Chanticleer kicks off 35th season at CLU

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 16, 2012) The Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer will kick off its 35th season with a free concert at California Lutheran University on Thursday, Sept. 6. “An Orchestra of Voices: Chanticleer in Concert” will be presented at 8 p.m. in Samuelson Chapel.

Named for the clear-singing rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto. Based in San Francisco, the ensemble is known around the world for the seamless blend of its 12 male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature. The group’s wide-ranging repertoire includes Gregorian chant, Renaissance, pop, jazz, gospel and contemporary commissioned works.

Called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker and named “Ensemble of the Year” by Musical America in 2008, Chanticleer performed more than 100 concerts last year, including appearances at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Walt Disney Concert Hall. The group toured Europe twice, participating in prestigious festivals such as Edinburgh, La Chaise Dieu, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Rheingau and singing in the most renowned concert halls, including the Musikverein in Vienna, Bela Bartok Concert Hall in Budapest and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The group also performed on the soundtrack of the 10th anniversary release of Microsoft’s legendary video game Halo.

Ensemble member Kory Reid is a former music director for St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Newbury Park. He studied music education at Pepperdine University and earned a master’s degree in choral and sacred music from the University of Southern California. The popular countertenor soloist has sung with a number of area musical groups including the Los Robles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, USC Chamber Singers and the Pepperdine University Concert Choir and Collegium Musicum.

Reid first connected with Chanticleer when he participated in one of the group’s educational residencies while a student at Napa High School. The ensemble involves more than 5,000 young people annually in its extensive education program, which includes an after school honors program for high school and college students, in-school clinics and workshops, youth choral festivals, master classes and summer workshops. “The Singing Life,” a documentary about Chanticleer’s work with young people, was released in 2008. In 2010, Chanticleer’s education program was recognized with the Chorus America Education Outreach Award.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near the corner of Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Donations will be accepted at the concert sponsored by CLU’s Artists and Speakers Committee. For information, contact Nicole Barnes at 805-493-3306 or nmbarnes@callutheran.edu.