Chanticleer tours Europe twice in winter/spring 2026; resumes U.S. tour of “Our American Journey” and more

(January 2026) — “Breathtaking in its accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, of color and swagger of style” (The Boston Globe), multiple Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer follows up a tremendously successful and critically lauded Christmas season – including a new Christmas album release – with the first of two European tours beginning this month (Jan 20–Feb 8). Upon returning to the States, the group resumes U.S. performances of this season’s main tour program, “Our American Journey,” an innovative assemblage of homegrown music to celebrate America’s 250th year of independence (Feb 22–March 1; April 12–May 11). Alternating with those tour dates across the U.S., Chanticleer gives performances of two additional programs at home in concerts around the Bay Area: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (March 22–28) and “American Early Music” (May 31–June 7). Finally, a second set of European dates in the spring takes the group to destinations in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (June 16–29). Both legs of the European tour feature multiple programs, including “Our American Journey,” “Sing Joyfully,” and more.

Acclaim for Christmas performances and album

Chanticleer’s most recent album, Joy to the World, was released this past fall and marked the group’s Delos label debut. Praising the album’s “elegantly meditative program,” a glowing review in The New York Times found that the “sophisticated new arrangements make even the most well-worn Christmas carols feel subtly altered and freshly luminous,” and that “unifying it all is Chanticleer’s hallmark powdery blend and intonation so pure that close dissonances produce faint, shimmering beats.” As the review concluded: “The result is a beautifully understated album with just enough strangeness to cut through the holiday glut.” The reviewer for Gramophone agreed, naming Joy to the World his top choice for Christmas albums this season and commenting: “Throughout I was struck how the individual voices, each so full of personality, yield such a homogeneous vocal meld when required.” Nor was the group any less lauded in live performances. The Bay Area Reporter declared:

“The whole tenor of the concert was summed up by an audience member I overheard say, ‘It isn’t Christmas until I’ve heard Chanticleer.’ Their voices exhibit dynamic control and distilled perfection, switching from 12-part sublime blissful harmony to unison singing with exact precision and expressive phrasing, not to mention perfect pitch. There is constant rotation of the singers, but the current lineup going into its third year is one of the ensemble’s very best in its entire history.”

See a video of Chanticleer performing Palestrina’s O Magnum Mysterium from Joy to the World – honoring the 500th anniversary of the composer’s birth

“Our American Journey”

Through the diverse voices, songs, harmonies, and rhythms of the nation’s musical heritage, “Our American Journey” traces the evolution of the national sound in celebration of the country’s 250th year of independence. The program’s cornerstone is a new commission from Trevor Weston, exploring the relationship between traditional American hymnody and African American spirituals. Other repertoire traces the progression of the American choral tradition, from Black Gospel quartets to shape-note singing, barbershop quartets, and vocal jazz. The program also includes settings of traditional American bluegrass tunes and such beloved folk songs as “Calling my Children Home” and “Shenandoah”; as well as arrangements of more contemporary American classics, like Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” and “Home” from The Wiz. Other repertoire includes “The Un-Covered Wagon” by Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids, “Hee-oo-oom-ha” by Toby Twining, “Alleluia” by Randall Thompson, and “Kittery” by William Billings. “Our American Journey” builds on Chanticleer’s 2002 album of the same name, which was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in spring of 2025.

“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”

Chanticleer honors San Francisco’s diverse musical heritage with works by Bay Area composers past and present, including Darius Milhaud, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mason Bates, Bobby McFerrin, and the Grateful Dead. Spirituals, jazz, and protest songs rub shoulders with contemporary sounds, interwoven with tributes to the many identities that call the city home: voices of LGBTQ+ pride, immigrant spirit, and creative defiance (March 22–28).

“American Early Music”

Through polyphony, hymns, folk traditions, and spirituals, Chanticleer tells the story of early America, examining the roots of the nation’s complex and evolving character. Featured works include Coenantibus autem illis by Renaissance composer Juan de Lienas and arrangements of music from the Ephrata Cloister, a collection of hymns and songs, including examples by some of America’s earliest documented female composers (May 31–June 7).

About Chanticleer

The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. 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, selling more than one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the globe.

Rooted in the Renaissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has been expanded to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz and popular music and to reflect a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements. 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 is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Singers Commission Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. During his tenure with Chanticleer, Music Director Emeritus Joseph H. Jennings received the Chorus America Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition.

Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer continues to maintain ambitious programming in its hometown of San Francisco, including a large education and outreach program, and an annual concert series that includes its legendary holiday tradition, “A Chanticleer Christmas.”

Chanticleer: winter/spring 2026 engagements

European tour: Jan 20–Feb 8
Jan 20: Trento, Italy (Società Filarmonica)
Jan 21: Wolkenstein, Val Gardena, Italy (Kirche Maria Himmelfahrt)
Jan 22: Bolzano, Italy
Jan 24: Feldkirch, Austria (Montforthaus)
Jan 25: Stuttgart, Germany (Liederhalle, Mozartsaal; “Sing Joyfully”)
Jan 28: Vienna, Austria (Mozart-Saal; “Sing Joyfully”)
Jan 30: Dortmund, Germany (Reinoldihaus; “Our American Journey”)
Feb 1: Ettelbruck, Luxembourg (Centre des Arts Pluriels d’Ettelbruck; “Sing Joyfully”)
Feb 3: Halle Westfalen, Germany
Feb 4: Gackenbach, Germany
Feb 6 & 7: Helsinki, Finland (Akademen)
Feb 8: Stockholm, Sweden (Zero8)
Other venues and programs to be determined

U.S./Canada tour
Feb 22: Ellicott City, MD (First Evangelical Lutheran Church)
Feb 24: Zionsville, IN (St. Francis in-the-Fields Episcopal Church)
Feb 26: Valparaiso, IN (Valparaiso University)
Feb 27: Grand Rapids, MI (Park Church UCC)
March 1: Toronto, ON (Royal Conservatory of Music)

“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
March 22: Sacramento, CA (St. John’s Lutheran)
March 23: Berkeley, CA (First Church Berkeley)
March 24: Mill Valley, CA (Mt. Tamalpais UMC)
March 27: Palo Alto, CA (St. Mark’s Episcopal Church)
March 28: San Francisco, CA (Hume Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music)

U.S. tour
April 12: Deep River, CT (Valley Regional High School)
April 14: Bend, OR (Tower Theatre)
April 15: Portland, OR (Kaul Auditorium)
April 16: Seattle, WA (Nordstrom Hall)
April 20 & 21: New York, NY (Kaufman Music Center; includes mentor session)
April 22: New York, NY (Trinity Church)
April 24: Groton, MA (Groton Hill Music Center)
April 25: Portsmouth, NH (The Music Hall)
April 28: Houston, TX (Jones Hall)
April 30: Wichita Falls, TX (Midwestern State University)
May 2: Lodi, CA (Hutchins Street Square)
May 10: La Jolla, CA (St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church)
May 11: Oxnard, CA (St. Anthony of Padua Church)

“American Early Music”
May 31: Sacramento, CA (St. John’s Lutheran)
June 1: Berkeley, CA (First Church Berkeley)
June 2: Mill Valley, CA (Mt. Tamalpais UMC)
June 5: Santa Clara, CA (Mission Santa Clara)
June 7: San Francisco, CA (St. Mark’s Lutheran)

European tour: June 16–29
June 16: Ravenna, Italy
June 19 & 20: Nürnberg, Germany
June 23: Bad Schallerbach, Austria
Just 25: Wiesbaden, Germany
June 26: Maulbronn, Germany
June 27: Andernach, Germany
June 29: Olsberg, Switzerland
Other dates and programs TBA