Friends of Chamber Music presents the GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer with an exclusive holiday program, A Chanticleer Christmas. This unique digital event will premiere online on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7pm; it will be available on demand through Sunday, Dec. 6.
The name of this vocal group may be familiar to many music lovers in the Brazos Valley, as Chanticleer performed in College Station in 1992. For those who were in the audience 28 years ago, watching A Chanticleer Christmas Concert and Interview in early December of this year will be a very special event.
A Chanticleer Christmas is the Chanticleer’s legendary holiday tradition the ensemble re-imagines and re-creates every year. This holiday season, instead of offering A Chanticleer Christmas throughout the country, twelve Chanticleer singers have recorded this program at their home base in San Francisco Bay Area.
This thoughtfully designed and masterfully filmed production is an art film created as a meditative response of the ensemble to the challenging times, with singers trying to find joy in this transformed Christmas season. Beginning in the darkness of winter, isolation, and mystery of Christmas Eve, it unfolds into the light, warmth, and connection of Christmas morning. One of the most fascinating and bold steps taken in program choices for this concert is the decision to feature two pieces from the Armenian Divine Liturgy by Komitas, an early-20th century Armenian composer. This music is very little-known, but it is unique and beautiful, bolstered by strong sonorities of the original language.
Chanticleer musicians recorded this concert after undergoing two weeks of quarantine, staying away from their families, friends, and homes. In an exclusive interview following the concert, four Chanticleer singers will answer questions about how this new way of life has affected them. This discussion will include commentary on their fascinating program choices, rigorous audition process for new singers, special masks they wear while rehearsing, and background on the name of the group, Chanticleer. Don McAvoy, artistic director and conductor of the Brazos Valley Chorale, will join Andreas Kronenberg, Friends of Chamber Music president, and Elena Reece, Friends of Chamber Music artistic director, for this special post-concert interview.
From the Renaissance to the late 20th-century vocal works, this program is a reflection on the current state of the world and an inspirational comment on the transitionary passage that it has undertaken this year.
Friends of Chamber Music is the only presenting organization in Texas and one of only three organizations nationwide that offers this program.
During the spring semester of 2021, Chanticleer musicians will also conduct an interactive educational outreach event online with students from local schools.
Chanticleer Concert and THE ENCORE! premieres online on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7pm. The event will also be available on demand through Sunday, Dec. 6. To reserve free access to the Chanticleer Christmas Concert and THE ENCORE! register at fcmtx.org.
