UCCA presents the Award-winning vocal ensemble, Chanticleer

…and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity.

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, selling over one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world.

As you already know, we require of our audience proof of vaccine, adequate masking, and distanced seating.

Additionally, we want you to know that the members of Chanticleer do not perform masked, but all take a Covid test on the day of their performance.

For added peace of mind, we will have security personnel on the premises before, during, and after the concert.

Doors open at 1:30
Please arrive early to get your vaccination card checked, and have our ushers seat you, maintaining 6′ socially distancing.

There will be a brief intermission, but no refreshments will be served.

For questions or further information, call me on the UCCA line at
707-463-2738.

Live Music Returns with Chanticleer
Grace Magruder Farmer for the UCCA

It is with great excitement and pride that the Ukiah Community Concert Association presents Chanticleer, the GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble, live onstage at the Ukiah High School Cafetorium with socially distanced seating on February 6th, 2022.

This concert will be the first live performance as part of the UCCA season in over a year due to the restrictions around in-person events during the COVID pandemic. And what a fitting group to carefully and exuberantly usher us back together as audience and performers.

Chanticleer’s founding goes back to 1978 when Louis Botto, a graduate student in musicology in San Francisco, amassed fellow male singers from the area to perform early musical works he felt needed to be heard. Since only men would have performed these songs in the era in which they were composed, Botto decided to stay true to this historical detail and Chanticleer was born. Today their mission is “to present choral music at the highest level of excellence and to encourage worldwide appreciation of the art of ensemble singing through live performances, education, recording, and the creation of new choral work.”

Early years of touring in the United States soon expanded overseas as the group earned national and international applause for their sterling musicianship. Using their voices alone, the (now twelve) singers of Chanticleer draw on material that spans a vast array of musical genres from Renaissance to Jazz and Gospel as well as celebrating new contemporary works, many of which they commission and debut. Over the past 43 years the group has become one of the most prolific touring and recording ensembles in the world. Their voices have graced some of the most renowned concert halls in the world from Musikverein in Vienna to Budapest’s Bela Bartok Hall. They are the recipients of two GRAMMY Awards and were inducted into the American Music Hall of Fame in 2008. The sale of over 1 million of their recordings worldwide has helped establish their reputation as “the world’s reigning male chorus” (The New Yorker).

Chanticleer’s home base remains the Bay Area, though its current members hail from nine different states and various backgrounds. When they sing, however, their voices weave together to produce a rich tapestry of sound informed by their deep knowledge of the songs they sing and each other’s voices. While they rehearse under the guidance of a musical director (currently member Tim Keeler) the singers usually perform without a conductor. This requires an even greater level of communication and awareness of their repertoire and each singer’s vocal position within the group.

An important part of Chanticleer’s mission is sharing musical knowledge and skills with their Bay Area community. Through award-winning educational programs led by a full time Education Director, they serve over 5000 students annually. Building on their initial educational program called “Singing in the Schools,” which launched in 1986, now the menu of programs includes in-school clinics, workshops, master classes, and festivals which target a range of singers, from those just discovering their voices to advanced vocalists.

Before the COVID pandemic, Chanticleer was traveling biannually to some of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe. Since March of 2020, however, the group has been expanding into virtual performances and collaborations, and digital master classes. And while these digital forays have come with advantages such as the ability to reach a wider array of fans around the globe, the concert at the Ukiah High School on February 6th will be an important return to the heart of their original purpose: live shared musical experiences.

Tickets are available for purchase at Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah, Mazahar in Willits, and online at www.ukiahconcerts.org. Single tickets are $35 if purchased ahead, and $40 at the door. Students 18 and under, and Mendocino College full-time enrollees (12 units of more) ages 24 and under, may reserve a $5 ticket in advance by calling (707) 463-2738 and providing your name, phone number and email address. Student tickets are limited so call early to reserve.

**PROOF OF VACCINATION AND MASK REQUIRED TO ATTEND**

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support: Mendocino Arts Council, W/E Flowers, KZYX&Z, KWINE, Ukiah Daily Journal, Black Oak Coffee, Schat’s Bakery, Rivino Winery, Mendocino Community College Foundation, and Mendocino Community College Recording Arts & Technology.

Ukiah Community Concert Association has been presenting nationally acclaimed talent since 1947. This all-volunteer nonprofit’s mission is to build and maintain a permanent concert audience and cultivate an interest in fine music among the citizens of the community and surrounding area. It is also its goal to encourage music appreciation in the schools of the community.