For subscription tickets and information: www.chanticleer.org
SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2012—Chanticleer, the internationally renowned 12-member ensemble described by The New Yorker as “the world’s reigning male chorus,” launches its 35th anniversary season on September 14 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with the first of 21 concerts that the Grammy Award-winning ensemble will give at venues in Northern California.
Highlight of the 2012-13 season will be Atlantic Crossing: Chanticleer’s 35th Anniversary Gala Benefit Concert on March 22, 2013, when Chanticleer celebrates its amazing journey, and takes over the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a lighthearted and dazzling evening of cabaret and jazz from both sides of the Atlantic.
The Siren’s Call (Five concerts: Sept. 14 – 23)
The season begins with the seductive and irresistible songs of the sirens – sometimes fateful, sometimes fatal. This 35th Anniversary program includes two commissioned world premieres. Renowned Chinese composer Chen Yi sounds the call in her own inimitable language, and celebrated Irish composer Michael McGlynn re-imagines a legendary Irish melody known as the Song of the Spirits. In addition to these two world premieres, the program will feature works by Bates, Palestrina, Barber, Corigliano and others.
A Christmas Chanticleer (Eleven Concerts: Dec. 10 – 23)
For those attending just one Christmas concert, Chanticleer’s unrivaled blend of male voices singing an uplifting selection of joyous music is always the perfect ticket. With its beautiful mix of Renaissance sacred works, traditional carols and lively spirituals, A Chanticleer Christmas celebrates the wonder of the season like no other. Performed in some of the Bay Area’s most beautiful settings, it is a holiday treat that is now a 35-year tradition.
Atlantic Crossing: 35th Anniversary Gala Benefit Concert
Friday, March 22, 2013 at the Conservatory of Music.
With a festive Cabaret atmosphere and intoxicating vocal jazz from both sides of the Atlantic, Chanticleer’s Gala Concert will celebrate its 35th Anniversary in style. Chanticleer will sing arrangements and songs by the Comedian Harmonists, Gershwin, Porter, Weill and others. Champagne, surprise guest artists, door prizes, and Chanticleer members -- past and present -- will make this a light-hearted special evening to remember. Festivities begin at 7:30 pm.
La Serenissima (Four concerts: June 12 – 16, 2013)
The rich sensuality of Renaissance Venice pours from the music of Monteverdi, Donato, Croce, Willaert and both Gabrielis. The season concludes with a return to the repertory that made Chanticleer famous, with a program that offers the surprising spectrum of sumptuous music that originated in the Italian city known as La Serenissima.
Subscription packages starting at $90 ($80 for students/seniors) and 35th Anniversary Gala tickets specially priced at $100 for subscribers are now available at www.chanticleer.org. Single tickets go on sale in August.
Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto. Chanticleer is now known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless blend of its twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass, and for its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. It was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008, and was recently described as “America’s a cappella pride and joy” by ClassicsToday.com.
This past season Chanticleer toured 21 of the United States, appearing in a wide variety of venues including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. A summer trip to Europe encompassed prestigious festivals such as Edinburgh, La Chaise Dieu, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Rheingau. On a 10-country tour in early 2012 the ensemble returned to Europe’s most renowned concert halls, including the Musikverein (Vienna), Béla Bartók Concert Hall (Budapest), and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). Other noteworthy events included Chanticleer's performance on the soundtrack of the 10th anniversary release by Microsoft of its legendary video game HALO, and the ensemble's first live film score performance.
Chanticleer’s recordings are distributed by Chanticleer, Rhino Records, iTunes among others, and are available on Chanticleer’s website, www.chanticleer.org. Most recent release: Our Favorite Carols – popular Christmas music from live performances as broadcast on American Public Media. Awards: Colors of Love won the GRAMMY® Award in 2000 for Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor) and the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Classical Album. The world-premiere recording of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises garnered two GRAMMY® awards: Classical Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor) and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. A selection from this CD is featured in Terence Malik’s “The Tree of Life.” The “Chanticleer Live in Concert” series now includes six releases of live recordings.
With the help of individual contributions and foundation and corporate support, the Ensemble involves over 5000 young people annually in its extensive education program. The 2010-11 season saw the creation of the Louis A. Botto (LAB) Choir – an after school honors program for high school and college students which was added to the ongoing program of in-school clinics and workshops, Chanticleer Youth Choral Festivals™ in the Bay Area and around the country, including the National Youth Choral Festival every four years, master classes for university students nationwide, and the Chanticleer in Sonoma summer workshop for adult choral singers. The Singing Life - a documentary about Chanticleer’s work with young people - was released in 2008. In 2010 Chanticleer’s education program received the Chorus America Education Outreach Award.
Chanticleer’s long-standing commitment to commissioning and performing new works was honored in 2008 by the inaugural Dale Warland/Chorus America Commissioning Award and the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming for the 2006-07 Season in which ten new works were premiered.
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For Calendar Editors:
The 2012-13 Season: Celebrating 35 Years
THE SIREN’S CALL
September 14 – 23, 2012
Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Sept. 14, 8 pm
Mission Santa Clara, Sept. 15, 8 pm
Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, Sept. 16, 5 pm
Orinda Presbyterian Church, Sept. 22, 8 pm
St. Francis of Assisi, Sacramento, Sept. 23, 5 pm
A CHRISTMAS CHANTICLEER
December 10 – 23, 2012
First Congregational Church, Berkeley Dec. 10, 8 pm
Christ Cathedral of the Light, Oakland, Dec. 14, 8 pm
St. Ignatius, San Francisco, Dec. 15, 8 pm
St. Vincent’s, Petaluma, Dec. 16, 4 pm & 6:30 pm
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento, Dec. 18, 8 pm
Carmel Mission, Dec. 21, 6 pm & 8:30 pm
Mission Santa Clara, Dec. 22, 6 pm & 8:30 pm
St. Ignatius, San Francisco, Dec. 23, 8 pm
ATLANTIC CROSSING:
35th ANNIVERSARY GALA BENEFIT CONCERT
Conservatory of Music, Friday, March 22, 2013, 7:30 pm
LA SERENISSIMA
June 12 – 16, 2013
First Congregational Church, Berkeley June 12, 8 pm
Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, San Jose, June 14, 8 pm
Mission Dolores, San Francisco, June 15, 8 pm
St. Francis of Assisi, Sacramento, June 16, 5 pm
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