Louis A. Botto; Founder of S.F. Chorus Chanticleer

Louis A. Botto, 45, founder of the 12-man San Francisco chorus Chanticleer. A gifted singer, Botto became a choral conductor when he started the group in 1978. Chanticleer, named for the talkative rooster in “Canterbury Tales,” began as a gathering of friends who liked to sing Renaissance vocal music. It had its first public performance that year and soon was giving 100 concerts a year all over the United States, Europe and Asia. Botto sang with the group until 1989, but after that concentrated on his duties as artistic director. He served on funding panels of the National Endowment for the Arts and was active in the national organization Chorus America. On Monday in San Francisco from the complications of AIDS.