Cantus Announces 2020-21 Season

COVID-19 Sessions to be Released Internationally on Signum Classics

Three new online performance events this fall and in-person concerts in the Twin Cities planned for spring 2021

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN – August 20, 2020 – Though live in-person performances by Cantus have been suspended for the remainder of 2020, the men’s vocal ensemble today announces a series of new performances to be made available online and in-person for the 2020-21 Season. The ensemble’s popular COVID-19 Sessions recordings are also set for international release on Signum Classics starting this week.  

Fall 2020 Online Concerts from “Camp Cantus” 

Thanks to careful quarantine and creativity, Cantus has been able to continue making music during the pandemic and will present three new programs over the coming months to be made available online for audiences in the Twin Cities and around the world. The group’s small size has allowed its members to sing together under protocols developed with guidance from medical professionals. To safely create and capture these online concerts, the ensemble quarantined intensively for two weeks, underwent tests for COVID-19, and then rehearsed and recorded together in isolation in Decorah, Iowa at what the members of the ensemble dubbed “Camp Cantus.” 

The first of these three new programs is There Lies the Home, premiering online October 2, 2020 and available through October 4. Few journeys on our planet are more dangerous than those across the oceans.?There Lies the Home?honors the courage, despair, and yearning of those who traverse these tumultuous blue unknowns seeking opportunity or adventure, as well as those fleeing persecution or stolen from their homes. With repertoire spanning riveting sea shanties as “Shenandoah,” traditional spirituals like “Steal Away,” and the Lake Superior folk classic “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,”?There Lies the Home?weaves together stories of the journey, what’s left behind, and what’s just beyond that blue horizon. 

It takes strength to be vulnerable. It takes courage to ask for help. It takes confidence to reach out and connect. In?Brave,?available November 6-8, Cantus examines what it means to identify as a man in a society that prizes conformity over personal authenticity. With works by composers from Fanny Mendelssohn to Sara Bareilles,?Brave?takes a nuanced look at evolving ideas of masculinity. The program also includes works by contemporary innovators like Mari Ésabel Valverde and Sydney Guillaume, as well as the world premiere of Griffin Candey’s multi-movement work, “Protocol.”  

In?Lessons and Carols for Our Time, Cantus offers a contemporary take on a beloved British Christmas tradition elevated by the Choir of King’s College at the University of Cambridge. Weaving together poetry and song, the program draws upon such classic carols as “Silent Night” and “A La Nanita Nana,” as well as modern works by Abbie Betinis and Saunder Choi. The concert will also feature Franz Biebl’s stunning “Ave Maria,” continuing a cherished holiday tradition.  

The first half of Christmas with Cantus: Lessons and Carols for Our Time (Lessons 1-5) will be available from 7:30 pm on Friday, December 11 through 7:30 pm on Sunday, December 13. The second half of the program (Lessons 6-9) will be available from 7:30 pm on Friday, December 18 through 7:30 pm on Sunday, December 20. 

Cantus’ online concerts are available on a?pay-what-you-can model, with a suggested price of $20?per household per concert. Tickets for online concerts will go on sale approximately?two weeks prior to the concert weekend and can be purchased on the Cantus website.?Attendees who purchase tickets will receive an?e-mail with a link to the webpage for the online concert, available for 48-hours. 

The COVID-19 Sessions 

On Thursday, August 20, Signum Classics begins releasing the COVID-19 Sessions. Recorded on March 17, 19, and 20 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the COVID-19 sessions came together quickly as society began to shut down amidst the growing outbreak in the United States. 

“Cantus tour dates and home concerts were being canceled and it was clear there would be only a limited window in which to sing together before the world went on pause,” says Paul Scholtz, tenor.  “What would social distancing and prohibitions on large gatherings mean for vocal music, our communities, and the world at large?” 

The artists recorded these 19 tracks thanks to the expertise of members Chris Foss (audio) and Jacob Christopher (video) and with an enormous amount of uncertainty about what the next weeks and months would bring.?The COVID-19 Sessions were first released on YouTube and Facebook in the spring of 2020 and racked up millions of views, prompting Signum to release the tracks internationally on digital music providers like Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and Amazon Digital?in higher than CD – quality audio. The ensemble’s performance of “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius will be the first of the COVID-19 Sessions to be released on Signum, followed by repertoire as varied as Eriks Ešenvalds “Stars,” Hildegard von Bingen’s sincere “O frondens virga,” and Abbie Betinis’ haunting “Be Like the Bird.”  The complete COVID-19 tracklist is below. 

“Cantus’ vision is to give voice to shared human experiences," continues Scholtz, "and what better way than to offer these performances amidst this great turmoil and uncertainty. We hope you can find yourself and your experience reflected somewhere in these sessions. The pieces you will hear span a great breadth of emotion, from joy to sorrow to wonder to pain. We hope you will find the performances themselves informed by the emotional states in which they were recorded — heightened at different times in different ways.” 

THE COVID-19 SESSIONS  

“FINLANDIA” by Jean Sibelius 
“DAREST O, SOUL” by Mari Ésabel Valverde 
“SUNAYAMA” by Shinpei Nakayama 
“STEAL AWAY” arr. by Stacey V. Gibbs 
“Gryning vid havet” by Hugo Alfvén* 
“SHENANDOAH” arr. by M. Bartholomew & J. Erb 
“O FRONDENS VIRGA” arr. by Chris Foss 
“LUX AURUMQUE” by Eric Whitacre 
“IT’S STRANGE ABOUT STARS” by Melissa Dunphy 
“STARS” by Eriks Ešenvalds 
“BEYOND” by Chris Foss 
“BE LIKE THE BIRD” by Abbie Betinis 
“THIS BRIGHTENING SILENCE” by Kathleen Allan 
“WANTING MEMORIES” by Ysaÿe M. Barnwell 
“AVE MARIA (ANGELUS DOMINI)” by Franz Biebl 
“THERE’S A MEETING HERE TONIGHT” by Bob Gibson 
“THAT WHICH REMAINS” by Andrea Ramsey 
“YONDER COME DAY” arr. by Paul John Rudoi 
“Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” by Billy Joel* 

*Never before released 

Live in-person performances planned for 2021 

Cantus plans to resume in-person performances in 2021 with programs that highlight the ensemble’s stylistic range, with repertoire spanning five centuries: 

Legends and Lies: The Story of Till Eulenspiegel – presented in collaboration with the Bach Society of Minnesota – will be performed throughout the Twin Cities April 8-23, 2021. The program tells the story of the life of the mischievous prankster Till Eulenspiegel as he crosses a battle-weary Europe during the 30 Years’ War. Inspired by Daniel Kehlmann’s acclaimed novel, the program follows Till as he braves a dangerous world, rubbing shoulders with the ragged, regimental, and royal – and reveals surprising parallels between then and now. In?Legends and Lies, the two ensembles perform separately and together, highlighting the versatility of chamber music through repertoire spanning five centuries, from Monteverdi to contemporary composer Michael McGlynn.? 

Cantus puts its own spin on the music of one of the most prolific and iconic performers of the last 50 years: Sir Elton John with the return of the ensemble’s enduringly popular Covers?series June 3-12, 2021. Covers: The Music of Elton John blends eight-part harmonies with hits like “Your Song,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and “Rocket Man.” 

Fields of Wonder (July 13 – 16) The relationships between composers and poets have been at the center of music-making for hundreds of years.?German lieder would be hard to imagine without Goethe, much like?West Side Story?would be without Sondheim’s lyrics.?In?Fields of Wonder, Cantus examines how composers influence, and are influenced by, the words they set to music.? This exploration of the interplay between authors and musicians is centered on a newly rediscovered setting of a cycle of Langston Hughes’ poetry, tailored to men’s voices by American composer Margaret Bonds. 

Subscriptions to all three concerts will go on sale Tuesday, December 1, 2020.  Single tickets will go on sale Tuesday, January 5, 2021. 

Cantus has also rescheduled its 25th Anniversary Concert and Gala to Sunday, June 27, 2021.  The ensemble celebrates this milestone with a performance at the Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul.  

The pandemic may prompt Cantus to further adapt plans over the coming months and the ensemble continues to do its best – with remarkable creativity and commitment – to make music.  

2021 Home Concert Season 

LEGENDS & LIES: THE STORY OF TILL EULENSPIEGEL 
Thursday, April 8, 2021 – 7:30pm at Westminster Hall, Minneapolis 
Thursday, April 15, 2021 – 11am at Colonial Church of Edina 
Saturday, April 17, 2021 – 7:30pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater 
Sunday, April 18, 2021 – 3pm at Wayzata Community Church, Wayzata 
Friday, April 23, 2021 – 7:30pm at Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul 

COVERS: THE MUSIC OF ELTON JOHN 
Thursday, June 3, 2021 – 7:30pm at Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis 
Friday, June 4, 2021 – 7:30pm at Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis 
Saturday, June 5, 2021 – 7:30pm at Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis 
Friday, June 11, 2021 – 3pm at Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis 
Saturday, June 12, 2021 – 7:30pm at Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis 

FIELDS OF WONDER 
Tuesday, July 13, 2021 – 7:30pm at The Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis 
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 – 7:30pm at the Landmark Center, St. Paul 
Thursday, July 15, 2021 – 7:30pm at the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis 
Friday, July 16, 2021 – 11am at Westminster Hall, Minneapolis 

About Cantus: 

The “engaging” (New Yorker) men’s vocal ensemble Cantus is widely known for its trademark warmth and blend, innovative programming and riveting performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. The Washington Post has hailed the Cantus sound as having both “exalting finesse” and “expressive power” and the Philadelphia Inquirer called the group nothing short of “exquisite.”  

As one of the nation’s few full-time vocal ensembles, Cantus has grown in prominence with its distinctive approach to music-making. Working without a conductor, the members of Cantus rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing to the entirety of the artistic process.  

Committed to the expansion of the vocal music repertoire, Cantus actively commissions new music each season and seeks to unearth rarely performed repertoire for men’s voices. Cantus has received commissioning grants from New Music USA, the National Endowment for the Arts, Chorus America, American Composers Forum and Chamber Music America. Cantus also encourages the creation of new repertoire through its annual Young and Emerging Composers’ Competition. 

Cantus has released 18 recordings on the group’s self-titled label and is heard frequently on both classical public radio nationwide and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.  Manifesto will be released on Signum in 2021 and will include works written for Cantus by David Lang, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Libby Larsen among others.  

Integral to the Cantus mission is its commitment to preserve and deepen music education in the schools. Cantus works with more than 5,000 students each year in masterclass and workshop settings across the country, and has visited 31 Minnesota high schools throughout the 11-year history of its award-winning High School Residency program. 

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