\t\t\t4<\/i><\/p>\n STEPHEN K. MACK<\/p>\n Chanticleer will perform at The Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark, on Dec. 6, and at St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan, Dec. 5 and 7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, and it is about to get even more wonderful for Chanticleer, the San Francisco-based men\u2019s chorus, as they gear up for their signature holiday tour. Music director Tim Keeler says that the treasured holiday tradition, \u201cA Chanticleer Christmas,\u201d is designed \u201cto bring joy around the country as we go through the dark winter months leading up to Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n This year\u2019s tour, Nov. 29 to Dec. 23, features approximately 20 stops, including a concert at NJPAC in Newark, Dec. 6; and two at St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan, Dec. 5 and 7.<\/p>\n The program of holiday choral music combines Renaissance masterworks, classic Christmas carols in new arrangements, winter-themed contemporary pieces and festive spirituals. This edition is extra special because it celebrates Chanticleer\u2019s new Christmas album, Joy to the World<\/em>, which was released on Oct. 31 on the Delos label of Outhere Music. The album is about an hour long and includes 17 pieces that will all be performed at the concerts.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually in our concerts we have a couple tracks that we have recorded before, but this time everything on the album is on the program, plus a couple other extra pieces as well,\u201d says Keeler.<\/p>\n Their annual holiday tour goes back many decades and has a devoted following. \u201cIt usually starts just after Thanksgiving when everybody\u2019s in the holiday mood and we do a concert almost every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas \u2014 sometimes two a day,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cIt is a lot of Christmas cheer that we\u2019re spreading!\u201d<\/p>\n Concerts always begin by the glow of candlelight. Singers hold candles and proceed onto the stage, or come down an aisle if the venue is a church.<\/p>\n CHANTICLEER<\/p>\n TIM KEELER<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe start with Renaissance motets and Gregorian chants to set the winter tone and to sort of evoke that darkness of the season, which creates a very special winter vibe,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cThen we blow out the candles, the lights come up, and the rest of the concert is just full of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Early music selections will include \u201cRorate Caeli\u201d by Michael Praetorius, \u201cO Magnum Mysterium\u201d by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and \u201cEcce Virgo Concipiet\u201d by Crist\u00f3bal de Morales.<\/p>\n Keeler aims to bring out vocal textures that are well-blended, bright and musical. \u201cOne thing that\u2019s been very special about Chanticleer is the way that it has been able to maintain the \u2018Chanticleer sound\u2019 throughout its history,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cA lot of that has to do with the unique set of voice types we have \u2014 six countertenors, three tenors and three basses.\u201d<\/p>\n Chanticleer \u2014 named after the \u201cclear-singing\u201d rooster in Chaucer\u2019s Canterbury Tales \u2014 was founded in 1978 by Louis Botto as a vocal chamber music ensemble rooted in Renaissance choral repertoire. Over the years it has evolved into a 12-member, male a cappella choir. They perform about 100 concerts annually, all over the world.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of my favorite parts about working with Chanticleer is the variety of repertoire that we get to do and the talented arrangers and composers that we get to work with,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cWe\u2019ve got classical commissions, early music, popular music, vocal jazz, and we end our Christmas show with a spiritual medley.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the composers they love working with is Joanna Marsh. The new album includes two of her new works, co-commissioned by Chanticleer and Zero8, a Stockholm-based choir that they will perform with in Stockholm, in February.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s an organist and her music is just so lush and rich, and it has this feeling that it never stops,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cI like to say it\u2019s always unfolding and spinning, and you\u2019re always looking at a new perspective. It keeps moving forward in such a thrilling way.\u201d<\/p>\n The cover of Chanticleer\u2019s album, \u201cJoy to the World.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A couple of years ago, Chanticleer sang Marsh\u2019s song \u201cIn Winter\u2019s House\u201d on tour and they immediately fell in love with it, so they asked her to write two companion pieces. The result was \u201cHands and the Hour\u201d and \u201cArrival at the Lantern Festival,\u201d both set to secular wintertime poems by British poet Jane Draycott. The three choral works form the album\u2019s \u201cWinter\u2019s Garland\u201d triptych.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018Hands and the Hour\u201d is about twilight \u2014 that time between the sun setting and darkness \u2014 and how wintertime sunsets are earlier,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cI think the piece captures that moment in a very special way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cArrival at the Lantern Festival\u201d evokes the feelings of an outdoor Christmas market. \u201cThere is always Wassail and some sort of fried dough,\u201d says Keeler. \u201cEverybody is kind of close together and it\u2019s cold outside and you\u2019re all bundled up, and you\u2019re looking at all the ornaments and trinkets for sale. It\u2019s just full of joy. There is Christmas winter holiday excitement bubbling up through that piece.\u201d<\/p>\n Other contemporary works include Sarah Quartel\u2019s \u201cThis Endris Night\u201d and Steven Sametz\u2019s \u201cA Christmas Fanfare (Angelus ad Virginem).\u201d<\/p>\n No holiday album is complete without timeless Christmas carols. Chanticleer offers seven new arrangements, each with their own twist, including new voicings and harmonies. \u201cWe always try to bring a new perspective to the Christmas carols while maintaining the familiar melodies and texts,\u201d Keeler says. \u201cIf our fans have been coming to our concerts for years and years, there\u2019s still something new for them to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the new arrangements were written by Chanticleer members, including Keeler. His two contributions include \u201cI Wonder as I Wander\u201d and a little-known Appalachian folk tune called \u201cAnd the Trees Do Moan.\u201d<\/p>\n JOEL SIMON<\/p>\n CHANTICLEER<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Other Chanticleer singers contributing arrangements include bass-baritone Jared Graveley (\u201cGood King Wenceslas\u201d\/\u201dLittle Girl Blue,\u201d \u201cOnce in Royal David\u2019s City,\u201d \u201cSilent Night\u201d) and countertenor Adam Brett Ward, who is the ensemble\u2019s longest tenured singer (\u201cDing Dong Merrily on High,\u201d \u201cJoy to the World\u201d).<\/p>\n Also included on the album is \u201cO Come, All Ye Faithful\u201d arranged by Amanda Taylor, a member of the vocal quartet s\u00e4je.<\/p>\n Amusingly enough, Joy to the World<\/em> was recorded in late June and early July at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. \u201cNot only were we recording it in San Francisco, which never has any snow,\u201d says Keeler, \u201cbut we were recording it in the middle of the summer, in a church, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. to reduce traffic noise in the takes. On top of that, most of the lights had to be off in the church because they made a lot of noise, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was totally bizarre, but also a very special occasion because when you work like that, it\u2019s almost like a bit of a retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n Keeler joined the group in 2017-18, singing as a countertenor, then went back to school for a doctorate in choral conducting. He returned in 2020 as music director, the sixth in Chanticleer\u2019s 48-year history. On occasion he sings at concerts, particularly if the repertoire is early music or if someone calls out sick. But most of the time you can find him sitting in the back, taking notes.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually my job is a little more behind the scenes,\u201d he says. \u201cI rehearse the ensemble, pick the repertoire, run soundchecks for the group and make sure everyone\u2019s sounding good.\u201d<\/p>\n He also handles programming of future seasons and planning of the educational programs. \u201cEducation is a big part of what we do,\u201d he says. \u201cWhenever we\u2019re on the road, we try to meet for educational engagements, whether it is collegiate groups, high school groups or community ensembles.\u201d<\/p>\n He calls San Francisco home these days but has lived all over, including New Jersey and New York. He did his undergraduate work at Princeton University and, before joining Chanticleer, studied, worked and performed in New York.<\/p>\n After the tour wraps, he always tries to make it back to his hometown of Newark, Delaware, to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Holiday traditions include a rewatch of \u201cWhite Christmas,\u201d the 1954 musical. He also listens to the Christmas Eve service held in King\u2019s College Chapel, a Cambridge tradition that goes back to 1918. He lived in England while attending The University of Cambridge, \u201cso I always like to listen to that every time Christmas rolls around.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding his future with Chanticleer, he says: \u201cI\u2019m feeling more and more at home, and more and more excited about the music we put out there. My background is more on the early side of things so if I had to put my finger on it, that\u2019s where my first love is, and Chanticleer is thrilling to me just because we do so many other things, and we do them all so well.\u201d<\/p>\n Chanticleer will perform at The Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. (visit ticketmaster.com<\/a>.) and at St. Ignatius Loyala in Manhattan, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. (visit ignatius.nyc\/music\/concerts<\/a>). For more on the group, visit chanticleer.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.njarts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9.-Tim-Keeler-c-Chanticleer.jpg?resize=336%2C416&ssl=1\")
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