Known around the world for its eclectic repertoire and dazzling virtuosity, the Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed by the Boston Globe as “breathtaking in its accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, of color and swagger of style.” Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, an “orchestra of voices” performing thousands of live concerts and selling more than one million recordings.

Under the leadership of Music Director Tim Keeler, Chanticleer maintains a schedule of approximately 100 performances a year in the U.S. and internationally. During the 2026–27 season, the ensemble tours in the U.S., Canada, and Europe with their new program, “Paradise,” exploring humanity’s eternal longing for the ideal. Spanning centuries, cultures, and styles, the program includes music by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Valentini, Milhaud, Duruflé, Sibelius, and arrangements of contemporary songs by Jacob Collier, Richard Evans, and Manuel Sánchez Acosta. Chanticleer also continues to celebrate America’s 250th year of independence with the “Our American Journey” program; performs director Elkhanah Pulitzer’s staging of “The Machaut Project: Devotion and Desire” in the Bay Area, following the release of Machaut on Delos / Outhere Music, continues to present its iconic holiday program, “A Chanticleer Christmas,” in December; and gives joint performances with the early music string ensemble ACRONYM.

Rooted in the Renaissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has expanded over nearly five decades to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz, and popular music. With a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements, Chanticleer foregrounds American repertoire and a distinctively American sound, complementing the group’s signature diversity in terms of membership and genre. The ensemble has dedicated much of its vast recording catalogue to these commissions, garnering Grammy Awards for its recordings of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations & Praises and the ambitious collection of commissioned works entitled Colors of Love. Chanticleer’s 2002 album Our American Journey was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2025. The group is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Commission Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Chanticleer’s Music Director Emeritus, Joseph H. Jennings, received the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition – comprising more than a hundred arrangements – during his 25-year tenure as both singer and Music Director.

Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008, and inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame the same year.