Program - Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

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
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