Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang in the Ensemble until 1989 and served as Artistic Director until his death in 1997. This world famous group is based in San Francisco (I know, I know), and perhaps is best know for its signature song, the Franz Biebl version of Ave Maria. They cannot end a performance without honoring a request to perform it. The Biebl Ave Maria was brought to the United States, from a singing tour in Germany, by the Cornell University Glee Club, in 1964, and adopted quickly by Chanticleer.
Merry Christmas.
