Chanticleer - the "Orchestra of Voices". We've had the good fortune of hearing them live in concert at least four times - Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Mission Santa Clara in, well, Santa Clara, St. Joseph's Cathedral in San Jose and, today, Mission San Jose in Fremont. The photograph below is from
this site.
It was their
Mission Road tour which began Saturday evening at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. It was a marvelous lead into a Sunday evening. A mixture of plainchant and the works of two Mexican composers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The composers were
Antonio de Salazar and
Manuel de Sumaya (who had been a student of Salazar).
Chanticleer has to be heard, experienced, to be believed. Apart from bases, baritones and tenors, the ensemble boasts countertenors and male sopranos. The music they create is magical.
While they mightn't get to the Midwest with the frequency they may be heard in the Bay Area - they are based in San Francisco - we can take consolation in the fact that we own many of their CDs.
And, who knows, the new
Performing Arts Center in Kansas City may tempt them.
