Program - Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

CHANTICLEER
Thursday, April 26, 2012, at 7:30pm
Foellinger Great Hall
Classical Mix Series

Krannert Center honors the unwavering dedication of these supporters. They have ensured that the
2011-2012 season is filled with moment after moment of deeply felt experience.
the act of giving
yes *
[a message from the director]
CORPORATE SILVER SPONSOR
SEVENTEEN PREVIOUS
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FOURTEEN PREVIOUS SPONSORSHIPS
ONE SEASON SPONSORSHIP
TWO CURRENT SPONSORSHIPS
JUDITH ROWAN &
RICHARD SCHACHT*
NINE PREVIOUS SPONSORSHIPS
Yes. Life-affirming experience. The heart and soul of
Krannert Center.
A place for those who seek meaning through
moment after moment after moment of shared
life-affirming experiences that stretch across time
and memory through the art of sound. The art of
human movement. Of the spoken word. And every
combination thereof and beyond.
That is to say, a place for the art of the imagination
writ large.
A world that more fully and courageously embraces
beauty. Joy. Ambiguity. The impulse to inquire. To
reflect. And to lift up one another.
Welcome to this season of shared moments and
the deep privilege of being together. Welcome to
Krannert Center.
All good things,
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A place to celebrate our individual and collective
ability to rethink the past and present and to
imagine the possibilities of a world neither defined
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our time.
Mike Ross
Director
* [ life-affirming experience ]
2
* photo credit Illini Studio 3

program
Casey Breves, Gregory Peebles, Kory Reid—soprano
Cortez Mitchell, Alan Reinhardt, Adam Ward—alto
Matthew Curtis, Brian Hinman, Ben Jones—tenor
Eric Alatorre, Michael Axtell, Matthew Knickman—baritone and bass
Jace Wittig, interim music director
Love Story
I.
Sebastián de Vivanco
Veni, dilecte mi
(1551-1622) Sicut lilium inter spinas
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Nigra sum sed formosa
(1548-1611)
II.
Maurice Duruflé
Ubi caritas
(1902-1986)
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
Épithalame
(1908-2002) From Le Cantique des cantiques
III.
Claudin de Sermisy
Tant que vivray
(ca. 1490-1562)
Clément Janequin
Toutes les nuits
(ca. 1485-1558)
Claude Le Jeune
Revoici venir du printemps
(1528-1600)
IV.
Richard Strauss Drei Männerchöre, Op. 45*
(1864-1949) Von den Türen
Traumlicht
Fröhlich im Maien
V.
Steven Sametz
(b. 1954)
20-minute intermission
VI.
Eric Whitacre
(b. 1970)
Sir John Tavener
(b. 1944)
VII.
Stephen Paulus
(b. 1949)
Not an End of Loving
Where I Become You
We Two Boys Together Clinging
Not an End of Loving
This Marriage
A Village Wedding*
From The Lotus Lovers**
A Rich Brocade
Late Spring
All Night
Illusions
VIII.
A selection of popular songs to be announced from the stage
*These works have been recorded by Chanticleer and are available at tonight’s performance or through our
new digital storefront at www.chanticleer.org.
**Commissioned for Chanticleer by Mary Rodgers and Henry Guettel
Chanticleer appears by arrangement with:
Opus 3 Artists Ltd.
470 Park Ave. South, Ninth Floor North
New York, NY 10016
www.opus3artists.com
Chanticleer is a nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer board of trustees and administered by a
professional staff with a full-time professional ensemble. The board of trustees thanks the following
foundations, corporations, and government agencies for their exceptional support:
Borel Private Bank and Trust Company • Chevron • Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund • Carol
Franc Buck Foundation • Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation • Walter and Elise Haas Fund • William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation • E. Nakamichi Foundation • Bernard Osher Foundation • USAI Mid Atlantic Arts
Foundation • Rabobank • Bob Ross Foundation • Morgan Stanley Smith Barney • National Endowment for
the Arts • Wallis Foundation • Wells Fargo
4 5

PROGRAM NOTES
Sebastián de Vivanco
Born circa 1551 in Ávila, Spain
Died October 26, 1622, in Salamanca, Spain
Veni, dilecte mi
Sicut lilium inter spinas
The walled city of Ávila, in the Castile and León
region in central Spain, was the birthplace of three
important Renaissance figures: composers Tomás
Luis de Victoria and Sebastián de Vivanco and
Spanish mystic Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582).
Separated in age by only three years, Victoria and
Vivanco undoubtedly received their earliest musical
training from the same teachers. But unlike Victoria,
whose career was centered in Rome, Vivanco
remained in Spain throughout his life. After tenures
at the cathedrals of Lérida (in Catalonia) and Segovia
(just north of Ávila), he was invited to become
Francisco Guerrero’s assistant in Seville in 1587. He
went so far as to visit the aging master in Seville but
instead accepted a position as maestro de capilla at
Ávila Cathedral. In 1602, Vivanco was appointed to a
similar post in Salamanca but left after less than a
year to accept a professorship at the University of
Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain. It was
through his connections there that he was able to
publish three lavish volumes of his works. Although
his music is virtually unknown today, Vivanco was one
of the leading composers of his time—a master of
counterpoint who imbued his works with deep
emotional sentiment.
mystical rapture through his use of lush suspensions
and sharply contrasting harmonies between the
choirs. The declamatory style indicates a familiarity
with the work of his Italian counterparts, most
notably Giovanni Gabrieli.
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Born 1548 in Ávila, Spain
Died August 20, 1611, in Madrid, Spain
Nigra sum sed formosa
The music of Renaissance Spain is inexorably linked
with Italy, primarily because so many of Spain’s
composers traveled there to work and study.
Composer and organist Tomás Luis de Victoria was
born in Ávila and received training as a chorister in
the cathedral there. Victoria was so promising that
he was sent to Rome at age 16 to study at Collegio
Germanico. It is possible that he was tutored by the
great Italian master Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,
who was teaching at the nearby seminary. Victoria
was certainly one of the few composers in Rome
able to master the subtleties of Palestrina’s style.
Victoria was ordained to the priesthood in 1575 but
continued to compose throughout his life, holding a
variety of posts in Italy and, from 1587 until his
death, his native Spain. Victoria’s many masses,
motets, and other religious compositions brought
him a great deal of fame, certainly enhanced by his
ability to publish most of his works. All but one of
the eight volumes of his Opera Omnia consist
entirely of music published during his lifetime.
the liturgical use for this piece as he published it in
1576, assigning the motet “de Beata Virgine,” or “of
the Blessed Virgin.”
Maurice Duruflé
Born January 11, 1902, in Louviers, France
Died June 16, 1986, in Louveciennes, France
Ubi caritas
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
Born November 19, 1908, in Paris, France
Died July 2, 2002, in Paris, France
Épithalame
Plainsong, or Gregorian chant (named after Pope
Gregory I, who died in 604), is the term applied to
the vast repertoire of liturgical chant assembled over
the course of several centuries, roughly AD 700-
1300. There are almost 3,000 extant chants in the
Gregorian repertoire, with texts specific to each day
of the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical year.
Composers Maurice Duruflé and Jean-Yves Daniel-
Lesur both utilized the flowing melodies of Gregorian
chant in their choral works.
Duruflé, a French composer and organist, was born
in Louviers in 1902. Beginning in 1920, he studied at
the Paris Conservatory, where he was later appointed
professor of harmony (a position he held until 1969).
He was very critical of his own compositions and
wrote very few works as a result. Duruflé had a
unique ability to maintain the supple flow of a
Gregorian chant melody while coloring it with modal
harmonies and polyphony. This technique is
prevalent in Ubi caritas (Where Charity Is), one of his
most performed compositions and the first in a set of
four choral pieces called Quatre motets sur des
thèmes grégoriens (Four Motets on Gregorian
Themes). Its text is a hymn of the early Western
church now most often heard on Holy Thursday,
during Eucharistic Adoration, and at weddings.
Duruflé combines the traditional Gregorian chant
melody with the refrain and first stanza of the hymn.
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, a French composer and
teacher, was born in Paris in 1908. His mother was a
composer and a student of Charles Tournemire, from
whom Daniel-Lesur took early organ and composition
lessons. He studied further at the Paris Conservatory.
In 1936, Daniel-Lesur was—along with Olivier
Messiaen, André Jolivet, Yves Baudrier, and Pierre
Schaeffer—a founding member of the group La
Jeune France (Young France), dedicated to a “return
to the human” and opposed to the neo-classicism
then prevailing in Paris. His collected works include
some 50 mélodies, three operas, four cantatas, a
mass, and more than 30 folk song arrangements, all
speaking to his love of the human voice. Le Cantique
des cantiques (The Song of Songs) was commissioned
in 1952 by Radio France. In Épithalame (the word
denotes a wedding-day poem), the composer
masterfully weaves together the Gregorian chant Veni
sponsa Christi (Come, Bride of Christ) with one of the
most beloved verses from The Song of Songs—“Set
me as a seal on your heart”—in an undulating
crescendo to a final, dramatic climax.
Claudin de Sermisy
Born circa 1490 in France
Died October 13, 1562, in Paris, France
Tant que vivray
Clément Janequin
Born circa 1485 in Châtellerault, France
Died 1558 in Paris, France
Toutes les nuits
The two selections, published in a volume of his
Claude Le Jeune
motets from 1610 and dedicated to the Blessed
Born circa 1528 in Valenciennes, France
Virgin Mary, are all scored for eight voices in two In Nigra sum sed formosa, Victoria sets text from
Died September 26, 1600, in Paris, France
four-voice choirs. Veni, dilecte mi and Sicut lilium The Song of Songs. The Catholic Church of the
Revoici venir du printemps
inter spinas employ texts from The Song of Songs, a Middle Ages and the Renaissance tended to
Madrigals were the popular songs of the
book of the Bible closely associated with the Spanish interpret this text as an allegorical one about the
Renaissance. They were sung by amateurs and
mystics. Quite controversial at the time, the sect, led Virgin Mary, assigning the texts to Marian feasts.
professionals alike in a variety of settings. The texts
by Teresa of Ávila, reinterpreted the quasi-erotic This particular text is used as an Antiphon for
often dealt with everyday matters, including food
poetry as a metaphor for the Christian Church’s role Second Vespers of the major Marian feasts. Victoria
and drink, the pursuit of love, and death. The
as the bride of Christ. Vivanco’s settings portray the apparently intended for this connection to Mary in
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madrigal developed in Italy and quickly spread north
through Europe to England. In France, madrigals
were known as chansons. Claudin de Sermisy, an
early 16th-century French composer, was recognized
both for his chansons and for his religious music, as
he held positions with the French court under several
kings as well as at La Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
Sermisy was strongly influenced by the Italian frottola
style of composition with its harmonic simplicity,
homophonic texture, and attention to the text. This
style is evident in Tant que vivray, as Sermisy uses a
simple harmonic language and subtle text-painting
to tell a beautiful love story. Clément Janequin also
composed in France in the early 16th century. Unlike
Sermisy, Janequin never held a position at a
cathedral or a court, and he focused almost
exclusively on chansons. His chansons are most
famous for their programmatic qualities and use of
onomatopoeic effects to imitate natural sounds.
Toutes les nuits, however, does not follow this
pattern. Instead, it expresses in simple tones the
frustration of a lover who can find his beloved only in
dreams. Claude Le Jeune was one of the most
prolific composers of the second half of the 16th
century. Le Jeune was a member of the Académie de
Poésie et de Musique, which was interested, among
other things, in setting strophic French verses in
ancient classical meters. It is not surprising that this
practice, displayed in the rigid meters and florid
rhythms of Revoici venir du printemps, was very
short-lived. Le Jeune’s recurring meters and rhythms
are occasionally ornamented to create a joyous
celebration of spring and love.
Richard Strauss
Born June 11, 1864, in Munich, Germany
Died September 8, 1949, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany
Drei Männerchöre, Op. 45
Richard Strauss is best remembered today as the
composer of strikingly original orchestral tone poems
and operas that continued and extended the
groundbreaking changes to harmonic language and
musical structure made by Richard Wagner. Strauss
also wrote little-known works for the male singing
societies of Germany, including Drei Männerchöre,
composed for the Kölner Männergesangverein in
1935. Though written after the height of his prowess
as an operatic and symphonic composer, these
pieces exemplify Strauss’ masterful command of his
musical language and his great sensitivity in setting
the poetry of the German Romantic poet Friedrich
Rückert (1788-1866).
Von den Türen (At the Gates) is a metaphorical
journey through the life of one man—from his early
struggle for wealth and love to his final resting place.
Traumlicht (Dreamlight) paints an almost
impressionistic vision of light and dreams, while
Fröhlich im Maien (Joyous in May) is a strophic romp,
treating the listener to a number of unexpected
harmonic detours and calling on everyone to “dance
. . . joyous in May.”
Steven Sametz
Born in 1954 in Westport, Connecticut
Not an End of Loving
To celebrate 25 years of making music, the members
of the Lehigh University Choral Union commissioned a
set of pieces from their director, Steven Sametz, to be
performed by Chanticleer. The pieces were premiered
at Lehigh University in April 2010. Sametz has had a
close relationship with Chanticleer, writing many works
for the group and conducting it on Claudio
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. In regard to this
collaboration, Sametz shared the following remarks:
Chanticleer represents the highest levels of
professional choral singing, just as we strive to
achieve the highest levels of amateur choral art. At
the heart of this—the love of singing, and doing
it to our utmost—we have everything in common.
I am deeply honored that the Choral Union has
chosen this means of showing its pride in what we
have accomplished over the years; creating new
music shows us that there is no end of loving (as
the title indicates), especially the love that brings
us together as singers.
The three pieces of Not an End of Loving are
analogous to another work of Sametz’s in
Chanticleer’s repertoire: in time of, recorded on the
Grammy Award-winning CD Colors of Love. Both
works track the passage of time. Not an End of
Loving follows a relationship from its intense
romantic beginnings (Where I Become You) to its
fulfillment of intimacy (We Two Boys Together
Clinging) to the culmination and release into an
eternal bond (Not an End of Loving).
Eric Whitacre
Born January 2, 1970, in Reno, Nevada
This Marriage
An accomplished composer, conductor, and lecturer,
Eric Whitacre has received composition awards from
ASCAP, the Barlow Endowment for Music
Composition, the American Choral Directors
Association, and the American Composers Forum. In
2001, he became the youngest recipient ever
awarded the coveted Raymond W. Brock Memorial
Commission by the American Choral Directors
Association. Commercially, he has worked with such
luminaries as Barbra Streisand and Marvin Hamlisch.
In the last 10 years, he has conducted concerts of his
choral and symphonic music in Japan, Australia,
China, Singapore, and much of Europe, as well as at
dozens of American universities and colleges, where
he regularly conducts seminars and gives lectures for
young musicians. He received his MM in composition
from the Juilliard School, where he studied with
Pulitzer Prize winner John Corigliano. This Marriage,
which sets a beautiful love poem by the 13th-century
Persian poet Mevlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi, was
composed in 2005 as a gift to Whitacre’s wife,
celebrated soprano Hila Plitmann, on their seventh
wedding anniversary.
Sir John Tavener
Born January 28, 1944, in London, England
A Village Wedding
English composer John Tavener showed his musical
talents at a young age, becoming remarkably
proficient at organ and piano. He soon turned his
attention to composition and attended the Royal
Academy of Music, where he won many major prizes
and awards. In 1965, Tavener’s dramatic cantata The
Whale took the London audience by storm at its
premiere, given at the debut concert of the London
Sinfonietta. Since that time, he has been
commissioned by most of the major organizations in
England and the United States. Choral music makes
up the largest part of Tavener’s works, ranging from
simple carols to large-scale works with orchestral
accompaniment.
Tavener joined the Russian Orthodox Church in
1977, and its spirituality, liturgy, and music have had
an impact on many of his compositions. Tavener
notes, “A Village Wedding is a series of musical and
verbal images, describing a village wedding in
Greece. My insertion of Isaiah’s Dance (the moment
in the Orthodox marriage ceremony when the
couple is solemnly led three times around the Holy
Table by the celebrant), and the whole tone of
[Angelos] Sikelianos’ poetry, however, show that
everything in the natural and visible world, when
rightly perceived, is an expression of a supernatural
and invisible order of reality.”
A Village Wedding was composed in 1992 for the
Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music, where it was
premiered by the Hilliard Ensemble. Chanticleer
gave the US premiere in 1995 and recorded it for its
Grammy Award-winning album Colors of Love.
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Stephen Paulus
Born August 24, 1949, in Summit, New Jersey
The Lotus Lovers
Stephen Paulus has composed more than 200 works
in a multitude of genres, including commissions from
many of the world’s most prestigious symphony
orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists. His
music has been hailed by The New York Times as
“fresh and familiar at the same time,” and the New
Yorker described Paulus as “a bright, fluid inventor
with a ready lyric gift.” The Lotus Lovers marks
Paulus’ first collaboration with Chanticleer.
The text heard in this performance is translated into
English, but the original Chinese poems by Tzu Yeh
(also spelled Zi Ye) are at once provocative,
sensuous, and redolent of ancient China. Tzu Yeh is
often called the Geisha Poet, however this does not
imply a Japanese tradition. Rather, she was trained in
the arts of Chinese song, dance, calligraphy,
storytelling, and entertainment (a tradition that
continued from antiquity through the early 20th
century). Scholars now question the existence of Tzu
Yeh. It is rather ambiguous if she was one woman or
the creation of many generations of poets wishing to
express the romantic sentiments in these texts. All of
this serves to further shroud this poetry in a veil of
mystery. Stephen Paulus shared these remarks about
the poetry and music:
The Lotus Lovers is a text from the fourth-century
Chinese wine shop girl, Tzu Yeh. I had long wanted
to set some of these poems and when Chanticleer
approached me, I was asked to find a sensual
text to set. The Tzu Yeh poems seemed to fit the
bill wonderfully. The many images evoked in the
poems are rich in descriptions of nature. Tzu Yeh
talks of “endless nights, winter skies, harsh winds,
the moon’s white light, the willows,” and “the sea
breeze.” The translations are by my friend and
colleague, Sam Hamill, who lives in the Pacific
Northwest, is a poet in his own right, and has
made extensive translations of Japanese, Chinese,
and Greek poems.
Musically, I have tried to take advantage of the
tremendous vocal talents of Chanticleer. I have
used everything from unison to divisi chords with
a variety of choral textures and ranges. With each
movement I have tried to exploit a different choral
“portrait” or character.
My deep gratitude is extended to my dear friends,
Mary and Hank Guettel, for their kindness and
generosity. I am happy to offer this work in honor
of their friendship and their wonderful ability to
inspire and motivate.
Program notes by Andrew Morgan, Joseph Jennings,
Matthew Curtis, and Jace Wittig
Veni, dilecte mi
Music by Sebastián de Vivanco
Text from The Song of Songs
Veni, dilecte mi, egrediamur in agro,
commoremur in villis.
Mane surgamus ad vineas;
videamus si floruit vinea,
si flores fructus parturiunt,
si floruerunt mala punica;
ibi dabo tibi ubera mea.
Mandragorae dederunt odorem suum,
in portis nostris omnia poma,
nova et vetera, dilecte mi, servavi tibi.
Sicut lilium inter spinas
Music by Sebastián de Vivanco
Text from The Song of Songs
Sicut lilium inter spinas,
sic amica mea inter filias.
Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum,
sic dilectus meus inter filios.
Sub umbra illius quam desideraveram sedi:
et fructus eius dulcis gutturi meo.
Nigra sum sed formosa
Music by Tomás Luis de Victoria
Text from The Song of Songs
Nigra sum sed formosa filia Jerusalem,
ideo dilexit me Rex,
et introduxit me in cubiculum suum.
Et dixit mihi: surge amica mea et veni.
Jam hiems transiit, imber abiit, et recessit
flores apparuerunt in terra nostra,
tempus putationis advenit.
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
Come, My Beloved
Come, my beloved, let us go out into the countryside,
let us lodge in the villages.
Let us go up to the vineyards at first light;
let us see if the vines are blooming,
if the flowers are bringing forth their fruit,
if the pomegranates are in blossom;
there I will give you my breasts.
The mandrakes give forth their fragrance;
at our gates are all manner of fruits—
new and old—which, my beloved, I have offered up
to you.
Like the Lily among the Thorns
Like the lily among the thorns,
so is my love among maidens.
Like the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight did I sit down under his shadow:
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
I Am Black, but Beautiful
i am a black, but beautiful daughter of Jerusalem,
Therefore I have pleased the Lord,
And he has brought me into his chamber.
And said to me: “Rise up, my darling, and come.
For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,
The flowers have appeared in our land,
The time to prune the vines has come.”
10 11

Ubi caritas
Music by Maurice Duruflé
Text from a traditional hymn
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus, et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Amen.
Épithalame
Music by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
Text from Veni sponsa Christi and The Song of Songs
Veni sponsa Christi,
accipe coronam quam tibi Dominus
praeparavit in aeternum.
Where Charity Is
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ’s love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Where charity and love are, God is there. Amen.
Wedding Poem
Come, Bride of Christ,
accept the crown which the Lord
has prepared for you forever.
Le mien est sien:
Fi de tristesse,
Vive liesse,
Puis qu’en amours j’ai tant de biens!
Quand je la veux servir et honorer,
Quand par écrits veux son nom décorer,
Quand je la vois, et visite souvent,
Les envieux n’en font que murmurer;
Mais notre amour n’en saurait moins durer:
Autant ou plus en emporte le vent.
Malgré envie,
Toute ma vie
Je l’aimerai
Et chanterai:
«C’est la première,
C’est la dernière,
Que j’ai servie, et servirai.»
Mine is hers:
Fie to sadness,
Long live merriment,
Because I have such riches in love!
When I wish to serve and honor her,
When with fine scripts I want to decorate her name,
When I see her, and visit her often,
envious people just murmur about it;
But our love will endure nonetheless:
The rest is idle chatter.
Despite envy,
All my life
i shall love her
And I shall sing:
“She is the first,
She is the last,
Whom I have served, and will serve always.”
Pose-moi comme un sceau sur ton coeur
Comme un sceau sur ton bras
Car l’amour est fort comme la mort
La jalousie est dure comme l’enfer
L’amour ses traits sont de feu
Une flamme de Yahvé!
Les grandes eaux n’ont pu éteindre l’amour
Les fleuves ne le submergeront pas!
Alleluia.
Tant que vivray
Music and text by Claudin de Sermisy
Set me like a seal on your heart
Like a seal on your arm
For love is as strong as death
Jealousy is as cruel as the grave
its flashes are flashes of fire
The very flame of the Lord!
Many waters cannot quench love
neither can the floods drown it!
Alleluia.
As Long as I Am
Toutes les nuits
Music and text by Clément Janequin
Toutes les nuits tu m’es présente
Par songe doux et gracieux.
Mais tous les jours tu m’es absente
Qui m’es regret fort ennuyeux.
Puis donc que la nuit me vaut mieux
Et que je n’ai bien que par songe.
Dormez de jour, Ô pauvres yeux!
Afin que sans cesse je songe.
Every Night
every night you show yourself to me
in sweet and graceful dreams.
But every day you are gone from me,
Which is a most troublesome regret.
it is therefore why I treasure more highly the night
And that I only do well by dreaming.
Sleep away the day, oh my poor eyes!
So that I may forever dream.
Tant que vivray, en âge florissant,
Je servirai d’Amour le dieu puissant,
En faits, en dits, en chansons et accords.
Par plusieurs jours m’a tenu languissant,
Mais après dueil m’a fait réjouissant,
Car j’ai l’amour de la belle au gent corps.
Son alliance,
C’est ma fiance:
Son coeur est mien,
As long as I am in the prime of life,
i shall serve the powerful god of Love,
in all I do and say, in all my songs and harmonies.
For many days he made me languish,
But after mourning he made me rejoice,
Because I have the love of a shapely woman.
Her betrothal,
it is pledged to me:
Her heart is mine,
Revoici venir du printemps
Music and text by Claude Le Jeune
Revoici venir du printemps
L’amoureuse et belle saison.
Le courant des eaux recherchant
Le canal d’été s’éclaircit;
Et la mer calme de ces flots
Ammolit le triste courroux.
Le canard s’égai’ se plongeant,
Here Again Comes the Spring
Here again comes the spring,
the amorous and fair season.
The current of water that seeks
the canal in summer becomes clearer;
and the calm sea
soothes the waves’ sad anger.
The duck, elated, dives,
12 13

Et se lave coi dedans l’eau;
Et la grû’ qui fourche son vol,
Retraverse l’air et s’en va.
Le soleil éclaire luisant
D’une plus séreine clarté;
Du nuage l’ombre s’enfuit,
Qui se jou’ et court et noircit
Et forêts et champs et coteaux.
Le labeur humain reverdit,
Et la pré découvre ses fleurs.
De Vénus le fils Cupidon
L’univers semant de ses traits,
De sa flamme va réchauffer
Animaux, qui volent en l’air,
Animaux, qui rampent aux champs,
Animaux, qui nagent aux eaux.
Ce qui mêmement ne sent pas,
Amoureux se fond de plaisir.
Rions aussi nous, et cherchons
Les ébats et jeux du printemps.
Toute chose rit de plaisir;
Célébrons la gaie saison.
Drei männerchöre
Music by Richard Strauss
Text by Friedrich Rückert
Von den Türen
Ich habe geklopft an des Reichtums Haus;
man reicht mir ’nen Pfennig zum Fenster heraus.
Ich habe geklopft an der Liebe Tür;
da standen schon fünfzehn andre dafür.
Ich klopfte leis’ an der Ehre Schloß;
hier tut man nur auf dem Ritter zu Roß.
Ich habe gesucht der Arbeit Dach;
da hört’ ich drinnen nur Weh und Ach!
Ich suchte das Haus der Zufriedenheit;
es kannt’ es niemand weit und breit.
and washes itself quietly in the water;
and the crane that branches off in flight,
re-crosses the air and flies away.
The sun shines brightly
with a calmer light;
the shadow of the cloud vanishes,
then sports and runs and darkens
forests and fields and slopes.
Human labor flourishes again,
and the prairie unveils its flowers.
Cupid, the son of Venus
seeding the universe with his arrows,
with his flame will rekindle
animals that fly in the air,
animals that crawl in the fields,
animals that swim in the seas.
even those that feel not,
in love they melt in pleasure.
Let us, too, laugh, and let us seek
the sports and games of spring.
everything smiles with pleasure;
let us celebrate the merry season.
At the Gates
i knocked at the house of Wealth;
they handed me a penny through the window.
i knocked at Love’s door;
fifteen others were already standing there.
i knocked softly at the castle of Honor;
here they only open for the knight on horseback.
i sought Labor’s floor;
inside there I heard only “woe” and “alas!”
i sought the house of Contentment;
far and wide, no one knew of it.
Nun weiß ich noch ein Häuslein still,
now I know of another quiet, little house,
wo ich zuletzt anklopfen will.
where I want to knock at last.
Zwar wohnt darin schon mancher Gast,
True, some guests already dwell there,
doch ist für Viele im Grab noch Rast.
but for many, there is still rest in the grave.
Traumlicht
Dreamlight
Ein Licht im Traum hat mich besucht,
A light visited me in my dream,
es nahte kaum und nahm die Flucht.
it barely came near before taking flight.
Der Blick ist tief hier eingesenkt,
The image is here deeply embedded,
den, als ich schlief, du mir geschenkt.
that which you sent me as I slept.
Hell dämmert mild am Tage wach,
even in my waking hours, your luster
O Nachtgebild’, dein Glanz mir nach.
shines brightly upon me, o nocturnal image.
Komm oft, o Stern, in meiner Ruh’!
Come often, o star, during my rest!
Dir schließ’ ich gern die Augen zu.
For you, I gladly close my eyes.
Hell dämmert mild ein Licht im Traum
i often see the bright light of my dream
am Tage mir nach.
during the day.
Komm oft, o Stern, in meiner Ruh’!
Come often, o star, during my rest!
Dir schließ’ ich gern die Augen zu.
For you, I gladly close my eyes.
Fröhlich im Maien
Joyous in May
Blühende Frauen,
Blossoming young women,
lasset euch schauen
let yourselves be seen
fröhlich im Tanze
dancing joyously
unter dem Kranze!
under the wreath!
Tanzet zu zweien
Dance in pairs
unter Schalmeien,
to the sound of shawms [wind instruments],
tanzet am Reihen
dance in rows,
fröhlich im Maien!
joyous in May!
Prüfende Kenner,
The demanding connoisseurs!
kommet, ihr Männer,
Come, you men,
sehet die klaren
see the bright
Bilder sich paaren.
figures couple off.
Tanzen zu zweien . . . Dance in pairs . . .
Freut euch, ihr Alten,
Rejoice, you elders,
junger Gestalten!
in the youthful figures!
Wie ihr gesprungen,
As you once did leap,
springen die Jungen.
so now the young ones leap.
14 15

Tanzen zu zweien . . . Dance in pairs . . .
Junge und schöne
Töchter und Söhne,
Enkel nicht minder
reizend als Kinder.
Young and beautiful
daughters and sons,
and grandchildren no less
charming than children.
Tanzen zu zweien . . . Dance in pairs . . .
Junges Gelichter,
ihr seid nicht Richter;
Jünglinge, wählet,
eh’ es euch fehlet!
Young rascals,
you are not judges;
young men, choose
before you miss out!
Tanzet zu zweien . . . Dance in pairs . . .
(Tra la la . . .) (Tra la la . . .)
Not an End of Loving
Music by Steven Sametz
Where I Become You
Text by Antjie Krog
Where I become you,
there where I am you
have become you
I sing beyond myself
light pulses of quicksilver song
a thing cast beyond all humankind
We Two Boys Together Clinging
Text by Walt Whitman
We two boys together clinging,
One the other never leaving,
Up and down the roads going—North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying—elbows stretching—fingers clutching,
Arm’d and fearless—eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning—sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming—air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,
Fulfilling our foray.
Not an End of Loving
Text by Alcuin of York and adapted from a
translation by Waddell
Come make an end of singing,
come make an end of grief,
but not an end of loving,
no ne’er an end of love.
I made this song, beloved,
with bitter weeping eye,
and yet I know that by God’s grace
we two shall see each other’s face,
and stand together hearts as one,
those constant hearts shall rest as one.
Come make an end of singing,
come make an end of grief,
but not an end of loving,
no not an end of love,
no ne’er an end of love.
This Marriage
Music by Eric Whitacre
Text by Mevlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi
May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good
name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.
A Village Wedding
Music by Sir John Tavener
Text by Angelos Sikelianos
To my beloved, who breaks my heart.
Do you listen within your veil,
Silent, God-quickened heart?
(O depth and stillness of Virginity!)
Follow your man.
Let them throw white rice
Like a spring shower.
May you—her mystical image . . .
Like a spring cloud let her now tenderly spread her
bridal veil.
O the peace of the bridal dawn.
And he listens.
And as in front of a fount of crystal water
Let the girls pass in front of the bride,
Observing her look from the corner of their eyes
As though balancing pitchers on their heads.
O like Leto giving birth to Apollo.
(Do you listen within your veil?)
When, standing, her hands slight and pale.
(Let them throw white rice)
She clasped the ethereal palm tree on Delos, . . .
(Like a spring cloud)
May you—her mystical image . . .
(O the peace of the bridal dawn.)
Held by your husband’s strong heart,
(And he listens.)
Bring into the world
With a single cry your child as the
Poet brings forth his creation.
Refrain: O Isaiah, dance for joy, for the Virgin is with
child.
16 17

From The Lotus Lovers
Music by Stephen Paulus
Text by Tzu Yeh
A Rich Brocade
Bright moonlight fills the trees, and like a rich
brocade, the flowers bloom.
How can I not think of you, alone, lonely?
Late Spring
The willows bend, bend to the seabreeze—
How suddenly springtime flies!
Magpies welcome the summer, but cicadas cry
from the trees.
How suddenly springtime flies!
All Night
All the sleepless night
In the moon’s white light,
Alone,
She listens.
Does his voice call out?
She replies to an empty room.
All the sleepless night,
Alone.
Illusions
The night is endless,
Under the bright moonlight,
And the sleep I long for never, never comes.
Suddenly I hear—I think—your voice, and
I call for you,
My heart racing into my throat.
Only the echo
Answers,
Only the echo to mock me in the night.
And the sleep I long for never, never comes.
Called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by New
Yorker magazine and named Ensemble of the Year by
Musical America in 2008, Chanticleer will perform
more than 100 concerts in 2011-2012, the Grammy
Award-winning ensemble’s 34th season. Praised by
the San Francisco Chronicle for its “tonal luxuriance
and crisply etched clarity,” Chanticleer will tour to 21
of the United States, appearing in a wide variety of
venues including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. A summer
trip to Europe includes prestigious festivals such as
the Edinburgh International Festival, Festival de La
Chaise-Dieu, Musikfest Bremen, the Schleswig-
Holstein Music Festival, and the Rheingau Music
Festival in August. On a 10-country tour in early
2012, the ensemble returned to Europe’s most
renowned concert halls, including the Musikverein
(Vienna), Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
(Budapest), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), and
Philharmonic Hall (Vilnius). Exciting events this season
include Chanticleer’s performance on the soundtrack
of the 10th anniversary release by Microsoft of its
legendary video game Halo, the ensemble’s first live
film score performance, and a return visit to six
California missions with more newly discovered music
of the period.
Based in San Francisco, Chanticleer is known around
the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the
seamless blend of its 12 male voices ranging from
countertenor to bass and its original interpretations
of vocal literature—from Renaissance to jazz and
from gospel to venturesome new music.
Chanticleer’s 30-concert 2011-2012 Bay Area season
opened in September with Love Story—songs
exploring humanity’s most profound and fascinating
emotion—including a new composition by Stephen
Paulus and a new Vince Peterson arrangement of
Somebody to Love by Freddie Mercury. Chanticleer’s
busy Christmas season included the release of Our
CHANTICLEER
Favorite Carols on CD and download, performances
of its beloved A Chanticleer Christmas around the
country and the Bay Area, and the program’s
broadcast on more than 225 National Public Radio
stations. The season continued with What Do You
Think I Fought For, a multimedia program of music
about conflict, including Brent Michael David’s score
for D. W. Griffith’s silent film Leatherstocking. The
season-ending tour includes six of California’s
beautiful and beloved missions.
Chanticleer’s recordings are distributed by
Chanticleer, Rhino Records, and iTunes, among other
outlets, and are available on Chanticleer’s web site,
www.chanticleer.org. New this season is Our Favorite
Carols, popular Christmas music from live
performances as broadcast on American Public
Media. Let It Snow, a collection of Christmas music
released in 2007, was on the Billboard charts for 12
weeks. Colors of Love won the Grammy Award in
2000 for Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or
without conductor) and the Contemporary A
Cappella Recording Award for Best Classical Album.
The world-premiere recording of Sir John Tavener’s
Lamentations and Praises was released in January
2002 to critical acclaim and garnered Grammy
Awards for Classical Best Small Ensemble
Performance (with or without conductor) and for Best
Classical Contemporary Composition. A selection
from this CD is featured in Terrence Malik’s The Tree
of Life. The Chanticleer Live in Concert series now
includes six releases of live recordings.
With the help of individual contributions and
foundation and corporate support, the ensemble
involves more than 5,000 young people annually in its
extensive education program. The 2010-2011 season
saw the creation of the Louis A. Botto Choir, an afterschool
honors program for high school and college
students, which was added to the ongoing program
of in-school clinics and workshops; Chanticleer Youth
18 19

Choral Festivals in the Bay Area and around the
country, including the National Youth Choral Festival
every four years; master classes for university
students nationwide; and the Chanticleer in Sonoma
summer workshop for adult choral singers. The
Singing Life, a documentary about Chanticleer’s work
with young people, was released in 2008. In 2010,
Chanticleer’s education program was recognized by
the Chorus America Education Outreach Award.
Chanticleer’s long-standing commitment to
commissioning and performing new works was
honored in 2008 by the inaugural Dale Warland
Singers Commission Award (presented by Chorus
America) and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for
Adventurous Programming for the 2006-2007 season,
in which 10 new works were premiered. Among the
70 composers commissioned in Chanticleer’s history
are Mark Adamo, Mason Bates, Régis Campo, Chen
Yi, David Conte, Shawn Crouch, Douglas J. Cuomo,
Brent Michael Davids, Anthony Davis, Guido López-
Gavilán, William Hawley, Jake Heggie, Jackson Hill,
Kamran Ince, Jeeyoung Kim, Tania León, Jaakko
Mäntyjärvi, Michael McGlynn, Peter Michaelides,
John Musto, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik,
Shulamit Ran, Bernard Rands, Steven Sametz, Carlos
Sanchez-Gutierrez, Jan Sandström, Paul Schoenfield,
Steven Stucky, Sir John Tavener, Augusta Read
Thomas, and Janike Vandervelde.
Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded
in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the
ensemble until 1989 and served as artistic director
until his death in 1997. In 1999, Christine Bullin
joined Chanticleer as president and general director.
Joseph Jennings joined the ensemble as a
countertenor in 1983 and shortly thereafter assumed
the title of music director, which he held until his
retirement in 2008. Jennings has arranged some of
Chanticleer’s most popular repertoire, most notably
spirituals, gospel music, and jazz standards. Tenor
Matthew D. Oltman succeeded Jennings in 2008
and retired in 2011.
Chanticleer is the current recipient of major grants
from the Carol Franc Buck Foundation, the Ann and
Gordon Getty Foundation, the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation, the E. Nakamichi Foundation,
the Bernard Osher Foundation, the Bob Ross
Foundation, Wells Fargo, Grants for the Arts/San
Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the National Endowment
for the Arts, Rabobank, and USArtists International.
Chanticleer’s activities as a not-for-profit
corporation are supported by its administrative
staff and board of trustees.
Jace Wittig, the interim music director and baritone,
is pleased to be in his sixth season with Chanticleer.
An Indianapolis native, he began his musical training
early with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, touring
often in North America and Europe. He received his
BM in vocal performance at Ball State University in
Muncie, Indiana, where he studied voice with Craig
Priebe and piano with Jim Helton. Before joining
Chanticleer, he sang in Indianapolis with Cantabile
and the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and also
worked as a studio singer at Aire Born Studios. His
other interests include stumbling through old piano
music and cooking for his loved ones. He is glad to
have the unending support of his friends and family
and is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with
Chanticleer.
Eric Alatorre, bass, joined Chanticleer in the last
century. Really. Now the provider of much of the
Chanticleer lore from former times, he is enjoying
sharing the joy of singing with some of his
colleagues, who are, quite literally, a new generation
of singers. He still enjoys being able to perform all
over the country and the world, which gives him
plenty of time to explore his other passion: food. A
part-time hedonist and full-time wine enthusiast, he
is always looking for another wonderful dining
experience to share with friends and his fellow
singers on the road. His other passions include
promoting Apple products to others, eating his way
around the world, being married to his wonderful
wife Dorothee, and enjoying watching his daughter,
Mia, discover the joys of learning English, German,
and Spanish.
Michael Axtell, bass-baritone, is proudly singing in
his second season with Chanticleer. He is a recent
graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wisconsin, where he received a BM in vocal
performance and a BA in theatre. He studied voice
under the tutelage of Karen Leigh-Post, whose
PROFILES
guidance and support were instrumental in the
healthy vocal navigation of the myriad of operas,
musicals, and ensembles in which he performed.
While in the choir under Richard Bjella, he performed
as a soloist at regional and national conventions of
the American Choral Directors Association. In 2009,
he participated in the A.I.S. Triple Threat Workshop
in Germany, whose faculty included Janet Tyler and
Richard Lissemore. Apart from performing, Axtell’s
passions include cooking, eating, mixing drinks,
drinking them, and the logical summation: throwing
dinner parties. He sends his love and thanks to his
family and to Kurt for their belief and
encouragement.
Casey Breves, soprano, is thrilled to be in his second
season with Chanticleer. Originally from New York
City, he graduated from Yale University in 2010. At
Yale, he was a member of the Schola Cantorum
(conducted by Masaaki Suzuki and Simon
Carrington), the Duke’s Men, and the centennial class
of the Whiffenpoofs of Yale. He sang the title role in
Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Norfolk Chamber Music
Festival, performed a recital of Mendelssohn lieder at
the Southport Summer Music Festival, and made his
New York debut in The Fall of the House of Usher at
FringeNYC. Most recently, he was a featured soloist
in the world premiere of the oratorio A Melancholy
Beauty at the Kennedy Center and Avery Fisher Hall.
Favorite opera roles include Lindoro in L’Italiana in
Algeri, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore, and Sam Kaplan
in Street Scene. He has studied voice with Victoria
Clark and Ian Howell.
Matthew Curtis, tenor, is excited to be in his second
year with Chanticleer. A Wisconsin native, he recently
received his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance
and music education as a Liberace Scholar from
Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He
continued studying for a year in the graduate school
at the University of Minnesota. Matthew recently
performed with the internationally acclaimed Rose
20 21

Ensemble in St. Paul, Minnesota, and with the Santa
Fe Desert Chorale. Curtis’ solo performances include
lyric tenor roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte,
Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, and Števa in
Jenåfa. He has received numerous awards from the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and
the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In
his spare time, Matthew runs a business providing
recorded multitrack learning mp3s for choral singers.
Matthew lives with his wife, Robynn, in beautiful
Marin County.
Brian Hinman, tenor, began singing choral music as
a young boy in the suburbs of Chicago. He studied
vocal performance at the University of Tennessee
and, after leaving school, cultivated comfort on stage
by performing in numerous theatrical productions;
sang in a gospel choir; dabbled in bluegrass, rock
and roll, and a little bit of soul; and had visions of
becoming a jazz singer. Before his journey with
Chanticleer, Hinman studied jazz and acting in New
York City, where he began to learn what it means to
be an artist. In New York, he sang with an assortment
of ensembles, and, throughout his varied artistic
pursuits, choral music remained a consistent outlet
and continued to hold a special place in his heart.
Hinman is in his sixth season with Chanticleer as both
singer and road manager.
Ben Jones, tenor, enjoyed a musical upbringing in
Peoria, Illinois. Born into a family of string players, he
began his training on the cello and the French horn
at an early age. While earning a film degree at the
University of Illinois, he studied voice, performed in
opera productions, and directed the acclaimed
comedy octet The Other Guys. His versatile voice
can be heard on recordings under the Albany label
and on national radio spots for Coors Light. As a
soloist, he has shared the stage with Nathan Gunn,
Rita Moreno, Helmuth Rilling, Val Diamond, and Ian
Hobson. In the years before joining Chanticleer,
Jones performed regularly in San Francisco as a
soloist with the St. Dominic’s Solemn Mass Choir, as
a cast member of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket
Babylon, and as the conductor of multiple Bay Area
youth ensembles, including the San Jose Youth
Symphony. He holds a master’s degree from the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied
voice with César Ulloa and conducting with Michael
Morgan.
Matthew Knickman, baritone, is proud to be in his
first season with Chanticleer. Born in Korea, he
started singing as a member of the St. Stephen’s
Choir of Men and Boys in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He graduated from Westminster Choir College of
Rider University with a BM and an MM in voice
performance and pedagogy. While at Westminster,
he sang with the critically acclaimed Westminster
Choir and Westminster Kantorei in multiple
performances with the New York Philharmonic,
Dresden Philharmonic, and New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra. Prior to joining Chanticleer, he also
performed with organizations such as Les Violons du
Roy et La Chapelle de Québec, Early Music New
York, the Masterwork Chorus, the Antioch Chamber
Ensemble, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the
Opera Theatre of Weston, and Spoleto Festival USA.
He has been a soloist for numerous oratorios and
Bach cantatas, including St. John Passion and St.
Matthew Passion with early music organizations such
as Fuma Sacra, the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, and
the Carmel Bach Festival. In 2010, he was a finalist in
the Sixth Biennial Bach Vocal Competition for
American Singers. When not singing, Knickman
enjoys skydiving and comfort foods and is an
exercise and nutritional science enthusiast.
Cortez Mitchell, alto, is a native of Detroit,
Michigan. He graduated from Morgan State
University with a BA in music and a BS in
mathematics and holds an MM in voice from the
University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of
Music. As Minnesota Opera’s first resident artist
countertenor, he performed the role of Cherubino in
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and covered Nicklausse
in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. With Urban
Opera, he performed the role of First Witch in
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He has been featured in
solo performances of J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 147,
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, with the Dayton
Philharmonic Orchestra; R. Nathaniel Dett’s The
Ordering of Moses and Adolphus Hailstork’s Done
Made My Vow with the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra; Rachmaninoff’s Vespers in St. Petersburg,
Russia; and Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise with the Jazz at
Lincoln Center Orchestra. Mitchell has received
awards from the National Opera Association, the
Washington International Competition for Singers,
and the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum
Competition. Mitchell is in his fifth season with
Chanticleer.
Gregory Peebles, soprano, is thrilled to be returning
for his fourth season with Chanticleer. Originally from
Hartselle, Alabama, he first performed for the public
as a very young boy singing gospel music with his
family. Eventually, he left the revival circuit for the
University of Mississippi in Oxford. After graduating
cum laude from Ole Miss, he found his way to
Chicago, where he spent the better part of this
century singing with musicians in such prestigious
ensembles as Schola Antiqua (an ensemble-inresidence
at the University of Chicago), as well as the
choruses of the Lyric Opera and the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. More recently, he completed
his graduate degree in vocal performance at the
Chicago College of Performing Arts, where he
studied with Mark Crayton. In addition to being a
singer, he is a composer whose works have been
performed in the United States and Europe. In his
spare time, he enjoys poetry and exploring San
Francisco, the most recent addition to a list of
beautiful cities he can call home.
Kory Reid, soprano, raised in Napa Valley, was
fortunate to have been a part of the choral program
at Napa High School under the direction of Travis
Rogers. While there, he participated in one of
Chanticleer’s educational residencies and is now
thrilled to be singing with the ensemble. He studied
music education at Pepperdine University and
recently completed his master’s degree in choral and
sacred music from the University of Southern
California. Reid is a sought-out countertenor soloist
who has sung for the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale,
the Los Robles Master Chorale, the Catgut Trio, the
USC Chamber Singers, the Pepperdine University
Concert Choir, Collegium Musicum, and many
diverse choral recitals and church music programs in
southern California. He is a barbershop music
enthusiast, being a district finalist in the quartet
contest and a past member of the Westminster
Chorus, which won the International Barbershop
Chorus Contest in 2010. Reid has taught voice
privately and served as the music director for St.
Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Newbury
Park, California. In his spare time, he enjoys watching
movies, drinking wine, and eating Korean barbeque.
Alan Reinhardt, alto, is pleased to be in his sixth
season with Chanticleer. He grew up in Long Island,
New York, and, prior to joining, sang with various
ensembles in New York City, including the St.
Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and Early Music New
York, and appeared in performances with the New
York Philharmonic. In 2005, he sang the lead
countertenor role in the premiere of the dance/opera
A More Perfect Union with the Perm State P. I.
Tschaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in Russia as
part of the International Diaghilev Festival. Reinhardt
holds degrees from SUNY Potsdam and the
University of Illinois.
Adam Ward, alto, is originally from Tecumseh,
Oklahoma. Ward began singing professionally as a
countertenor while studying French horn
performance at Yale University. There, he was also a
founding member of Schola Cantorum, conducted
by Simon Carrington. Ward has since performed as a
soloist with the International Contemporary
Ensemble and was a member of the Choir of the
Church of St. Mary the Virgin at the famed Smokey
Mary’s in midtown Manhattan. As a horn player,
Ward has performed in numerous countries under
many of the world’s leading conductors. He was a
22 23

member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, a winner
of the concerto competitions at Yale University and
Stony Brook University, and a top prizewinner at the
Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, the
Fischoff Competition, and the Chamber Music Yellow
Springs Annual Competition. His compositions have
been performed at festivals including the Banff
Summer Arts Festival, the Verbier Festival, the
Altenburg Music Festival, and OK Mozart. Ward
holds a BM from the Manhattan School of Music,
holds an MM from the Yale School of Music, and has
completed additional years of study at the Hartt
School, the Royal College of Music in London, and
Stony Brook University. Ward is currently in his sixth
season with Chanticleer.
Ben Johns, the director of education, finished his
master’s degree in choral conducting in 2009 at the
University of California at Irvine and holds
undergraduate degrees in dance, vocal performance,
and chemistry. Johns earned merit-based graduate
fellowships, teaching assistantships, and scholarships
including the Tierney Scholarship, the Ann and
Gordon Getty Scholarship, the Mary and Phillip
Lyons Scholarship, and the Mertis “Sunny” Brown
Scholarship. He also earned the Chancellor’s Award
for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for his
honor’s thesis paper, “Exploring the Neurobiological
Basis for the Effect of Movement on the Voice,”
which he presented at the American Association of
Physics Teachers conference at California State
University at Sacramento in 2004. Johns sang in
Chanticleer for three years before moving to his
current position as its director of education. His
education duties include, but are not limited to,
directing Chanticleer’s LAB Choir and giving master
classes to Bay Area high school and middle school
choirs. Johns also teaches voice privately and
continues to sing professionally as a soloist and
choral artist around the country.
Christine Bullin, Chanticleer’s president and general
director, oversees the organization’s artistic and
operational activities. Prior to her current position
with Chanticleer, Bullin served as the director of the
Opera Training Center for the Paris Opera, directing
a new training center for singers. During her tenure
there, she managed all administrative, financial, and
artistic activities and produced numerous operas and
concerts. From 1982 to 1993, Bullin was the director
of the San Francisco Opera Center, where she
created and revised existing musical training
programs for young artists now revered throughout
the operatic world. She was responsible for a
number of initiatives, including a long-term exchange
program with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
and Pacific Voices, a project that involved 10 Pacific
Rim countries. She was the executive producer for
three video documentaries about the San Francisco
Opera Center, including the Rocky Mountain Emmy
Award-winning Scaling the Wall, which featured the
historic visit of the Western Opera Theater to China.
In recognition of her work in San Francisco, she was
the recipient of the Bernard Osher Cultural Award in
1991. Prior to joining the San Francisco Opera, she
directed the touring company of the Opera
Company of Boston. Bullin is a frequent panelist and
competition jury member for various groups,
including the National Endowment for the Arts and
the California Arts Council, and was the cultural chair
of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister Cities
Committee. A native of New Zealand, she holds
degrees from Wellesley College and Simmons
College and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.
Chanticleer Staff Members
Christine Bullin, President and General Director
Liv Nilssen, Director of Development
Curt Hancock, Director of Operations and Touring
Ben Johns, Director of Education and Merchandise
Brian Bauman, Senior Accountant/Budget Manager
Joe Ledbetter, Marketing/Development and IT
Systems Manager
Barbara Bock, Development and Marketing Associate
Jace Wittig, Interim Music Director
Matthew Curtis, Assistant Music Director
Brian Hinman, Road Manager
Adam Ward, Merchandise Manager
Ben Jones and Matthew Knickman, Merchandise
Associates
Press Representation: Brenda Hughes
Artist Management: Opus 3 Artists Ltd.
Label Manager: Lisa Nauful
Pro Bono Consultant: Susan Overman
Printed Music Source: Musical Resources
Graphic Design: Debra Turner
Travel Agent: Tour Arts
Box Office Agency: City Box Office
Chanticleer Founder: Louis Botto (1951–1997)
Music Director Emeritus: Joseph H. Jennings
Chanticleer recordings are available on the Warner
Classics and Chanticleer Records labels. Musical
Resources is the printed-music source for Chanticleer.
For more information about Chanticleer, please see
www.chanticleer.org.
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