Chanticleer, hailed by The New Yorker as “the world’s reigning male chorus,” will conclude Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2009-2010 Performing Arts Series when it takes to the stage at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 27, in University Hall’s Gray Chapel.
Chanticleer will be performing at Ohio Wesleyan University on February 27. (photo from group's Web site)
Celebrating its 32nd season, Chanticleer features a seamless blend of 12 male voices ranging from countertenor to bass. The group’s performances include original interpretations of vocal literature including Renaissance, jazz, gospel, and venturesome new music. At Ohio Wesleyan, Chanticleer will perform “In Time Of … Songs of Love & Loss, War & Peace,” chosen from the breadth of their seven-century repertoire.
In 2000, Chanticleer earned a Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance (With or Without a Conductor) for its “Colors of Love” CD, which features interpretations of contemporary choral works. In 2006, the group’s “Magnificat” CD, a disc devoted to Renaissance and Baroque music written for the Virgin Mary, reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Classical Music chart.
The group, named for the clear-singing rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” was founded in 1978 in San Francisco. It will travel to 21 U.S. states and 12 countries this season. In addition to Ohio Wesleyan, Chanticleer will perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, and Prague’s Rudolfinum.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Chanticleer fascinates and enthralls for much the same reason a fine chocolate or a Rolls Royce does: through luxurious perfection.”Tickets for Chanticleer are $20 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens and non-Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid ID. Tickets are free for Ohio Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketweb.com or by calling the Performing Arts Series phone messaging service at (740) 368-3629.
Ohio Wesleyan University’s Gray Chapel is located at 61 South Sandusky Street just south of downtown Delaware, Ohio.
Source: Ohio Wesleyan University public relations office, all photos from Chanticleer’s Web site and used with permission.
