Chanticleer: Our American Journey - Celebrating America's 250th!

We celebrate America’s 250th year of independence by showcasing the diverse voices, songs, harmonies, and rhythms of our shared musical heritage. We explore how those voices influenced each other, and how we’ve come to understand the impact and legacy of those voices in the present day. The cornerstone of this program will be a new commission by composer Trevor Weston, demonstrating the link between traditional American hymnody and African American Spirituals. Other repertoire traces the progression of the American choral tradition from Black Gospel quartets to Shape-Note singing to Barbershop quartets and vocal jazz. The program also includes settings of traditional American Bluegrass tunes and beloved folk songs, like “Calling my Children Home” and “Shenandoah,” as well as arrangements of contemporary American classics, like Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and “Home” from The Wiz.
Known around the world for its eclectic repertoire and dazzling virtuosity, the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer – under the leadership of Music Director Tim Keeler – has been hailed by the Boston Globe as “breathtaking in its accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, of color and swagger of style.” 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, an “orchestra of voices” performing thousands of live concerts and selling more than one million recordings.