Emmy-award winning ‘Chanticleer’ impresses with range and ability
On Oct. 3, a group of singers came to Logan for the first time in 10 years to perform for the people of Cache Valley.
The group has won three Grammy awards, is 27 years old and has produced 28 CDs since 1987.
That group is Chanticleer.
Chanticleer started in 1978 as a group of friends in San Francisco who liked to sing music from the Renaissance. That kind of music wasn’t well-known in the ’70s and they wanted to bring it back to life.
“[Renaissance music] is the way people found out about things going on in the world,” said one of Chanticleer’s tenors, Matt Oltman.
The name they chose for themselves comes from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, where Chanticleer is the name of a clear-singing rooster. Ever since that time 27 years ago, the world-renowned cappella group has been through countless singers and songs and their repertoire keeps growing and growing.
One of the aspects of Chanticleer that make it such a phenomenal choir is its range. Even though every member is male, the pitches vary from bass to soprano.
“Their range is amazing,” said Abbey Jensen, a freshman majoring in business. “I didn’t know guys could sing that high.”
On Monday, when Chanticleer gave a performance lecture for students, they gave a demonstration of the variety of their voices.
“I like to think that it takes a real man to get up and sing like that,” said Clifton Massey, whose alto singing voice is quite rare in a male.
“The group Chanticleer is evidence of the beauty of the human voice,” said professor Tom Peterson. “Music is audible art. It has all the same qualities of a fine painting, it’s just that you listen to it instead of look at it.”
Chanticleer performed at the Ellen Eccles Theater on Oct. 4 and 5, where it’s concerts sold out quickly.
“As a choir, they were unified and it was hard to distinguish individual voices,” said Monique Roushar, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering. “I also liked the diversity of the cultures represented in the performance, from Latin to Italian, to French, to Korean.”
The Monday and Tuesday performances were the debutes of Chanticleer’s first tour this season. The tour is called “Women, Saintly and Otherwise,” and it featured folk and contemporary songs from around the world. They diversified in style as well as in languages. Their concerts were a success among students.
“They were astounding,” said Stephen Worthington, a freshman majoring in English education. “I bought their CD. The seamless falsetto of the counter-tenors contrasted with the booming bass melodiously.”
With the acclaim and reputation they have recieved, Chanticleer has proven to be a favorite among fans of classical music.
-maripark@cc.usu.edu