THE CHANTS OF THE SEASON All-male choral group raises one voice at MCA

The last time Matthew Oltman was in Maine, he took a long, deep breath. “Maine smells amazing – pine, woods, green. I’ve never experienced that anywhere,” he said recently in a phone call from California. But it is another sense – sound – that Oltman is best known for. He is tenor and assistant music director with Chanticleer, the all-male a cappella singing group that will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, at Maine Center for the Arts. The chorus, which is based in San Francisco and specializes in traditional and contemporary music, is on a Christmas tour, and the stop in Orono precedes a weeklong gig at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Grammy Award-winning ensemble, founded in 1978, gives about 100 concerts a year, but the Christmas program is Oltman’s favorite. In addition to chants and religious music from the 12th to the 18th centuries, the concert includes lullabies, carols and gospel medleys. Oltman is particularly fond of the “Magnificat” by 19th century Russian composer Cesar Antonovich Cui. “It’s a great big, wonderful, rich piece of Russian choral music,” said Oltman. “It’s incredibly indulgent. You sing your head off. It’s romantic music. You get to let loose.” And that’s not the program’s only gem, said the Iowa native. He added: “Thank goodness people will also hear the ‘Ave Maria.'” That’s the Franz Biebl version. “It’s our hearts’ joy. More often than not, what made people come to our performances for the first time was the Biebl ‘Ave Maria.’ All sorts of people try to sing it. They can be horrible. Or they can be good. Either way, the audience and performers are moved by it. It’s one of those mysteries of music. It’s a signature piece for us, but we do it only at Christmas.” Chanticleer is made up of a dozen singers who range from soprano to bass and from age 25 to 40 – Oltman is 31. But it’s not only the voices that make Chanticleer one of the most popular choral groups in the United States. “It’s the ear,” said Oltman. “That’s the piece people sometimes don’t think of. The ear has to be trained as well as the voice. That’s what gives the blend.” Chanticleer has regular gigs in big cities during the holiday season, when the group is greatly in demand. “It’s definitely like a family. It’s like having 11 brothers,” said Oltman, about travels with his vocal partners. “You don’t always necessarily get along, but that’s a surface thing. No matter what episode happens from the car to the airport, then you get onstage and the music-making overcomes that.”

For tickets to Chanticleer, call 581-1755, or visit www.MaineCenter

fortheArts.org.