SONNET ENSEMBLE Competitors

The BBC is the world’s leading public service broadcaster. We’re impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in the UK and around the world.

University College Dublin is one of Europe's leading research-intensive universities; an environment where undergraduate education, masters and PhD training, research, innovation and community engagement form a dynamic spectrum of activity. With over 38,000 students from 152 countries, including over 5,000 students based on overseas campuses, UCD is not only Ireland's largest university but also its most globally engaged. Our 343,000 alumni across 184 nations lead in literature, arts, business, science and sport. The University is ranked 100 in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings UCD is one of Europe's leading research-intensive universities, with an environment where masters and PhD training, research, innovation and community engagement form a dynamic spectrum of activity. No.1 nationally and ranked among the top 20 universities in Europe for Horizon Europe funding, across seven research institutes and a wide range of interdisciplinary centres, UCD drives innovation by bringing together STEM, the arts, humanities and social sciences. The University's main Dublin campus occupies an extensive parkland estate of 133 hectares. It offers world-leading facilities, including the UCD O'Brien Centre for Science, UCD Sutherland School of Law, UCD Lochlan Quinn School of Business, and the UCD Student Centre. As Ireland's largest university, with its great strength and diversity of disciplines, UCD embraces its role to contribute to the flourishing of Ireland, Europe and the wider world. Updated - September 2026

The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling more than one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the globe. Rooted in the Renaissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has been expanded to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz and popular music and to reflect a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements. The ensemble has dedicated much of its vast recording catalogue to these commissions, garnering Grammy Awards for its recordings of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations & Praises and the ambitious collection of commissioned works entitled Colors of Love. Chanticleer is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Commissioning Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. During his tenure with Chanticleer, its Music Director Emeritus Joseph H. Jennings received the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition. Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer continues to maintain ambitious programming in its hometown of San Francisco, including a large education and outreach program, and an annual concert series that includes its legendary holiday tradition “A Chanticleer Christmas.”