Grammy-Winning A Cappella Group Chanticleer To Perform With Century Singers, High School Ensembles At Rudder Theatre
Grammy-winning ensemble Chanticleer will star in an upcoming event that also includes Texas A&M University and College Station High School contributions.
The all-male, a cappella group will perform with the the Texas A&M Century Singers during the concert on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. at Rudder Theatre. An oil painting titled “Prima Muse,” created by Dmitri Koustov, senior lecturer in the Visualization program, will be onstage during the performance. And two choral ensembles from College Station High School will have a pre-concert performance at 6:15 p.m. in the Rudder Exhibit Hall.
The event is co-sponsored by the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts and the Friends of Chamber Music of Bryan-College Station.
Elena Reece, artistic director for Friends of Chamber Music, said the San Francisco-based Chanticleer performed in Bryan-College Station in 1992, and she is excited to see the group return.
“It is an amazing opportunity for college students and high school students to engage with this stellar group on a more personal level,” Reece said. “Chanticleer will rehearse with the Century Singers on the day of the performance and prepare the students to sing with them onstage later that night. It’s the first educational collaboration at such a high level of student involvement ever organized by Friends of Chamber Music, and we hope that it’ll be an inspirational experience for all the students personally engaged with this project.”
Gerrod Pagenkopf, countertenor, assistant music director and education coordinator for Chanticleer, is in his ninth season with the group, which has soprano, alto, tenor and bass singers. They will perform about 25 songs, including two songs with the Century Singers.
Pagenkopf said he appreciates any opportunity to perform with students at the collegiate and high school levels.
“These are our future consumers and producers of the arts, so I think anything that we can do to get them more excited about singing is a wonderful thing to do,” Pagenkopf said. “If you ask anybody in the ensemble, each of us can remember the first time we saw Chanticleer, and that was a motivating factor for us to pursue music in some way. And now as members of Chanticleer, getting to sing with these younger students is just amazing. It is great to work with people who are as excited about singing as we are.”
Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by Louis Botto, who wanted to curate a repertoire of vocal music of the medieval and Renaissance periods, Pagenkopf said. Botto chose members of choirs he performed in — the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. There were nine original members, Pagenkopf said, and the group now has 12.
“Our breadth of repertoire ranges from the Renaissance — music from the 16th and 17th centuries — all the way up through pop music and contemporary choral music that was written just a few years ago,” Pagenkopf said. “And we do a lot of everything in between as well — a lot of serious classical German partsongs, showtunes, vocal jazz, folk songs. We do anything we can get our voices around.”
Thomas Gerber, assistant director of choral activities for the Century Singers, said the group is excited for the opportunity, with about 100 singers performing. He called Chanticleer “one of the best choirs around.”
“I’m hoping the audience will walk away from this concert having been moved in some way,” he said. “When you get to experience artistry of this level, it can be very impactful emotionally and spiritually.”
Katy Zorn, director of choirs at College Station High School, said her students are eager to perform for the pre-concert event. The CSHS Chorale has 31 students and is a varsity choir, and Purple Reign is an a cappella group with 12 members.
“I am so thrilled they get this opportunity to perform a pre-concert for such a noted vocal ensemble,” Zorn said. “It is an experience they will never forget.”
The theme for the concert centers around music that addresses climate change and how the world interacts with nature, Pagenkopf said. Several songs personify aspects of nature, he said.
“I want people to think about nature in a different way and realize that the things you see every day — there is a reason they are there,” he said. “Nature is such a great inspiration for composers, artists and poets.”
Pagenkopf said Chanticleer members are ecstatic to perform again in Texas, a place where “choral music is highly valued,” he said.
“Seeing a choir as large as the Century Singers makes me so happy,” he said. “We are very excited to come and work with the students, and we are excited to share this opportunity with them.”
Sponsors for the concert include Robin Glover, Hays Glover, Janet Johnson, Bill Johnson, Becky Russell, Don Russell and Mark Symm.
Tickets can be purchased at the MSC Box Office website.
Top photo by Stephen K. Mack.
