Introducing Chanticleer: Matt Oltman

What a fantastic way to open my primary space online! The following text is an interview with Matt Oltman, the music director of Chanticleer. Read his professional biography here.

Triple Grammy award-winning Chanticleer is a twelve-voice, all-male ensemble based in San Francisco, California. They perform a wide variety of music, ranging from medieval song to gospel, from jazz to avant-garde. Their performance credits include major national and international music festivals, and appearances in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world. They have been featured on nationally broadcast media, including NBC's Today show, National Public Radio's Weekend Edition and All Things Considered, and American Public Media's Saint Paul Sunday.

Useful Links
Chanticleer's website Chanticleer's online store Chanticleer's travel blog Hear a selection sung by Chanticleer Ave Maria, one of their most performed pieces Chanticleer on Twitter Chanticleer on Facebook Chanticleer's channel on YouTube Find out about Chanticleer's history Chanticleer's contact information page, where you can find the email address to send Director Oltman feedback on this interview Chanticleer on Saint Paul Sunday Note that at the time of the interview, Chanticleer was under the direction of Joseph Jennings. Chanticleer on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, 2004

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Q. Let's start with a question that most people will probably ask after hearing a selection by the ensemble. How do some of the guys sing like girls without sounding goofy? Does it hurt after a long period? Why are certain guys more suitable for the high parts and others better for the low ones?
A. The countertenor voice has been considered a normal and important voice type throughout most of musical history. It was only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that its use became rarer. The Anglican church was one institution which prominently continued its use in their men and boys choirs. Countertenors are not attempting to sound like girls, but are rather using their falsetto voices in a well-trained, healthy manner. The sound is quite distinct from that of a woman's or boy's voice. If a countertenor is properly trained, there is no reason why singing should be painful or tiring. Those who gravitate toward the full-time use of their falsetto voice do so because that is the area of their voice which has the greatest potential, is the most comfortable, and produces the best tone.

Q. Why does Chanticleer have only twelve singers?
A. Twelve is the number which allows us to be large enough to perform nearly all types of music in nearly all musical styles and periods while being small enough to remain without a conductor. Any larger and we would most certainly need a leader on stage to hold us together; any smaller and many wonderful styles of music would be out of reach.

Q. For early music, do you have to convert the musical notation, or do you learn the period notation?
A. In the case of our albums Mexican Baroque and Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe, we worked with a musicologist who converted the music from its original notation into modern musical notation. This was especially important because the early Spanish settlers invented their own forms of musical notation, quite apart from those prevalent in Europe, and it takes an expert in the field to decipher those early scores. When we sing Gregorian chant, however, the notation is much more standardized, and we usually sing from the original scores.

Q. How do you learn to sing in foreign languages?
A. Whenever possible, we consult with native speakers when tackling a foreign language. If possible, we try to find speakers who are also singers, as they are more knowledgeable about the proper way to elongate vowels and handle consonants in musical ways. Several members in the group also have extensive knowledge of foreign-language pronunciation. Currently we have members who can help with German, French, and Russian. Of course, this changes from year to year as our singing personnel changes.

Q. Were you all music majors in college? Do you seek out singers with specific skills (vocology, ethnomusicology, conducting)?
A. The members of the current ensemble were all music majors, but not all of them majored in voice. Being a music major is not a requirement, but being extremely experienced in singing, especially choral singing, is. It just happens that school is the place where most people gain the bulk of their experience. When looking for new singers, their own individual vocal and musical skills are paramount, but we look for other skills as well, like languages, instruments, special study, and specialized performance styles.

Q. You are so often noted for your pure sound. How do you blend your voices together so well when you sing?
A. While the voices we hire to be in the ensemble must have a general "fit," much of our success with blending comes from the amount of time we spend singing together--four hours a day, five days a week, minimum. With this amount of time, we really get to know one another's voices and are able to tune them one to the other. When dealing with differing styles of music, we discuss the sort of color we want to achieve, and are then able to make informed decisions with regard to vibrato, depth of tone, and vowel intensity.

Q. Singing and speaking constantly, both on tour and in rehearsals, is surely very hard on your voice. What special measures do you take to keep your voice in top shape? What happens if someone gets a cold? Do you have backup people to fill in, in those instances?
A. This all relates to a person's vocal technique. Proper training and execution are essential to minimize the risk of injury (just like an athlete). If one is properly trained and has solid technique, singing should not be tiring then. Technique is also important when overcoming obstacles like illness or fatigue. We have no backup singers; we all must sing as best we can, regardless of illness.

Q. Even when you sing loudly, you always seem to be able to keep your voices clear and healthy. How do you do this?
A. Technique, technique, technique. Any runner can tell you that it is careful training and technique-building which allows them to do a marathon without collapsing. The same goes for singing.

Q. How do you adapt to the differing acoustics of various performance spaces?
A. We spend at least an hour before each performance adapting to the space. This is a very important step when singing in a different venue night after night. Sometimes we must adjust our voices, or perhaps the tempo or diction, slightly; but mostly we have to adjust our ears to listening in the new environment.

Q. How do you so frequently sing a capella without sharpening or flattening your tone?
A. This is a great challenge, especially when singing in different venues or when singers aren't at their healthiest. While maintaining perfect pitch is the ultimate goal, of course, being relatively in tune is sometimes more important: that is, if the piece begins to go flat or sharp, it is important that the entire ensemble goes flat or sharp together. This makes the error much less noticeable to the audience.

Q. Finally, you sing in such a wide range of styles, from madrigal to spiritual. What does it feel like to be an all-white group and sing African-American music, which is so different from the more classically oriented European madrigal?
A. We approach African-American music in the same way we approach any ethnic music...Chinese, Japanese, Native American. They all have certain features which make them unique, and we try to adopt those features as best we can, so that we can execute as close to an authentic performance as possible. We try not to "imitate," but rather to "adopt," those qualities which set a culture's music apart.

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Additional Links

On the very interesting technique of overtone singing, which Chanticleer sometimes employs

A detailed history and description of the madrigal, a famous type of music from the Renaissance period (sixteenth century through early seventeenth century)