The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known around the world as “an
orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San
Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as
one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling more than one
million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the globe.
Rooted in the Renaissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has been expanded to include a wide range of
classical, gospel, jazz and popular music and to reflect a deep commitment to the commissioning
of new compositions and arrangements. The ensemble has dedicated much of its vast recording
catalogue to these commissions, garnering Grammy Awards for its recordings of Sir John
Tavener’s Lamentations &amp; Praises and the ambitious collection of commissioned works entitled
Colors of Love. Chanticleer is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Commissioning
Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. During his tenure
with Chanticleer, its Music Director Emeritus Joseph H. Jennings received the Brazeal Wayne
Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition.
Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer
continues to maintain ambitious programming in its hometown of San Francisco, including a
large education and outreach program, and an annual concert series that includes its legendary
holiday tradition “A Chanticleer Christmas.”

Chanticleer

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