A CHANTICLEER CHRISTMAS BEGINS DECEMBER 11th; 12 PERFORMANCES IN THE BAY AREA

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 11^th and 23^rd. 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 29th in Washington D.C. with concerts in Chicago, New York City and Westport, Connecticut before returning to California for performances in Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Petaluma, Carmel, Livermore, Stanford’s Memorial Chapel and Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall. 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 13^th to 21^st centuries. This year's program is under the direction of Ragnar Bohlin, Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and Chanticleer Guest Music Director, who introduces a composer from his native Sweden to Chanticleer audiences. Fredrik Sixten's adaptation of his "There is no Rose of such Virtue" and his "Rose of Roses," written for Chanticleer in 2014, will have their world premieres along with works by Desprez, Gabrieli, Distler, Sviridov, Mantyjarvi and others as well as Chanticleer's signature arrangements of new and traditional carols and spirituals. Chanticleer’s most popular recorded song, Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria”, is a beloved feature of A Chanticleer Christmas.

The 2014-15 season has seen Chanticleer perform in France, Germany, Italy and Sweden–where the ensemble spent two weeks in October. A rigorous touring season in 22 states and the District of Columbia began in October and will continue throughout the year. A highlight of the Bay Area season will be the second National Youth Choral Festival with 300 high school singers from around the country joining Chanticleer, Guest Music Director, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick for a gala culmination in Davies Symphony Hall on March 30, 2015. The season will conclude with a return to Chanticleer's early music roots in Spanish Gold under the direction of Guest Music Director William Fred Scott.

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 ensemble recently launched its newest educational program introducing a small, mixed youth chorus for Bay Area singers aged 14-20, known as the Louis A. Botto (LAB) Choir in honor of Louis A Botto, the founder and original Artistic Director of Chanticleer. 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-$65), visit: www.chanticleer.org. Tickets are also available by phone through City Box Office at 415-392-4400.

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 FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

A CHRISTMAS CHANTICLEER

December 11-23, 2013

STANFORD, CA
Stanford Memorial Church
Thursday, December 11, 7:30pm

OAKLAND, CA
Cathedral of Christ the Light
Friday, December 12, 8pm 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
St. Ignatius Church
Saturday, December 13, 8pm
Sunday, December 21, 8pm

PETALUMA, CA
St. Vincent Church
Sunday, December 14, 6pm & 8:30pm

BERKELEY, CA
First Congregational Church
Tuesday, December 16, 8pm

SACRAMENTO, CA
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
Wednesday, Dec 17, 8pm

LOS ANGELES, CA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Thursday, December 18, 8pm

SANTA CLARA, CA
Mission Santa Clara
Saturday, December 20, 6pm & 8:30pm

CARMEL, CA
Carmel Mission
Monday, Dec 22 6pm  & 8:30pm

LIVERMORE, CA
Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center
Tuesday, December 23, 7:30pm

Tickets:

$30-$65

415-392-4400

www.chanticleer.org

CHANTICLEER OPENS SEASON WITH THE GYPSY IN MY SOUL

BAY AREA PERFORMANCES September 19-28

Chanticleer, the Bay Area’s multiple Grammy^® award-winning male vocal ensemble, begins its 2014-15 season with The Gypsy in My Soul, exploring wanderlust, curiosity, nature and nostalgia in a program displaying the group’s renowned virtuosity. 

The Gypsy in My Soul, under the musical direction of William Fred Scott, will be performed in five Bay Area cities as Chanticleer begins its season-long tour to 22 states. Wanderlust, curiosity, nostalgia, reverence for the natural world and the gypsy spirit in us all: The Gypsy in My Soul depicts all these human states in choral music from the Renaissance to today and from all over the world. The profound influence of the gypsy culture is presented in music by Steven Sametz and Carmen Cavallaro, as well as in folk music from Serbia and Romania. The gypsy in the American soul informs classic arrangements by Joseph Jennings and Gene Puerling and modern arrangements from Chanticleer's recent studio album, Someone New. 

Chanticleer’s season appearances include summer festivals in France, Germany and Italy–including a debut at the Ravello Festival, and an October tour to eight cities in Sweden including the Lund Festival. Christmas will see the Ensemble back to the Bay Area for 14 performances in 11 locations of the group’s legendary A Chanticleer Christmas, under the direction of Ragnar Bohlin (Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus). In spring, Chanticleer’s second National Youth Choral Festival: The Singing Life will join together 300 high school choral singers, conductor Ragnar Bohlin and famed mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick for four days of workshops and a concert in Davies Symphony Hall. A return to Chanticleer’s early music roots in June, under the music direction of William Fred Scott, reveals treasures from Spain’s 16^th century Golden Age in Spanish Gold. 

In addition to March’s National Youth Choral Festival, Chanticleer’s season in education will include Youth Choral Festivals in the Bay Area and around the country; workshops and clinics for 5,000 students; and performances by the Louis A. Botto (LAB) Choir–an after school honors choir for 14-22 year olds, now in its fourth year. In San Francisco, Chanticleer’s Youth Choral Festival for middle schools will take place on January 12, 2015 at First Unitarian Universalist Church, culminating in an evening performance at 7:30pm.

Chanticleer–based in San Francisco–is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless blend of its 12 male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. Recipient of many awards–including several Grammy® awards, Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year, the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and Chorus America’s Outreach/Education award–Chanticleer was acknowledged this year by the presentation to Music Director Emeritus Joseph Jennings of the inaugural Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award from Chorus America for his life’s work advancing African-American music, realized in large part during his tenure with Chanticleer.

A not-for-profit organization, Chanticleer’s performing, commissioning and education activities are made possible by government, foundation, corporate, and individual supporters.Concert tickets priced $10-$50 and may be purchased online at www.chanticleer.org or by calling 415-392-4400 or 800-407-1400.

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Northern California Calendar for 2014/15

THE GYPSY IN MY SOUL
September 19 – 28, 2014
SF Conservatory of Music, San Francisco • September 19, 2014 • 8PM
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian • Lafayette • September 20, 2014 • 8PM
St. Francis Church • Sacramento • September 21, 2014 • 5PM
SF Conservatory of Music • San Francisco • September 26, 2014 • 8PM
Mission Santa Clara • Santa Clara • September 27, 2014 • 8PM
Osher Marin Jewish Community Center • San Rafael • September 28, 2014 • 5PM  

A CHRISTMAS CHANTICLEER
December 12-22, 2014
Cathedral of Christ the Light • Oakland • December 12, 2014 • 8PM
St Ignatius Church • San Francisco • December 13, 2014 • 8PM
St Vincent Church • Petaluma • December 14, 2014 • 6 & 8:30PM
First Congregational Church • Berkeley • December 16, 2014 • 8PM
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament • Sacramento • December 17, 2014 • 8PM
Mission Santa Clara • Santa Clara • December 20, 2014 • 6 & 8:30PM
St Ignatius Church • San Francisco • December 21, 2014 • 8PM
Carmel Mission • Carmel • December 22, 2014 • 6 & 8:30PM  

NATIONAL YOUTH CHORAL FESTIVAL
March 30, 2015
Davies Symphony Hall • San Francisco • March 30, 2015 • 8PM  

SPANISH GOLD
June 10– 17, 2015
Mission Santa Clara • Santa Clara • June 10, 2015 • 8PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church • Berkeley • June 12, 2015 • 8PM
Mission Dolores • San Francisco • June 13, 2015 • 8PM
St. Francis Church • Sacramento • June 14, 2015 • 5PM
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church • Belvedere • June 17, 2015 • 8PM 

CHANTICLEER ANNOUNCES STUDENT COMPOSER OPPORTUNITY

GRAMMY-WINNING ENSEMBLE CALLS FOR ENTRIES FOR FIFTH STUDENT COMPOSER COMPETITION

San Francisco, February 26, 2014—Chanticleer, the internationally acclaimed, 12-man vocal ensemble, announces its fifth Student Composer Competition.  The competition is designed to encourage current composition students to write quality works for high school level choirs.  Score submissions must be postmarked by November 1st, 2014.

Winners will be announced on December 1st, 2014.  The top ten compositions will be learned and performed by the Chanticleer LAB Choir. Winning composers will be invited to work with the LAB Choir during the rehearsal process (January-February 2015).  The top prize will be considered for performance at the Chanticleer National Youth Choral Festival, in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall in the spring of 2015. Compositions must be for a cappella SATB high school level choir, three to five minutes in duration. The submitted work must not have had prior public performances or recordings. Only one work per composer may be submitted.  Composers should be currently enrolled as students at time of submission. (See Call for Entries, below, for details).

The latest competition winner, "Chou Nu Er" by Yi-Wen Chang, won a featured spot on our National Youth Choral Festival in 2010 where it was sung by 416 high school students and Chanticleer. Eric Barnum’s 2004 entry “She Walks in Beauty” was so successful that Chanticleer incorporated it into its touring program in the following year.

The quality of entries for 2006 was so high that seven winners were announced: Vicente Chavarria, Miami, FL; Erica Glenn, Tempe, AZ; Blake R. Henson, Princeton, NJ; Matthew Peterson, Northfield, MN; Philip Rice, Coldwater, MI; Jorge Sosa, New York, NY; and Dale Trumbore, Chatham, NJ. Honorable mentions went to Mark Fromm, Pittsburgh, PA and Samuel Hunter, Fairview, NC. 

Kieun Steve Kim’s 2008 winning composition, “Sanctus”, fuses older music forms and texts with a contemporary voice. The native Korean composer is a two-time Grand Prize recipient of the Christian Times' Gospel Music Competition.  He was the finalist in the 17th Christian Broadcasting Station's New Gospel Songs Competition and has since produced his debut CD, My God, sponsored by Joon Records.

Hailed by the New Yorker magazine as “The world’s reigning male chorus” and by the Los Angeles Times for its “luxurious perfection,” the GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has developed a remarkable reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. With its seamless blend of twelve male voices, ranging from countertenor to bass, the Ensemble has earned international renown as “an orchestra of voices.”

Since Chanticleer began releasing recordings in 1981, the group has sold well over a million copies and garnered two GRAMMY® awards. Chanticleer’s recordings are distributed by Chanticleer Records, Naxos, Rhino Records, ArkivMusic, and iTunes among others, and are available on Chanticleer’s website: www.chanticleer.org. In addition to recording and an active touring schedule of some 100 concerts, including a Bay Area subscription season, the Ensemble has maintained an education program designed to inspire young singers that has reached thousands of young people in the Bay Area and around the World.

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CALL FOR ENTRIES:

CHANTICLEER STUDENT COMPOSER COMPETITION

CHANTICLEER, the internationally acclaimed 12-man vocal ensemble, is calling for entries for its fifth Student Composer Competition. 

DETAILS:

1.          The length of the work must be between three and five minutes.

2.          Compositions must be for a cappella, SATB High School level choir.
(Level of difficulty between 3 and 4)

3.          Limit of one work per composer may be submitted.

4.          Composer must be enrolled as a student at time of submission.

5.          There are no age restrictions for the composer.

6.          The submitted work must have not had prior public performances or recordings.

7.          Texts must either be original or in the public domain. If texts are copyrighted, proof of permission of use must be provided.

8.          Submissions representing cultural heritage are encouraged.

TO ENTER:

Submit two copies of the score along with name, address, phone, e-mail, and a brief biographical profile including name of institution at which you are studying to:

CHANTICLEER STUDENT COMPOSER COMPETITION

44 Page Street, Suite 604

San Francisco, CA  94102

Composers will receive confirmation of receipt of scores, but scores cannot be returned.

DEADLINE:

Entries must be postmarked by November 1, 2014

A CHANTICLEER CHRISTMAS BEGINS DECEMBER 13; 11 PERFORMANCES AROUND THE BAY AREA.

SAN FRANCISCO, November 14, 2013—The Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer, keeps its oldest and best-loved tradition with 11 performances of A Chanticleer Christmas between December 13 and 23. A Chanticleer Christmas offers profound, peaceful and joyous music in beautifully decorated missions, churches and cathedrals around the Bay Area. Beginning at the Oakland Cathedral of Christ the Light, A Chanticleer Christmas continues in Berkeley, San Francisco, Petaluma, Sacramento, Carmel and Santa Clara.

Chanticleer’s Christmas season begins on December 1^st in Virginia, and stops in Chicago, Westhampton and New York before returning to California where performances at Stanford’s Memorial Chapel and Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Hall complete the schedule. This season features the group’s debut in its new Christmas home in Manhattan at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. A Chanticleer Christmas receives the highest acclaim, with the New Yorker declaring, “No one does a better choral Christmas than the virtuoso male voices of Chanticleer.”

A Chanticleer Christmas tells the story of the nativity in music written from the 13^th to 21^th centuries, this year featuring the world premiere of Steven Sametz’ setting of “O Magnum Mysterium” along with works by Hassler, Dufay, Victoria, Tavener, Chesnokov, Rachmaninoff and others. Chanticleer’s most popular recorded song, Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria”, is always featured on A Chanticleer Christmas. The program will be broadcast by American Public Media on over 300 national public radio stations across the country.

January sees the ensemble embark upon a nine-country thirteen-concert tour of Europe, which includes returns to Vienna’s Musikverein, Prague’s Rudolfinum, Paris’ Oratoire du Louvre, Rotterdam’s De Doelen, debuts in Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Cork’s Opera House, Budapest’s Lizst Academy and first-ever performances in Russia at the International House of Music in Moscow and St. Petersburg’s Grand Philharmonic Hall. Dates in Antwerp, Bruges, Innsbruck, and Friedrichshafen round out the tour, which includes two workshops open to local choral singers in Cork and Vienna.

After the ensemble’s return from Europe, Chanticleer’s 2013-14 season will conclude with Atlantic Crossing – a collaboration with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the New Century Chamber Orchestra in March, and, in June, Russian Dreams under the direction of Elena Sharkova.

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 ensemble recently launched its newest educational program, introducing a small, mixed youth chorus for Bay Area singers aged 14-20, known as the Louis A. Botto (LAB) Choir in honor of Louis A Botto, the founder and original Artistic Director of Chanticleer.

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, and both may be found at: www.chanticleer.org.

For information regarding performance dates and tickets to A Chanticleer Christmas ($30-$65), visit: www.chanticleer.org. Tickets are also available by phone through City Box Office at 415/392-4400 or 800/407-1400.

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 FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

A CHRISTMAS CHANTICLEER

December 13-23, 2013

Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, Dec 13, 8 pm

First Congregational Church, Berkeley, Dec 14, 8 pm

St. Ignatius Church, San Francisco, Dec 15, 8 pm

St. Vincent Church, Petaluma, Dec 17, 6 & 8:30 pm

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento, Dec 18, 8 pm

Mission Santa Clara, Dec 19, 6 & 8:30 pm

St. Ignatius Church, San Francisco, Dec 22, 8 pm

Carmel Mission, Dec 23, 6 & 8:30 pm

Tickets:

$30-$65

415/392-4400 or 800/407-1400

www.chanticleer.org

 

CHANTICLEER PROUDLY RELEASES SOMEONE NEW A NEW GENRE-BENDING ALBUM OF A CAPPELLA JAZZ AND POP

Extensive US & International touring in 2013/14 supports Chanticleer and its new album. Cities include: Bruges, Budapest, Chicago, Dublin, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Vienna 

Hailed “the world’s reigning male chorus,” by the New Yorker, Chanticleer proudly announces the release of its new album, Someone New.  The album is an eclectic collection of jazz, Pop, Indie-Rock and Gospel, masterfully arranged for the 12 voices of Chanticleer.  Someone New is available now at the Ensemble’s website (www.chanticleer.org) and all digital retailers and streaming services; physical CDs hit shelves at retailers on November 19^th. 

Chanticleer has teamed with some of today's most brilliant arrangers and composers to deconstruct a wide range of music – some familiar, some obscure – and reimagine the pieces as ground-breaking a cappella works.  Recorded at Skywalker Sound with legendary producer and long-time collaborator, Leslie Ann Jones, Someone New is unlike anything Chanticleer has released in its 36-year history.  “I’ve worked on so many Chanticleer records over the years, but Someone New is the one I am most proud of…” says Jones.

Selections on the release include: “I Feel Better” by Gotye (arr. Darmon Meader) • “Somebody to Love” by Freddie Mercury (arr. Vince Peterson) • “Ring of Fire” by June Carter Cash/Merle Kilgore (arr. Michael McGlynn) • “Washing of the Water” by Peter Gabriel (arr. Mason Bates) • “Temptation” by Tom Waits (arr. Vince Peterson) •  “Wait/Fantasy” by M83 (arr. Steve Hackman) • “Mirrorball” by Elbow (arr. Peter Eldridge)  • “Strange Meadow Lark” by Dave Brubeck (arr. Andrew Rathbun) • “Chega de Saudade” by Antonio Carlos Jobim (arr. Jorge Calandrelli)

Chanticleer is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless blend of its twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass. Founded in San Francisco in 1978, 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. 

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