Cantus

Cantus "The premier men's vocal ensemble in the United States" -- Fanfare Magazine

Last week, we were thrilled to visit our friends at Twin Cities Public Television for our segment on Almanac! Paul Schol...
10/06/2026

Last week, we were thrilled to visit our friends at Twin Cities Public Television for our segment on Almanac! Paul Scholtz had the opportunity to chat with host Adia Morris about our current season and upcoming Simple Gifts performances after which we performed our rendition of "Simple Gifts" live on air.

Check out the video at the link in the comments to see the segment and then secure your tickets today to see the rest of our Simple Gifts program for yourself. Performances are October 18-25 at venues across the Twin Cities and streaming online October 23 - November 8. Tickets starting as low as $5 for both in-person and online concerts.

Cantus is coming to NMU on Friday, October 16 at 7:30 pm for a special performance at Reynolds Recital Hall!As one of th...
10/06/2026

Cantus is coming to NMU on Friday, October 16 at 7:30 pm for a special performance at Reynolds Recital Hall!

As one of the nation’s few full-time vocal ensembles, Cantus has come to prominence with its distinctive approach to creating music. Working without a conductor, the members of Cantus rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing to the entirety of the artistic process, creating programs that give voice to shared human experiences.

Tickets are selling fast and almost gone, so get yours today!
nmu.edu/tickets
General Public $15
Youth under 18 and NMU Students: FREE

This concert is brought to you by the Siril Endowment for the Musical Arts. We hope to see you there.

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10/05/2026

Stick around for the last chord, it’ll be worth it I promise ;)

Simple Gifts, arranged for Cantus by Stephen Caracciolo, is one of our favorite choral arrangements of this iconic song, and will be featured in our upcoming fall program, aptly titled “Simple Gifts!”

Enjoy the lush harmonies and simple, but profound, message, and we hope to see you at one of our concerts in the Twin Cities, starting on October 18th, or as a livestream with tickets starting at just $5 on October 23rd! More information at our website.

10/02/2026

“I know a please, a thank you, and a smile will take me far. I know that I am you, and you are me, and we are one.” These powerful words from Ysaÿe Barnwell’s iconic song “Wanting Memories,” made famous by SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK, have made this choral piece a Cantus favorite over the years.

Its powerful lyrics speak for themselves with a gentle, rocking rhythm from the shaker and bass ostinato that provides a strong foundation for the upper voices to soar and express a beautiful sentiment; just because someone is no longer on this plane, it doesn’t mean that they have been erased from history. Their life and memories have lasting impacts on those whom they have touched, and their spirit can still live on.

Cantus’s mission is to”give voice to shared human experience”, and in our concerts, we aim to bring a human element to anchor the music that we sing. Music has the power to touch the soul, and though we are just a tenor/baritone/bass choir, we hope that the words that we choose—whether we write it ourselves or we curate it from existing works—resonate with audiences far and wide.

09/30/2026

📣📣 Choir directors, try this warm-up at the end of your next warm-up sequence!

Camera angle aside (😅), this is a great way to build not just a solid unison tone, but also builds their part-awareness. Going from a unison line to 4-part harmony at the height of the musical phrase means that they have to add a bit more tone when splitting into parts, since a unison will always be inherently louder, based on the fact that there are just more voices singing fewer notes.

It’s also a great tuning exercise! Try having the students focus on a part opposite their voice-part, and locking in with them. And on the next iteration, have them pick a different part to sing. This is a great way to start to scaffold getting your singers into a mixed-formation, sensitizing them to hear a different part immediately next to them.

Cantus baritone Jeremy Wong led this warm-up, and it was learned from Gabriel Crouch. The workshop choir is the Concert Choir from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; so much gratitude to them for having such open hearts and minds during our session together!

It's almost October, which means Simple Gifts is almost here! We're excitedly preparing to share this program with audie...
09/29/2026

It's almost October, which means Simple Gifts is almost here! We're excitedly preparing to share this program with audiences across the Twin Cities and around the globe!

As part of those preparations, Cantus baritone Rod Kelly Hines sat down to pen a note for the program on how gratitude and music intersect for him.

"When I think about what I'm grateful for, I keep coming back to music.

That might sound like an obvious answer from someone who has made a career as a musician, but my relationship with music began long before I ever imagined it would become my life's work. Growing up, there were plenty of things in my life that made it difficult to feel fully at home in the world around me, but music was the thing I could always turn to. It was there when I needed to laugh, when I needed to cry, or when I simply needed somewhere else to go for a while.

Music became a way of discovering parts of myself that I hadn't yet learned how to articulate. Sometimes that meant putting on a song and getting completely lost in the world it created. Maybe it was a song that gave me permission to feel something I hadn't been able to put into words. And at times I didn't even understand why a particular piece of music affected me so deeply. I just knew that somehow it was saying something I couldn't say for myself.

"I'm grateful that there is something as simple—and as extraordinary—as music in the world..."

Secure your tickets today to read the rest of Rod's note and to see Simple Gifts for yourself. Performances are October 18-25 at venues across the Twin Cities and streaming online October 23 - November 8. Head to the link in the comments to get your tickets today!

09/28/2026

Cantus kicks off a new concert and touring season filled with gratitude. This snippet of “What A Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, arranged by our very own Paul John Rudoi. Stick around for a solo by Cantus baritone Jeremy Wong!

Filmed during a recent tour stop at UW-Madison’s GORGEOUS Hamel Music Center—the acoustics are simply stunning! We also got to work with the UW-Madison Choirs in this very space and are just in awe at the size and strength of the choral program there. Great sounds all around!

Thank you Cantus for joining us in studios to record music and anecdotes for this year's 'Songs of Thanks,' a Thanksgivi...
09/25/2026

Thank you Cantus for joining us in studios to record music and anecdotes for this year's 'Songs of Thanks,' a Thanksgiving special that weaves together stories and songs celebrating gratitude and community.

Follow YourClassical MPR for updates on 'Songs of Thanks' and check out https://www.yourclassical.org/holiday to explore our previous Holiday specials.

09/25/2026

💅 We continue honoring the great Dolly Parton with our rendition of her iconic hit “9 to 5!” At Cantus, our mission is to “give voice to shared human experience,” so we strive to sing and perform music from all genres and from a variety of different composers and songwriters.

💅 Dolly was an absolute titan, not just for her music, but also for her humanitarianism and activism throughout her storied career. We are still mourning her loss, but are celebrating her life in the best way we can—with music.

💅 We hope you enjoy this excerpt from this song, recorded during a recent tour stop at the Sheldon Theatre of Performing Arts in Red Wing, MN.

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1201 Marquette Avenue S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN
55403

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(612) 435-0046

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