SAN FRANCISCO, October 31, 2015—The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer keeps its oldest and best-loved tradition with 12 performances of A Chanticleer Christmas in the Bay Area between December 10th and 23rd. A Chanticleer Christmas offers profound, peaceful and joyous music in beautifully decorated missions, churches and cathedrals around the Bay Area.
Chanticleer’s Christmas season begins on November 28th in Fairfax, VA, with concerts in Manassas, VA, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, Purchase, NY, and Portland, OR, before continuing in California with performances in Berkeley, Carmel, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Stanford’s Memorial Chapel, Oakland and Petaluma. American Public Media will broadcast excerpts taped at New York's St. Ignatius Loyola on over 300 member stations nation-wide during the Christmas season.
A Chanticleer Christmas tells the story of the nativity in music written from the 13th to 21st centuries. This year's program–the first under the direction of Chanticleer's newly appointed Music Director William Fred Scott–features music beloved by Christmas audiences by John Tavener, Gustav Holst and William Berg among others; arrangements by Robert Shaw, Alice Parker and others; as well as Chanticleer's signature gospel and spiritual arrangements. The 2015-16 season has seen Chanticleer on a whirlwind five-city tour of Asia, which included returns to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and a debut at Macau's International Music Festival. A South American debut in Bolivia is in store for the spring when Chanticleer takes its Mission Road program to UNESCO world site missions in that country. The season concludes with Washing of the Water–a spiritually inspiring journey from Renaissance masters to great songwriters of the 20th century including Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon.
Chanticleer was awarded Chorus America’s prestigious Education and Outreach Award for 2010, and takes pride in its annual interaction with more than 5,000 students around the Bay Area and the U.S. The Louis A. Botto (LAB) Choir–named in honor of Louis A Botto, the founder and original Artistic Director of Chanticleer–is a mixed honors choir for Bay Area high school students aged 14-20 and is currently in its sixth year. The LAB Choir is frequently heard in performances in Bay Area schools, community centers, and other venues.
Called “America’s favorite choral ensemble,” by the New Yorker magazine, Chanticleer has developed a worldwide reputation for its impeccable musicianship, beauty of sound, and wide-ranging repertoire from Renaissance and Mexican Baroque to jazz, gospel, folk, and adventurous new music. Chanticleer Records releases live and studio recordings on CD and in digital formats; both may be found at: www.chanticleer.org.
For information regarding performance dates and tickets to A Chanticleer Christmas ($30-$75), visit: www.chanticleer.org. Tickets are also available by phone through City Box Office at 415-392-4400. Tickets for the December 10th performance at Stanford Memorial Church are available at live.stanford.edu.