Cantus

“…exalting finesse and expressive power.”

The Washington Post,

Committed to the expansion of the vocal music repertoire, Cantus actively commissions new music and seeks to unearth rarely performed repertoire for low voices. Cantus has received commissioning grants from New Music USA, the National Endowment for the Arts, Chorus America, the American Composers Forum, and Chamber Music America. In line with Cantus’ ongoing commitment to fostering new works for tenors, baritones, and basses, the ensemble has partnered with composer and former Cantus bass Timothy C. Takach and Graphite Publishing on the Cantus Choral Series, distributing Cantus’ signature arrangements and compositions for ensembles everywhere to perform and enjoy.

Cantus has a rich history of collaborations with other performing arts organizations, including the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Chanticleer, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Lorelei Ensemble, Theater Latté Da, and the James Sewell Ballet. The ensemble is heard frequently on both classical public radio nationwide and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

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 14-year history of its award-winning High School Mentorship program. Cantus also presents a Cantus Commission Competition to encourage the creation of new repertoire through cash prizes, a performance, recording, and potential publication of winning compositions.

Our Mission & Vision

Cantus gives voice to shared human experience by inspiring audiences through song and word, sparking new depths of understanding and empathy.

In addition to our collaborative ethos as a non-profit, our organizational vision is to give voice to shared human experiences. This dovetails perfectly with our model, where each member is given an equal voice in the curation and production of our concerts, allowing a patchwork of experiences to help guide us. We want to share music and ideas with our audiences that may be less familiar to them and allow them to experience empathy and understanding of the world around them. We acknowledge, of course, that there are many perspectives and identities that we do not embody or have representation of in our ensemble.