A Portrait

Chanticleer's A Portrait is designated a "25th anniversary collection" in the album's sleeve notes. The anthology format is an ideal medium in which to appreciate the work of this virtuoso all-male San Francisco chorus, for it lets the listener hear how well the group can adapt its instantly identifiable sound to a variety of musical styles. Whether in the medieval and Renaissance pieces the ensemble started out with, in bouncy Mexican Baroque music, or in the punishing arpeggios of contemporary Chinese-American composer Chen Yi's Wild Grass, Chanticleer makes beautiful and precise sounds all the way; its fabled high male voices are a real revelation for the uninitiated. A Portrait is not really a retrospective greatest-hits compilation; while the album does contain material drawn from various albums, the 19 selections were all (with the exception of one 1987 track) recorded in the last ten years. But that's not really a complaint - the album may not show everywhere Chanticleer has been, but it does an excellent job at letting you hear where the group is going. Recently elevated general director Joseph Jennings has moved the group toward contemporary music, classics of popular song, and arrangements of African-American spirituals, and with each new stretch comes a new demonstration of Chanticleer's capabilities. A standout is Augusta Read Thomas' Love Is a Beautiful Dream, with its sinuous Take 6-like harmonies. Indeed, any lover of close-harmony popular singing might well find this album an ideal way into the classical repertoire, and even longtime Chanticleer fans may hear some of their favorites in a whole new way here.
~ James Manheim, All Music Guide

Chanticleer may be the only independent full-time classical vocal ensemble in the United States. Since its inception in 1978, the group has developed an excellent reputation for its interpretation of music from many genres, and its bell-like sound has set a new ensemble standard.

Originally founded to sing Renaissance vocal repertoire, Chanticleer has toured worldwide and released more than twenty recordings. While most of Chanticleer's work is done a cappella, the group has collaborated such unusual projects as a fully-staged opera, recordings of jazz standards with the Don Haas Trio, and performances with the unorthodox Japanese dancers Eiko and Koma. Its repertoire ranges from chant to twentieth century pop. In 1978, founder Louis Botto, a graduate student in musicology, was disturbed by the fact that sacred Renaissance vocal music was so rarely performed. So he formed a group to sing this neglected repertoire. Trying to hold to the male-only Renaissance tradition, Botto asked friends who sang with him in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and Grace Cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys to join the group. Rehearsals began, and the ensemble arranged a debut performance in San Francisco's historic Mission Dolores.

The works chosen for the debut included compositions by Renaissance composers whose music would become staples of the group's repertoire: Byrd, Ockeghem, Morley, Dufay, and Josquin. The members settled on the name Chanticleer in honor of the "clear-singing" rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer's -Canterbury Tales, which Charlie Erikson, one of the baritones, was reading at the time. While maintaining its basic repertoire of Renaissance music, Chanticleer also began experimenting with music of other genres. The number of singers varied and eventually settled at 12.
In 1980, the ensemble participated in the Festival of Masses in San Francisco. Robert Shaw was the festival's conductor that year, and after hearing Chanticleer's solo concert proclaimed it "one of the most beautiful musical experiences" of his life. A turning point in Chanticleer's history came when Joseph Jennings, a countertenor, joined the group in 1983. Other members soon recognized his exceptional vocal and interpretive abilities and asked him to become Chanticleer's first music director. Since he accepted that position, Jennings' startling vocal clarity and innovative arrangements have become hallmarks of the ensemble.

International early music audiences began to find out about Chanticleer after a 1984 performance at a large scholarly conference in Belgium. Chanticleer created its own label, Chanticleer Records, releasing a tenth-anniversary CD in 1988. Over the next six years, the ensemble released ten recordings on its private label. These CDs sold well at Chanticleer's concerts, and in 1994 Teldec Classics International signed Chanticleer to an exclusive recording contract. The group's recordings suddenly became available all over North America and abroad. By 1991, Chanticleer was financially able to make all 12 of its members full-time employees, allowing the group to tour more frequently and take on a wide variety of projects. Since then the ensemble has performed and recorded with the London Studio Orchestra, jazz legend George Shearing, and the New York Philharmonic. In 1994, the group presented a critically acclaimed, fully staged performance of Benjamin Britten's opera Curlew River. In 1997 Chanticleer recorded works by Mexican Baroque composers Manuel de Zumaya and Ignácio de Jerusalem with an orchestra of period instruments. It has commissioned works by many of the late twentieth century's foremost composers, including David Conte, Morton Gould, Bernard Rands, and Chen Yi (who served as Chanticleer's composer-in-residence from 1993 to 1996). In 1999, Chanticleer released a collection of these works on its CD Colors of Love.
~ Corie Stanton Root, All Music Guide