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Mission and History
Mission - History - Timeline - Ensemble Members - Mission Statement History As a graduate student in musicology at a Bay Area college, Louis found it odd that much of the repertoire he was studying--vocal music of the medieval and Renaissance periods--was not being performed. So he decided to form a group to sing this neglected repertoire, using only male voices, as was the tradition in most churches during the Renaissance. Louis turned to members of choirs in which he sang, including friends in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, asking if they might be interested in this endeavor. Nine members were selected, including Louis (who sang tenor), and rehearsals began for their debut performance.
But the group needed a name. One of the founding members, baritone Charlie Erikson, was in the midst of reading Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and he suggested Chanticleer, the name of the "clear singing" rooster in The Nun's Priest's Tale. [Chaucer had actually borrowed the name from the ancient French tale, Renard the Fox; it is a combination of the French words chanter ("to sing") and clair ("clear").] The name appealed to everyone, and so Chanticleer debuted on June 27, 1978 before a capacity audience at San Francisco's historic Old Mission Dolores. The program featured works by composers that would become staples of the ensemble's repertoire over the years: Byrd, Isaac, Ockeghem, Morales, Morley, Dufay, and Josquin. Buoyed by their success, they agreed to continue rehearsing, with the goal of performing a new concert approximately every four months. Louis was always concerned that there were not enough career positions available to choral singers, so he decided early on that Chanticleer should provide full-time, salaried employment for its members. However, this was not an easily attainable goal. The group's early years were marked by long, arduous tours often lasting eight to ten weeks, with a dozen concerts in a row in as many cities--traveling by van! The group earned little money in those days, so they tried to conserve in any way they could. Louis, a gourmet chef, often bragged that he could make dinner for all of the members of Chanticleer for less than $50, and he frequently did so, cooking in their tiny motel "kitchenettes." Fortunately, the group now travels in a bit more style than those pioneering members: tour schedules are a little more humane, long drives are kept to a minimum, and single rooms are the norm. By 1991, Chanticleer was financially stable enough to make all twelve members of the ensemble full-time employees. [The number of singers varied over the years, often touring with only eight, but it is settled at twelve because of the flexibility that offers.]
Chanticleer's first tours took them to every state in the union (albeit in numerous small towns), but the group longed for international recognition as well. This came about when the ensemble was invited to perform at the International Josquin Symposium held in Belgium in 1984. When another group canceled its appearance, Chanticleer quickly agreed to take on an additional Josquin mass to perform at one of the festival concerts. The only problem was they had no time to learn it before they left for Europe, so they had to rehearse the music on the plane! Today, Chanticleer performs throughout the world, and at many noteworthy international festivals, including the Salzburg Festival (Austria), the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany), the Brisbane Biennial Festival of Music (Australia), the Taipei International Choral Festival (Taiwan), and the Festival Van Vlaanderen (Belgium). Chanticleer could not have succeeded in those early years through hard work alone. They had some good luck and some good friends to help them along. In 1980, the group participated in the Festival of Masses, a large choral festival held in San Francisco with the legendary Robert Shaw serving as Festival Conductor. Chanticleer performed a solo concert of three complete masses: one in plainchant and polyphonic settings by Dufay and Byrd. Mr. Shaw attended the performance and told the group that "it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life." Louis, ever the entrepreneur, wrote down the Maestro's statement and asked him to sign it the next day. He did so, with one addition: stating that it was one of the most beautiful musical experiences of his life. More than 75 men have sung in the ensemble since its inception, and each one has contributed something unique and valuable to the group. A defining moment in Chanticleer's history came in 1983, when Joseph Jennings joined the group as a countertenor. The other singers quickly recognized Joe's talent, and asked him to become the ensemble's Music Director. Over the years, Joe's distinctive singing style, as well as his innovative arrangements of gospel music and pop songs, have become a hallmark of Chanticleer's sound. In addition, his enthusiasm for teaching young singers has led the to the development of Singing in the Schools, a vital educational outreach program that continues to expand to this day. It was evident from early in Chanticleer's history that recording would play an intrinsic part in increasing the ensemble's exposure, but it was difficult to find a label willing to venture into the varied repertoire that the group performed. In 1987, with its tenth anniversary approaching, Chanticleer decided to create an independent label to release its first CD, and Chanticleer Records was born. It was a risky move that paid off: the ensemble released a total of ten discs over a period of only six years. However, while the recordings were selling well at concerts, they were not widely available in the United States, and virtually unknown abroad. That all changed in 1994, when Chanticleer signed an exclusive recording contract with Teldec Classics International. With Teldec, Chanticleer found a label willing to release repertoire as diverse as Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, spirituals and gospel music, and symphonic pops. This collaboration has made the group's discs available in more than 60 countries, and world-wide recognition of the ensemble is growing at a rapid pace. Colors of Love, Chanticleer's 1999 release devoted to contemporary choral works, won the GRAMMY® Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance (With or Without a Conductor). And Magnificat, a disc devoted to Renaissance and Baroque music written for the Virgin Mary, rose to the top five on BILLBOARD's Classical Music chart. While the bulk of Chanticleer's performances have been solo a cappella concerts, the group has undertaken some adventurous projects over the years. In close collaboration with musicologist Craig Russell, Chanticleer has performed and recorded two programs of unknown works by 18th-century Mexican composers Manuel de Zumaya and Ignacio de Jerusalem with a period-instrument orchestra (Mexican Baroque and Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe). Other projects with orchestra include San Francisco and New York performances of the expansive Vespro della Beata Vergine by Claudio Monteverdi. In addition to Baroque works, Chanticleer presented a fully-staged opera by Benjamin Britten, Curlew River, to critical acclaim (in fact, the 1994 performances were so well-received that the production was re-mounted in 1998). January 2002 saw the debut of a dramatic work by Sir John Tavener entitled Lamentations and Praises. After performances in the San Francisco Bay Area, the work toured to New York City and Boston. On the lighter side, Chanticleer made a successful recording of jazz and pop standards, Lost in the Stars, with Ettore Stratta conducting the London Studio Orchestra and the Don Haas Trio. The group has worked with many leading artists and ensembles through its history, including the renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, Japanese dancers Eiko and Koma, and jazz legend George Shearing, as well as the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Chanticleer has also been fortunate enough to be able to commission pieces from many of the foremost composers of our time, including Chen Yi (who served as the group's composer-in-residence from 1993 to 1996), David Conte, Anthony Davis, Morton Gould, Bernard Rands, Steve Sametz, Sir John Tavener and Augusta Read Thomas. Chanticleer has had the opportunity to sing in some of the most beautiful concert halls and churches in the world. But the group has also sung in a barn in Canada, a roofless church in the former East Germany, a gymnasium in Sweden, and in Central Park with the New York Philharmonic. No matter where the group travels, Chanticleer brings its flawless music making to thousands of eager listeners, and continues to share the joy of singing with its devoted friends around the world. From its humble beginnings to today, Chanticleer has become a "polished performing machine that ... could fairly be called Botto's miracle" (The Wall Street Journal). Louis should be proud. Chanticleer Time Line 2006 First Middle School Youth Choral Festival in San Francisco. Winter tour to Europe includes ensemble's debut in Vienna's Musikverein, returns to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Paris; visits to the three Baltic capitals and mainland Spain. Special thanks to all members past and present |
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