Thank you for a fantastic 2022/2023 Season!
We look back at a year filled with a vast spectrum of choral music, from Bach's quintessential Christmas work, Weihnachtsoratorium, with moving solos performed by participants of our first annual Vocal Art Academy to our spring concert which brought us a curation of 20th-century masters including Duruflé, Copland, Barber and Carter ending with every choral singer's bucket list choral masterwork, The Mozart Requiem. We are grateful to have performed with our own fantastic orchestra, worked with amazing soloists and collaborated with many local businesses and organizations! All this is a huge undertaking, we make a lot out of a little, and we have grown as an organization through the hard work, dedication and support of so many. We have exciting plans for the future of I Cantori and look forward to our upcoming season. Wishing everyone a wonderful summer, and we will see you soon with some inspiring and thrilling music ready to be performed!
A Brief History of I Cantori di Carmel
On September 23, 1981, several members of the Carmel Bach Festival Chorus met to discuss the idea of forming an independent choral group on the Monterey Peninsula. From the beginning, the emphasis was on gathering together quality singers who would be dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in choral performance.
The charter group of 27 singers began the search for a Musical Director who would meet their high performance standards. They found Dr. Sal Ferrantelli. Dr. Ferrantelli's love of choral music, his extensive knowledge of choral literature, his sensitivity to both the technical and emotional dimensions of the music, and his high expectations for artistic mastery were a good match for the group.
The singers chose a name, I Cantori di Carmel, and gave their inaugural concert on March 28, 1982. The first program included several 16th and 17th century madrigals and motets and selections from works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms and Fauré. The review of that concert by Scott MacClelland, then music critic for the Monterey Herald, set the tone of critical acclaim for which the group has since been known. He described the performance as "displaying clear articulation, true intonation and, more important, vital spirit, with Ferrantelli leading with vivid attention to shape, phrase and dynamics, and an abiding commitment to his art."
In the next few years the members established a formal structure for the organization. A Board of Directors was selected and by-laws were developed, with a mandate for annual election of Board positions by the membership.
The group grew in size and was eventually limited to approximately 60 members. The semi-annual concerts have embraced choral/orchestral selections from the Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary periods. Major works performed have been Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's Mass in C Major, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Theresa Mass, Handel's Messiah, Brahms's Deutsches Requiem, J. S. Bach's Magnificat, and Verdi's Te Deum. Other works have included Vivaldi's Gloria; J. S. Bach's Cantatas nos. 106 and 150; Handel's Coronation Anthems nos. 2 and 4 and Chandos Anthems; Britten's Te Deum, Jubilate Deo, and A Ceremony of Carols; opera choruses by Verdi; and additional works by Brahms, Bruckner, Rutter, and Mendelssohn.
In 1994, I Cantori undertook its first European tour. We are looking forward to our tenth tour in 2022. In Spring 2017, after leading the group for 36 years, Sal Ferrantelli retired from MPC. From Fall 2017-Spring 2018 Tom Lehmkuhl became our conductor followed by Dr. Cyril Deaconoff from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020. Daniel Henriks began his tenure as Music Director on July 1, 2021
The charter group of 27 singers began the search for a Musical Director who would meet their high performance standards. They found Dr. Sal Ferrantelli. Dr. Ferrantelli's love of choral music, his extensive knowledge of choral literature, his sensitivity to both the technical and emotional dimensions of the music, and his high expectations for artistic mastery were a good match for the group.
The singers chose a name, I Cantori di Carmel, and gave their inaugural concert on March 28, 1982. The first program included several 16th and 17th century madrigals and motets and selections from works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms and Fauré. The review of that concert by Scott MacClelland, then music critic for the Monterey Herald, set the tone of critical acclaim for which the group has since been known. He described the performance as "displaying clear articulation, true intonation and, more important, vital spirit, with Ferrantelli leading with vivid attention to shape, phrase and dynamics, and an abiding commitment to his art."
In the next few years the members established a formal structure for the organization. A Board of Directors was selected and by-laws were developed, with a mandate for annual election of Board positions by the membership.
The group grew in size and was eventually limited to approximately 60 members. The semi-annual concerts have embraced choral/orchestral selections from the Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary periods. Major works performed have been Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's Mass in C Major, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Theresa Mass, Handel's Messiah, Brahms's Deutsches Requiem, J. S. Bach's Magnificat, and Verdi's Te Deum. Other works have included Vivaldi's Gloria; J. S. Bach's Cantatas nos. 106 and 150; Handel's Coronation Anthems nos. 2 and 4 and Chandos Anthems; Britten's Te Deum, Jubilate Deo, and A Ceremony of Carols; opera choruses by Verdi; and additional works by Brahms, Bruckner, Rutter, and Mendelssohn.
In 1994, I Cantori undertook its first European tour. We are looking forward to our tenth tour in 2022. In Spring 2017, after leading the group for 36 years, Sal Ferrantelli retired from MPC. From Fall 2017-Spring 2018 Tom Lehmkuhl became our conductor followed by Dr. Cyril Deaconoff from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020. Daniel Henriks began his tenure as Music Director on July 1, 2021