The Chanticleer Singers was formed in 1980 by Richard Cock and is regarded as South Africa’s leading chamber choir. Over the years their reputation and renown have grown as they have become known through radio and television broadcasts as well as public performances.
Though based in Johannesburg, the Choir has appeared at other venues throughout South Africa, including the Grahamstown National Festival of the Arts, the Cape Town International Organ Festival, the Knysna Nederberg Arts Festival, the Sowetan’s “Nation Building” Massed Choir Festival, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Pietersburg, Upington and many smaller towns, as well as in Botswana, Swaziland the United Kingdom, Namibia, the USA and Israel. Their tour of the UK was the subject of an hour-long TV-documentary, “Lands End and Beyond”.
Their repertoire is wide and extremely varied, and includes both serious and light music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary. Although generally concentrating on “a capella” music, the Choir has also appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Transvaal Chamber Orchestra, the CAPAB Orchestra and the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra. A number of South African composers have written works specifically for them. In 1989 they gave the first ever live TV music broadcast in South Africa: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, performed on Good Friday. Before and since then, they have been involved in many other TV productions.
For over 35 years the Chanticleer Singers have delighted audiences throughout Southern Africa and further afield with their varied and unusual programmes and they pride themselves on the quality of their work and on their commitment to the music scene in South Africa.