Chanticleer croons on campus

On Saturday evening Weber State University will be visited by one of the top vocal groups in the world.
“They bill themselves as the world’s premier male chorus, and I think they’re probably right,” said Mark Henderson, director of choral studies at WSU. “They are highly respected and are really one of the finest musical ensembles in the world.”
Founded in 1978 by Louis Botto, Chanticleer takes its name from the “clear-singing rooster” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The name itself is the combination of French words chanter (to sing) and clair (clear).
“They’re one of the best, so if you have an appreciation for good things and well-done music, then you will want to see it,” said Casey Wood, a WSU sophomore studying choral education.
Over their 31-year history, the Grammy-award-winning group has played all over the world.
“We’ve been trying to bring them in for about five years, but their touring schedule has been as such that we weren’t able to find a date until this season,” said Diane Neri Stern, director of cultural affairs for WSU. “We’ve been looking forward to having this group for a lot of reasons and just because of their sheer excellence.”
Attendees can expect to hear a broad spectrum of music sung by the 12 men, whose vocal training is extensive.
“Even if you don’t appreciate the music, you have to appreciate the technical skill,” said Derek Myler, a sophomore focusing on choral music studies. “It’s incredibly technically difficult what they do and they do it almost perfectly.”
Both technically and in terms of their catalog, Chanticleer has numerous ways to demonstrate their vocal abilities.
“They often do a real wide variety of music,” Henderson said. “They specialize in music of the last 500 years, so they’re excellent at Renaissance and very early chant. They also do contemporary music, contemporary classical, folk song arrangements and jazz. They’re highly versatile, really entertaining.”
Some of the members have even taken special training to be able to sing in a much higher range.
“There are three counter-tenors, meaning they sing a woman’s part,” Myler said. “Most of them have doctorates in counter-tenor performance. It takes years and years of graduate training to be able to do it accurately, but basically they sing soprano and other women’s parts but they’re male singers, so the technical difficulty in that is just incredible.”
Many members of the staff and student body said they are looking forward to seeing the show for such a low price.
“I don’t know if it would’ve fit into our budget,” Henderson said. “Because they are such a big name group, it really is quite a coup for us to get them to come here.”
Being brought to WSU by the Cultural Affairs department, Chanticleer has already earned a reputation. However, students and the Ogden community can now hear for themselves what all the fuss is about.
“I’m delighted,” Stern said. “The cultural affairs series tries to have the highest level of performers on it, and these guys fit.”
Chanticleer will be playing Saturday, Nov. 7 evening in the Browning Center’s Austad Auditorium at 7:30 pm. Tickets range from $12 to $15, but students who show up at 6:30 will have the opportunity to buy “student rush” tickets for a discounted  price of $10.