual tours across America during the holiday season are both wildly popular and highly acclaimed, with one critic for the New York Sun calling its December performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art “one of New York’s best Christmas traditions – right up there with Santa Claus at Macy’s”. What better way, then, for the multiple Grammy Award-winning ensemble to celebrate its 30th anniversary season than with the release of LET IT SNOW, an album featuring everyone’s holiday favorites in irresistible new arrangements. The CD, Chanticleer’s 31st recording to date, will be released on Tuesday, October 16 on the Rhino/Warner Classics label.

There’s something for everyone on LET IT SNOW: it swings, it inspires, it entertains, and it moves the listener with moments of transfixing beauty – a quality that has earned Chanticleer its reputation as “the world’s reigning male chorus” (The New Yorker). The twelve tracks, which comprise both a cappella performances and festive “jazz band” arrangements for the group and the Chanticleer Holiday Orchestra, include such beloved classics as “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 Jennings. Clare Fischer, Gene Puerling, Buryl Red, Bill Finegan and Robert (Bob) Freedman provide additional arrangements. Appealingly retro cover art and sumptuous recorded sound – captured at the renowned Skywalker Sound in Marin County – make LET IT SNOW a sure bet for any holiday shopping list.

Joseph Jennings offers LET IT SNOW to Chanticleer’s fans and new listeners as a gift to “bring back many happy memories and soothe the painful ones.” As Jennings reminds us, “The sight of twinkling lights and falling snow, the smells of cookies baking and fresh-cut trees all bring back special memories. But what would Christmas be without Christmas music, which brings its own feelings and memories?”

A complete track list for LET IT SNOW and a list of Chanticleer’s 2007 holiday tour dates follow. Additional information, including a video interview with Joseph Jennings about the new album and performances by Chanticleer of the title track and other selections, is available at www.chanticleer.org.

Chanticleer’s three previous Christmas recordings are all especially popular, as is the DVD of the group’s 2002 Christmas concert at New York’s Metropolitan Museum: the DVD has been repeatedly broadcast nationally on public television. In the past two seasons Chanticleer has sung Christmas songs on NBC’sToday Show.

One of the group’s most beloved tour programs, “A Chanticleer Christmas,” returns in late November and will feature the group in 25 performances in twelve cities across the country from November 23 to December 23. With its beautiful blend of traditional carols, medieval and Renaissance sacred works, popular favorites (including some on LET IT SNOW) and moving spirituals, the program has become a holiday classic from coast to coast. Highlights include performances in Boston’s Jordan Hall (Nov. 25), 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). Complete tour details are below.

Chanticleer – Track list for LET IT SNOW

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn

2. The Christmas Song Mel Torme/Robert Wells

3. Ding Dong! Merrily On High Thoinot Arbeau

4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear Edmond Sears/Richard Storrs Willis

5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Feliz Navidad English Traditional/Jose Feliciano

6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane

7. Ave Maria Franz Schubert

8. Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber

9. Sweeter Still Eric William Barnum

10. O Holy Night Adolphe Adam/John Sullivan Dwight

11. O Come, All Ye Faithful Traditional

12. Holiday Cheer Buryl Red/Joseph Joubert

Chanticleer’s 2007 holiday tour

Nov 23 Palm Desert, CA (St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, time TBA)

Nov 25 Boston, MA (Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 3 p.m.)

Nov 27 Platteville, WI (Center for the Arts TBA)

Nov 28 Chicago, IL (Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, TBA

Nov 29 Chicago, IL (Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, TBA)

Nov 30 St. Louis, MO (Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, 8 p.m.)

Dec 02 New York, NY (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Dec 04 New York, NY (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.)

Dec 05 New York, NY (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.)

Dec 10 Berkeley, CA (First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 8 p.m.)

Dec 11 Stanford, CA (Memorial Church, 8 p.m.)

Dec 12 Stanford, CA (Memorial Church, 8 p.m.)

Dec 14 Petaluma, CA (St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 6 p.m.)

Dec 14 Petaluma, CA (St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 8:30 p.m.)

Dec 15 San Francisco, CA (St. Ignatius Church, 8 p.m.)

Dec 16 Davis, CA (Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts 3 p.m.)

Dec 18 Los Angeles, CA (Walt Disney Concert Hall, 8 p.m.)

Dec 20 Santa Clara, CA (Mission Santa Clara, 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.)

Dec 21 Carmel, CA (Carmel Mission Basilica, 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.)

Dec 22 Fremont, CA (Mission San José, 3 p.m.)

Dec 23 San Francisco, CA (St. Ignatius Church, 8 p.m.)