Vocal Ensemble Cantus On 27 Years of Shared Storytelling
Cantus
Low voice ensemble Cantus celebrates its 25th Anniversary this summer with a concert and gala at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN; marking this milestone belatedly in its 27th season due to a two-year pandemic postponement. One of the nation’s few full-time vocal ensembles, Cantus was founded in 1995 by a group of four undergraduates at St. Olaf College: Brian Arreola, Kjell Stenberg, Albert Jordan, and Erick Lichte. The four were eating dinner after a rehearsal of the Viking Chorus – a choir made up of St. Olaf’s first year tenors and basses that has been in existence since 1935 – and lamenting that their days as a low-voiced vocal ensemble were coming to a close. They pledged to come together in the fall and find enough singers to perform Franz Biebl’s iconic double-male-chorus "Ave Maria.”
Cantus has been shaped by the talent of more than forty singers in the intervening years, working without a conductor and performing as chamber musicians, each contributing to the entirety of the artistic process. In addition to regular concerts throughout the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN, Cantus has performed nationwide at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, San Francisco Performances and at Tanglewood.
They have put out 21 recordings to date, most recently COVERS LIVE! – an album of reimagined pop songs; and on Signum Classics: Manifesto world premiere recordings of works by Ysaÿe Barnwell, David Lang, Sydney Guillaume, Libby Larsen and Sarah Kirkland Snider; and their popular COVID-19 Sessions, recorded in quarantine in March 2020.
I sat down with the eight current members of Cantus – tenors Jacob Christopher, Alberto de la Paz, Alexander Nishibun, and Paul Scholtz, baritones Rod Kelly Hines and Jeremy Wong, and basses Chris Foss and Samuel Green – to talk about their collaborative process, commitment to education, and the group’s artistic vision maintained over the past quarter century.
BASS CHRIS FOSS – Staff Composer, Audio Production
As Cantus’ longest standing member, you’ve been singing with the ensemble since 2008, just after earning your master’s degree in choral conducting from University of Nebraska. You must’ve seen many changes over the years, and it must be gratifying to know that you’ve helped bring the ensemble to its successful 27th season! Are there any initiatives that have been implemented, or concerts, albums or performances during your time with Cantus that you’ve found to be particularly meaningful?
CF: It’s always meaningful when we are able to have a direct experience of singing with other groups. We’ve had many great collaborations in the past, but the most memorable for me are the months-long residency with Voices of Hope, a choir of incarcerated people at the Shakopee Women’s Correctional Facility. We also have had wonderful times singing with Street Song, a choir of people who have experienced a poverty crisis in homelessness, as well as their friends and supporters.
The ensemble is presently searching for a new tenor to join the group, replacing outgoing tenor Alberto de la Paz. How does the ensemble adjust to rotating members, maintaining Cantus’ vision and signature sound while ensuring that the organization runs smoothly?
CF: When someone new joins the group, it always changes the sound, of course, but in Cantus the singers are all Artistic Directors as well, so the group is constantly evolving not only sonically, but in direction and values. Every season is fresh, and it certainly keeps us out of any artistic ruts! That being said, we have done a lot of work over the years to solidify the group’s identity and ideals outside of any current, past or future singer, and that is really rewarding work. So even though we always have new voices with fresh ideas, something always remains constant in the sound, direction, and spirit of Cantus.
The one thing that makes Cantus unique among the many amazing choirs in the world is our commitment to a collaborative model. It influences every decision we make, and everything we do. I personally value that environment in any situation, but it’s a pleasure to get to live and work in that space every day.
TENOR ALBERTO DE LA PAZ – Programming Facilitator
We’ve just learned that you will be leaving the ensemble come summer. What are your plans going forward, and what has your time with Cantus meant to you?
AP: That's true! It was not an easy decision because I love and admire the work we do here in Cantus. However, I've always had in my mind going back to school to get my master and doctorate degrees in Choral Conducting. I'm excited to start the program at Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in the fall.
It's hard to summarize all the wonderful experiences I've had with the ensemble, but just to name a few: it has meant a lot of growth – both personal and artistic; it has meant sharing and learning from my colleagues and having the collective responsibility as an ensemble to create art that matters to us and our audiences. I’ve shared amazing memories with my friends and colleagues. I think that what I will miss the most is the forward-thinking programming that we do collectively, and I certainly hope to be able to further explore this in my future career.
BARITONES JEREMY WONG & ROD KELLY HINES
You two are the newest members of Cantus, having been hired in 2021, still during the COVID-19 pandemic when Cantus was largely performing online. How did you learn about Cantus, and what made you decide to audition to be a part of it?
JW: I grew up a choir nerd and went to college in the Midwest, so Cantus was on my radar for a long time—I actually shared a voice teacher with a former member of the ensemble! My decision to join was a pandemic coincidence; in mid-2020 I made the decision (or so I thought) to pivot careers and was taking classes to do web and graphic design since all live music was shuttered. Then I happened upon a sponsored Instagram post calling for two baritones for some short-term contract singing. Looking back, it very much felt like a sign from the universe saying, “You’re not done with music just yet.”
RH: I learned about Cantus a few years ago while spending an evening worm-holing through choral music videos on YouTube (as one does). I was struck by the ensemble’s wonderfully expressive artistry and that impression stuck with me when I was contacted last year with the news that the ensemble was searching for a new baritone. I felt that it would be the perfect opportunity to synthesize all of the things that shape my artistic identity, as well as help me to grow in new and unexpected ways.
As students of Vocal Performance – Jeremy receiving a master’s degree from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and Rod from Georgia State – what drew you to want to sing in an ensemble setting? How has your world changed since joining Cantus?
JW: I have always been drawn to making music collaboratively, whether with a large chorus or a small chamber ensemble. I love seeing how each of our individual musical lines fit together to create something greater than something we could hope to achieve individually.
Coming from Hawaii to Minnesota, I’d say my world has changed drastically since joining Cantus! Spending time with my fellow singers has been incredible: from the high-caliber of music making on a daily basis, to working with one another to create a program, to learning stories and inside jokes from the past—and creating new ones!
RH: I have also loved collaborative music-making. There’s a deep joy I experience when I hear a perfectly tuned chord ringing out into a concert hall, all the individual voices blended into a singular expressive instrument.
Minnesota’s a lot different from New York! Things are quieter, I’ve found a new focus, and I’m really working on getting to the core of my identity as an artist, and that feels like a major accomplishment. I’ve enjoyed the amazing process of making art, slowly opening up and building a bond with my fellow artists (introvert alert) and sharing our music with audiences who support Cantus to the moon and back.
You would’ve joined the ensemble before live, in-person performances began. How has it felt to be back on stage in front of a live audience?
JW: I didn’t expect a return to live singing to be as nerve-wracking as it was initially! I had been fortunate enough to perform a fair amount before the pandemic that pre-concert jitters were very minimal, but since returning to in-person singing, that’s definitely something that I’ve had to tackle within myself. Now that I’ve had a bit more experience with Cantus audiences, it’s been amazing to feel the crowd’s energy. Definitely more fun than staring at a video camera take after take!
RH: It’s been incredible! There’s nothing that compares to the energy I experience when we’re on stage in front of an audience. The relationship between performer and audience is so important and I’m grateful that Cantus has been able to press ahead and share music in-person once again.
TENOR PAUL SCHOLTZ – Artistic Council, Communications
You’ve been a member of the ensemble since 2015, but knew about Cantus back when you were in high school in Iowa, when you heard their recording of Dúlamán by Michael McGlynn, and subsequently found out an older neighbor – Michael Hanawalt – had been a founding member of the ensemble. What was it like for you to audition and then be granted a place in Cantus?
PS: Singing with Cantus had always been a dream of mine since high school, and getting to audition live, meet everyone, and sing with the group was something I’ll never forget. It exceeded my expectations, and I came away from the audition really hoping things would work out—and they did!
Can you talk a little bit about being on the Artistic Council of Cantus, and what that means?
PS: The artistic council is a group of three artists who are elected each year to represent the larger ensemble to take a leadership role in discussions with our executive director as well as in delegating and executing miscellaneous administrative, artistic, and HR tasks. We do everything from setting the ensemble calendar and assigning parts to meeting weekly with the executive director to strategize and make decisions on organizational issues large and small.
Storytelling is such a huge component of Cantus’ programming. How do you come up with each program’s theme, and find the appropriate music to fit that theme?
PS: As with all things Cantus, we talk a lot! We have programming meetings every couple of weeks and we each have the opportunity to pitch shows to the larger ensemble. Once we’ve chosen the story or theme and corresponding anchor pieces, we then get to work finding music to fill out the rest of the show. Each artist has a different musical background and so we tend to come up with a wide variety of music.
ALEX NISHIBUN – Artistic Council, Production
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cantus stayed true to its artistic vision and commitment to innovation, producing seven all-new online programs that reached audiences spanning 50 states and seven countries, and garnering praise for how "the sheer quality of singing somehow melted the barriers of online communication” (Star Tribune). In March 2020 – as society was just beginning to shut down amid the growing outbreak in the United States – Cantus had the foresight to record the COVID-19 Sessions over three days at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. The filmed performances drew thousands of views online, and the music was subsequently released as a full-length album on Signum Classics.
How did you go about producing concerts in this totally new way, when suddenly performing in front of live audiences became impossible?
AN: With the pandemic’s far-reaching dark cloud above us, Cantus found itself with a few silver linings – we are a relatively small and artist-led ensemble. With eight artists, we were able to quarantine, test, and ultimately retreat and cohabitate while we crafted programs and rehearsed. We leaned on expertise we found and/or developed internally (e.g. videography and sound engineering) and were fortunate enough to have resources to help guide us to producing great audience experiences while keeping artist safety a top priority.
Cantus found a valuable resource in producing these digital concerts as a way to reach new audiences. Now, even with your ability to perform live on the concert stage, you’re continuing to make an online, on-demand version available in a pay-what-you-can format. Has this changed the way you present or approach your concerts in any way?
AN: In a way, yes. Cantus strives to offer meaningful musical experiences for our audiences both in-person and on-screen, so we look for more efficient and innovative ways to go about that process. I think it yields increasingly beautiful virtual content, and our audiences have really seemed to respond to our efforts.
TENOR JACOB CHRISTOPHER – Tour Manager, Graphic Design
You’ve been a member of Cantus since 2016, before which you had sung with many ensembles, like the Manhattan Chorale, the Wicker Park Choral Singers, and as a chorister with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What sets Cantus apart from these other great choruses?
JC: I think the biggest thing that separates Cantus from just about every other chorus is that we are completely artist-led and function like any chamber ensemble might — there isn’t one artistic director making decisions. This can make day-to-day processes a bit more time consuming, but the payoff is huge because at the end of the day, each of the artists on stage has had a chance to weigh in on concert themes, composers, songs, and continues to be invested as we perform the shows throughout the season.
How does the process of creating a program work? How do you find that “exquisite” (Philadelphia Inquirer) Cantus sound in each piece of music?
JC: We typically plan our shows two before we start performing them. To begin that process, each of the artists comes up with show ideas that we think could tour well. Once we come to agreement on which show will move forward, we each go off on our own to find songs that will help tell that story. This ends up being the best part of the programming process because the eight singers have wildly different tastes in music, so the result is always a pretty eclectic concert.
As the group’s tour manager – these last couple of years must’ve been a big change for you, with so many closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic! You’ve had years where you’ve traveled to forty locations nationwide to perform during the season, and are finally getting back to it this season, with concerts still to come at Seiji Ozama Hall at Tanglewood. How have you found ways to reach new audiences during this time, and to find the excitement of a live audience when performing in a virtual format?
JC: Just before we got the notice to shut down and quarantine in March of 2020, Cantus met at our home-base of Westminster Presbyterian to reflect on how we could best serve our community during what we hoped would be a short time of social isolation. Over three days we recorded The Covid-19 Sessions but as the weeks turned to months, we made plans with health professionals to find a safe way to work (and live) together. This turned into several two-week rehearsal and recording sessions we lovingly dubbed "Camp Cantus." There were never any audiences while we recorded shows, but we eventually added a livestream concert to the end of these camps which brought back that familiar feeling of nerves and excitement.
BASS SAMUEL GREEN – Education Outreach Coordinator
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 13-year history of its award-winning High School Residency program. Cantus also presents a Young and Emerging Composers’ Competition, to encourage the creation of new repertoire through cash prizes, a performance, recording and potential publication of winning compositions; and actively commissions new music and seeks to unearth rarely performed repertoire for low voices.
In 2020-21, you adapted these award-winning education programs to the pandemic, working virtually with high schools and universities both locally and nationally. How have you found ways to work with students in an online format?
SG: Remember in March 2020 when “ZOOM” wasn’t yet recognized as a verb, proper noun, and expletive? We did our best to use this new-ish technology to capture the essence of our unique educational offerings. At first it was nice to reconnect with professors and conductors around the country with whom we had relationships and spend some time engaging with their students in round table discussions regarding music-making in general. At a certain point, we were able to incorporate creative ways to do real-time singing, build mock programs, and laugh a lot. We certainly missed the sound and atmosphere of creating music with students. There’s something special in the room when minds and voices are focused on a singular goal.
A number of my friends are still teaching around the country. I think one thing that we’ve talked about, and we all can relate to, is the need that we ALL have - students, professionals, fans of music - to experience something being created in the room. Online formats are great, and they worked well for us when they needed to, but nothing can beat the feeling of coming together and being in the same space creating and enjoying music.
