Sunday night my friend Amanda and I attended the Chanticleerconcert at Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas.Amanda moved back to Dallas from Manhattan this year, and she introduced me toChanticleer’s music, having heard them twice at The Met at Christmastime. 

Chanticleer is a world renowned choir of twelve male a cappella voices whoserepertoire is largely sixteenth-century music, though they also performcontemporary numbers that include jazz, gospel, and spirituals. The rotunda ofthe Virgin of Guadalupe church, which celebrated its 110thanniversary this weekend, has some of the city’s finest acoustic space. And theseamless harmony bouncing off the rotunda reverberated in a fantastic mix ofsound.  

Chanticleer is headed into its Christmas season, withconcerts mostly scheduled on the west coast, their home base. Check out their web site to see if they’ll perform near you. Fantastic!

This weekend also marked the opening of Klyde Warren Park, a5.2-acre green space that sits atop a recessed strip of Woodall Rogers Freeway.Located across from the Dallas Museum of Art and connecting downtown withuptown Dallas, the park has a performance pavilion, walking trails, a dog park,a children’s park, a games area, and even an outdoor library section, wherekids can borrow books. 

Yesterday I took my creative writing students on our trek tothe Dallas Museum of Art, and afterward some of us wandered over to the park,conscious that we got to enjoy a balmy day during while much of the country endured snow, flooding, and misery. At Klyde Warren, kids on field trips tossedfootballs, people walked dogs, and we sat in the shade in comfy chairs enjoyingsack lunches and the green in the city. A great addition to Dallas’s artsdistrict.

BTW, if you haven’t had a chance to check out the DMA’s Postersof Paris: Toulouse-Loutrec and His Contemporaries, or the Legacy of the PlumedSerpent in Ancient Mexico exhibits, you have till January 20 and November 25respectively. Members get in free;non-members pay a fee in addition to museum admission. Worth a look.