Erick Lichte, Artistic Director

In the last ten years, Erick Lichte has carved out a distinct niche in the vocal music world and concert life in America. As a founding member, singer and Artistic Director of the male vocal ensemble Cantus, Lichte created and sustained one of the two full-time vocal ensembles in the nation.

From 2000-2009, Lichte’s programming and artistic direction was heard in over 60 concerts a year in such venues as Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Merkin Hall, San Francisco Performances, Oregon Bach Festival, UCLA and Spivey Hall, to name a few. His work has also been heard by hundreds of thousands of people through national and international broadcasts of hour-long Christmas programs distributed through American Public Media. He has collaborated with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, the Boston Pops, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, James Sewell Ballet and poet Robert Bly, to name a few.

His work with Cantus garnered him the 2009 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the highest honor for the professional choral organization Chorus America.

His knowledge of male choir repertoire is extensive, serving as an informal consultant to choirs around the world as well as sitting on the board for the Intercollegiate Male Chorus Association. Lichte is also a champion of new music and has been a part of the creation of over 50 new works. Composers Lichte has worked with include Lee Hoiby, Gavin Bryars, Steven Sametz and Peteris Vasks as well as many up-and-coming composers. To this end, Lichte is a founder and leader of the Male Choir Commissioning Consortium a group of 14 male choirs from across North America who annually commission some of the most influential composers of our day.

Lichte himself is an active arranger and composer whose music has been heard across the United States, especially as a co-creator and arranger of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. As a record producer, Lichte has been at the helm of eight highly acclaimed Cantus recordings as well as a forthcoming album of Schumann and Brahms works by Canadian pianist Robert Silvermann. Lichte is also an ardent audiophile and writes equipment reviews for Stereophile magazine.

info@greatriverchorale.org