Ringmasters
31/8 h21.00
Fossano, Auditorium Calvino-Paglieri
Opening act: Cantus Firmus
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Ringmasters
As the 2012 world champions of barbershop, Ringmasters blend their awesome virtuosity with the infectious energy of pop music. Their vibrant shows take you from barbershop classics, to Swedish choral music, through Simon and Garfunkel to the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The quartet grew out of the rich soil of Swedish choir tradition. Throughout grade school, all four members attended Adolf Fredrik’s Music School, Sweden’s most renowned choir school. They all then made the natural transition into Stockholm Music Gymnasium, and today all four are members of at least one top choir.
Having stumbled across barbershop harmony in a Simpsons episode, they realized it offered a chance to compete in ensemble singing. This spurred them to train vigorously, with the ambition to reach the very top. With the coaching of barbershop legend Doug Harrington, they won the International Collegiate Contest in Nashville in 2008, after barely two years together as a group. In 2009 they placed fourth in the world in Anaheim, and a year later they shook Philadelphia with the mind-blowing arrangements by David Harrington, and they climbed to third. Finally in Portland in 2012, Ringmasters was recognized as the best barbershop quartet in the world. And the first non-American group ever to win that contest.
In between winning medals, the four singers have honed their craft by featuring as the house quartet on two separate cruise ships, first in the Caribbean, and later in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Forced to churn out shows night after night they learnt how to own a stage, no matter how late they had stayed in the bar the night before.
Winning the gold meant some big tours in America in the coming years, where memorable performances like the Bells of Notre Dame Medley, with over a million views on YouTube, has gotten the attention of the entire a cappella world. In later years Ringmasters have been touring a lot in Germany thanks to the cooperation with their agency Magenta, but you can expect them to pop up in many places around the world, keep a lookout on the website or on their social media platforms!
Cantus Firmus
CANTUS FIRMUS is a male vocal octet with a repertoire ranging from sacred and secular songs, gospel and spirituals, to jazz and pop music from four to eight voices.
Born in Mondovi (CN) in 1989, from a project of maestro Roberto Beccaria, it has performed in more than 500 concerts and participated in important national and international festivals.
It is currently directed by maestro Matteo Sabetta.
From 1994 to 2004 it was part of the “R. Maghini” philharmonic choir of Turin, which regularly collaborates with the R.A.I. symphony orchestra of Turin.
Since ’98 he has organized the City of Mondovì International Choral Review in Mondovì, with stages for conductors, composers and choristers, held by internationally renowned masters: Gary Graden, Jonathan Rathbone, Simon Carrington, Jens Johansen, Francisco Nuñez, Bob Chilcott, to name a few. Some of the groups that performed during the festival: By Grace gospel choir, High and Low, UniCum Laude, Flying Picketts, Neri per Caso, The Real Group, The Swingle Singers, Black Voices, Rajaton, House Jacks, Cluster.
The vocal octet “Cantus Firmus” has won the following prizes and awards in national and international competitions:
+ 1st prize, cat. Spirituals at the XII Concorso Naz. di esecuzione polifonica di Quartiano (LO)(1994)
+ 1st prize for the performance of an ancient polyphonic piece at the II ACP Regional Competition in Alba (1994)
+ 3rd place at the VII International Music Festival in Rome in the category of choirs and vocal groups (1997)
+ 1st prize and “GOLD I” diploma in the Sacred Vocal Polypony a cappella – Chamber Choirs category at the II International Choral Competition “Musica Sacra a Roma – Maestri della Schola Romana” (2007).
+ Gold medal (84.63/100 points) in the Gospel&Spiritual category at the first edition of the European Choir Games in Graz (2013).
It has produced and released three albums: the first in ’98, with a selection of gospel and spirituals, the second in 2004 with Christmas carols, and the third in 2005 with pop and jazz repertoire.