For those of you who listened to the piece I did on Chanticleer at the end of August (The Chanticleer Experience), you will understand the reference to comradery. I read this last Sunday evening, probably not long after it was posted to Chanticleer's blog. Talk about comradery. This is what a collective effort should be about: when you can make music and become friends, that is really something. Anyone who owns Chanticleer albums with this guy's name in the credits should listen to the music. It's the least we can do to pay respect, whether we know him or not.

Chanticleer's blog post

I actually have a free moment today to write. Perhaps it's time to write about the interesting way my whole encounter/networking with Chanticleer came about.

I think it was maybe mid-May or so and (I guess you could say I was doing similar to what a journalist would do) while seeing if I could find any archives of Chanticleer's interviews in the infinite scope of the internet, I came across this very interactive interview. It sounded to me like these guys were pretty informal and laidback, but still I wanted to air on the safe side. I figured the best thing to do from here was to contact Chanticleer's music director. I jumped on Chanticleer's webpage and found his contact information. One thing led to another, and I launched my blog at the start of June with a wonderful introduction to Chanticleer.

After a space, I started getting posts on my reactions page for me to "follow up" on this small intro. Incidentally, that inverview I linked to was the one only which gave any names of people in the group. The interview had taken place several years ago, so I figured it would be the optimal thing to try to find two former singers and do a phone interview. Here's where the adventure really begins. While I was coding Chanticleer's Facebook page into my text interview, I happened to see a name that just sounded familiar. (I didn't exactly know why until later when I realized that Tim Maguire had briefly introduced himself in the audio interview (see link above).) So I took a chance, sent him a Facebook message, and he routed me to his friend Ian Howell. So again, one thing led to another, and the week before I started school I had an hour-and-a-half conference call. I have to say it was more a discussion than an interview, especially since I tried to keep my questions to a minimum and let them have the floor. It truly was an amazing experience. There's something about the digital age; no one is far away from anyone anymore.

The Chanticleer Experience: Ian Howell and Tim Maguire

After getting several requests to follow up on my original interview about Chanticleer, I'm really happy that I can share a conversation I had Monday night with two of Chanticleer's former singers, countertenors Ian Howell and Tim Maguire. (If you didn't get a chance to read my original interview with Chanticleer's music director, Matt Oltman, click here.) For them, it was a trip down memory lane and a chance for old friends to reconnect. For me, it was a wonderfully informal, enlightening discussion. You will learn about the joys and challenges of singing in foreign languages, laugh as you listen to some hilarious performance moments, and cry when Chanticleer has a pivotal moment in the history of one former Soviet republic.

Ian Howell:
B.M. percussion performance Capital University
M.M. voice performance Yale University

Tim Maguire:
B.A. instrumental music education Western Illinois University
M.A. vocal performance University of Iowa

Listen to the discussion

Useful Links:
Ian's website
Chanticleer's web store