CHANTICLEER WINS 2008 MUSICAL AMERICA AWARD FOR “ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR”

SAN FRANCISCO-BASED CHANTICLEER IS THE FIRST VOCAL ENSEMBLE RECOGNIZED BY MUSICAL AMERICA

CHANTICLEER, NOW CELEBRATING ITS 30TH-ANNIVERSARY SEASON, WILL RECEIVE AWARD IN NYC ON DEC. 13, AT LINCOLN CENTER EVENT

New York, NY, November 6, 2007: Chanticleer – the award-winning, San Francisco-based “Orchestra of Voices” – has been named the 2008 “Ensemble of the Year” by the editors of the Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts. The award is especially notable this year because it is the first time a vocal ensemble has been so recognized. Awards in this category have usually been given to instrumental ensembles, including such recent recipients as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble InterContemporain, Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.

Sedgwick Clark, editor of Musical America, summed up Chanticleer’s unique achievements this way:

The San Francisco-based male ensemble Chanticleer, now in its 30th year, regularly appears worldwide in Paris, Taipei, Tokyo, London, Vienna, and at such festivals as Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Verbier. Not content to revive only the neglected sacred and secular repertory, this musically adventurous ensemble has commissioned over 60 works by over 40 composers, including Sir John Tavener, Augusta Read Thomas, Steven Stucky, Chen Yi, and Jake Heggie. Among Chanticleer’s recordings for Warner Classics are 1999’s Colors of Love and the 2003 CD of Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises, both of which received Grammy Awards.

Joseph Jennings, Chanticleer’s long-time Music Director and a frequent arranger of the group’s most popular repertoire, comments:

We are deeply honored to receive this wonderful award and to be included in the company of the venerated ensembles who have been recognized by Musical America in the past – especially our Bay Area neighbors, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. That Chanticleer is the first vocal ensemble to win this award is especially gratifying, and we hope to continue to live up to this honor with our performances in this and future seasons.

Called “the world’s reigning male chorus,” by the New Yorker, Chanticleer will perform more than 100 concerts in 2007-08, including appearances in 22 states and in eight European cities. Last season, they made headlines with the world-premiere performance and recording of And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass. The work featured individual mass movements by five significant contemporary composers. Later this season Chanticleer will perform a new piece by Chen Yi, From the Path of Beauty, teaming the ensemble with the Shanghai Quartet. As in previous seasons, Chanticleer will touch the lives of young people across the country with artist residencies in schools and Chanticleer Youth Choral Festivals™.

Celebrated for their vivid interpretations of vocal literature across a wide spectrum of periods and styles – from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music – Chanticleer has a wide-ranging discography. Their newest album, Let It Snow – a collection of popular holiday favorites available from Rhino/Warner Classics, was an immediate Billboard bestseller after its release in October. Later this month, Chanticleer will begin its annual Christmas tour, which this year features 26 performances in 15 cities, including six performances at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, two in Chicago, and a return engagement at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (see holiday tour dates below). Chanticleer will also return to morning television for the third consecutive season, performing songs from Let It Snow on NBC’s popular “Today” show (currently scheduled for Monday, December 3).

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 pm)

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 pm)

Dec 02 New York, NY (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm)

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

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

Dec 10 Berkeley, CA (First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 8 pm

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 pm and 8:30 pm)

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

Dec 16 Davis, CA (Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, 3 pm)

Dec 18 Los Angeles, CA (Walt Disney Concert Hall, 8 pm)

Dec 20 Santa Clara, CA (Mission Santa Clara, 6 pm and 8:30 pm)

Dec 21 Carmel, CA (Carmel Mission Basilica, 6 pm and 8:30 pm)

Dec 22 Fremont, CA (Mission San José, 3 pm)

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

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