- Album list
- Singer Intro
Based in San Francisco, California, Chanticleer /'ʃæntɪkliɹ/ is a full-time male classical vocal ensemble in the United States. Over the last three decades, it has developed a major reputation for its interpretations of Renaissance music, but it also performs a wide repertoire of jazz, gospel, and other venturesome new music and is widely known as an 'Orchestra of Voices'. It was named for the 'clear singing rooster' in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
History
Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989, and served as Artistic Director until his death from AIDS in 1997. As a graduate student of musicology, Botto found that much of the medieval and Renaissance music he was studying was not being performed, and, because of this, he formed the group to perform this music with an all-male ensemble, as it was traditionally sung during the Renaissance.
Originally, the group contained ten singers, but its size has varied from eight to twelve. Currently, Chanticleer comprises twelve men, including two basses, one baritone, three tenors, and six countertenors (three altos and three sopranos).
The original members included Jim Armington (tenor), Ted Bakkila (baritone), Rob Bell (countertenor), Louis Botto (who sang alto as well as tenor), Sanford Dole (tenor), Kevin Freeman (bass), Tom Hart (baritone), Jonathan Klein (baritone), Neal Rogers (tenor), Marc Smith (bass), Randall Wong (countertenor), and Doug Wyatt (bass). However, only ten of the singers were available to go on tour.
When the ensemble first became full-time in 1991, its members included Eric Alatorre (bass, and currently the longest standing member), Frank Albinder (baritone), Kevin Baum (tenor), Mark Daniel (tenor), Kenneth Fitch (countertenor), Jonathan Goodman (tenor), Tim Gibler (bass), Joseph Jennings (countertenor and Music Director), Chad Runyon (baritone), Foster Sommerlad (countertenor), Matthew Thompson (tenor), and Philip Wilder (countertenor).
Discography
1987 - Byrd: Music for a Hidden Chapel 1988 - The Anniversary Album, 1978-1988 1990 - Our Heart's Joy: A Chanticleer Christmas (Remastered in 2004) 1991 - Psallite! A Renaissance Christmas 1992 - Josquin: Missa Mater Patris; Agricola: Magnificat and motets 1993 - Byrd: Missa In Tempore Paschali 1993 - Cristóbal de Morales: Missa Mille Regretz and Motets 1993 - Mysteria: Gregorian Chants 1994 - Where the Sun Will Never Go Down 1994 - I Have Had Singing: A Chanticleer Portrait 1994 - Mexican Baroque 1994 - Out of This World 1995 - Sing We Christmas 1996 - Lost in the Stars 1998 - Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection 1997 - Reflections 1998 - Jerusalem: Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe, 1764 1999 - Colors of Love 2000 - Magnificat 2001 - Christmas with Chanticleer 2002 - John Tavener: Lamentations and Praises 2002 - Our American Journey 2003 - Evening Prayer: Purcell Anthems and Sacred Songs 2003 - A Portrait 2004 - How Sweet the Sound: Spirituals and Traditional Gospel Music 2005 - Sound in Spirit 2006 - Palestrina: Missa pro defunctis; Motets 2007 - And on Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass 2007 - Let it Snow 2008 - Mission Road 2010 - A Chanticleer Christmas 2011 - Our Favorite Carols 2011 - Between Two Wars 2011 - Chanticleer Takes You Out of this World! 2011 - For Thy Soul's Salvation 2011 - Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur: Annunciation 2011 - Ludus Paschalis: Resurrection Play of Tours 2011 - My Chanticleer: A Collection for Chanticleer 2011 - The Boy Whose Father was God 2011 - With a Poet's Eye 2012 - Love Story 2012 - By Request 2013 - The Siren's Call 2013 - Someone New 2014 - She Said/He Said
In May 2007, Chanticleer released 'And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass' (Warner Classics) a new mass written by five contemporary composers. Israeli-born composer Shulamit Ran wrote the Credo to the Hebrew text 'Ani Ma'amin'; US composer Douglas Cuomo contributed the Kyrie; Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince composed the Gloria section to a sufi text; English composer Ivan Moody composed the Sanctus; and Irish composer Michael McGlynn (director of Anúna) composed the Agnus Dei. The Mass was premiered in performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and was followed by six performances throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
On October 16, 2007, Chanticleer released 'Let it Snow,' the group's 29th recording. A portion of the album is accompanied by orchestra and/or big band; as such, the album brings a new sound to Chanticleer's almost exclusively a cappella repertoire.
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