Ringmasters is a Swedish

barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...

affiliated with the Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers (SNOBS). The quartet received first place gold medals at the Nordic Barbershop Quartet Contest in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

(April 2008), and won the

Barbershop Harmony Society The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...

International Collegiate Championship in July 2008 in

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. On July 8, 2012, at the Society's International Convention in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, they became the first quartet from outside North America to win the prestigious gold medal as International Quartet Champions. The quartet sings non-traditional barbershop harmonies with a contemporary touch. They still tour and perform all over the world.

Background

As a competing

, Ringmasters has earned several awards and accolades, the most prestigious being the

International Quartet Championship Gold Medal in Portland, Oregon on July 8, 2012. Their other accomplishments include the Society's International Collegiate Quartet Championship in 2008 and first place at IABS barbershop contest in 2007, and SNOBS gold in 2008. Three members of Ringmasters are also members of Zero8, who are the European Champions for 2022 and the SNOBS Champion Chorus led by Rasmus Krigström of Ringmasters.The chorus was previously directed by Doug Harrington of Second Edition.

Members

All four founding members attended

Adolf Fredrik's Music School Adolf Fredrik's Music School ( sv, Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser) is a general municipal junior high school ( sv, grundskola) in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and mu ...

, and

Stockholms Musikgymnasium Kungsholmens gymnasium is an upper secondary school ( sv, gymnasium, links=no) located on the island of Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. The school is divided into a Swedish Section, an English-speaking International Section, and a Music Section ...

, two high-profile music schools in Stockholm. *Jakob Stenberg – tenor / lead *Rasmus Krigström – tenor / lead *Emanuel Roll – baritone *Didier Linder – bass *Martin Wahlgren – original bass Jakob and Rasmus are both tenor and switch lead roles depending on the composition.

Trivia

* The quartet chose the name Ringmasters by flipping through an English dictionary and picking a word they liked. * Ringmasters decided to form their group after viewing the ''Simpsons'' episode involving a barbershop quartet. * Jakob's record for posting is 52 seconds. * 2016 was the quartet's 10 year anniversary. * The quartet plays ''

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'' together.

Discography

*''Ringmasters I'' (CD; 2012) *''Ringmasters II'' (CD; 2013) *''Ringmasters III'' (CD; 2014) * ''Ringmasters IV'' (CD; 2022)

External links

Ringmasters.se

Barbershop Harmony Society

Entry
at the Association of International Champions

References

Barbershop Harmony Society Barbershop quartets Swedish musical groups {{Barbershop-quartet-stub