Join Chanticleer at Sonoma State University (SSU) for an intensive five-day program of coaching, classes and rehearsals designed to make you the best choral singer that you can be. In a beautiful wine country setting just one hour from San Francisco, you’ll receive in-depth instruction and valuable performance tips from America’s premier classical vocal ensemble.

Joseph Jennings, Chanticleer’s Music Director, directs the workshop, together with Robert Worth, SSU’s Director of Choral Music, and the members of Chanticleer. The twelve singers of the GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble participate in chamber ensemble coaching sessions and demonstrations of rehearsal techniques, as well as informal interactions with workshop participants throughout the workshop.

The Chanticleer in Sonoma Choral Workshop is designed for experienced chamber chorus or other choral singers at the university-level and beyond. Maximum enrollment is 64 singers. Male and female singers with good sight-singing ability are encouraged to apply. Admission is determined by specific criteria, including vocal characteristics and background, recent choral experience, and a reference statement.

Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to learn first-hand from the professionals of Chanticleer, all in the comfort of the first-class facilities at Sonoma State University in the heart of the Sonoma wine country.

“Thanks to all the members of Chanticleer for their graciousness, willingness to teach and share information about themselves, and their sense of humor. Everyone involved could not have been more generous and kind with their assistance and encouragement.”
2006 workshop participant

CHANTICLEER
Led by Music Director Joseph Jennings, Chanticleer is praised by the New York Times for its “precise, pure, and deeply felt singing,” and by the Los Angeles Times for its “luxurious perfection.” As a GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble, Chanticleer has earned a remarkable reputation for its vivid and consistently excellent interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, from gospel to venturesome new music. With its seamless blend of twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass, the ensemble is internationally renowned as “an orchestra of voices.” Since 1994 Chanticleer has recorded exclusively for Warner Classics.

SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
The workshop takes place on the park-like campus of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, 45 miles north of San Francisco. Deluxe housing is available on campus in new apartments, with full food service and access to the facilities of the University, including the library, swimming pool, new recreation center, and rehearsal rooms in the Music Department.

Opportunities for recreation and sightseeing off-campus before and after the workshop include visits to local wineries, hikes in the hills, trips to the redwoods and the Russian River, browsing for antiques in small towns and drives along the breathtaking Sonoma County coastline.

“We learned to listen and sing so that every note blends and every phrase carries meaning.”
2005 workshop participant

GREEN MUSIC CENTER and GREEN MUSIC FESTIVAL
The Donald & Maureen Green Music Center, a $60 million performing arts complex, now under construction at SSU, will feature two performance venues with world-class acoustics, a 1400-seat concert hall and a 300-seat recital hall. The Chanticleer in Sonoma Choral Workshop will move to the world-class Green Music Center at SSU in 2008 or 2009. The Green Music Center and its summertime Green Music Festival are expected to attract more than 175,000 people per year when the Center opens.