Since its debut in 1993 in Genoa, Italy, the vocal ensemble (Vera Marenco, Manuela Litro, Umberto Bartolini and Alberto Longhi) has been appreciated for its particular blend of voices and its special communicative ability in performance. They have fine-tuned their singing through the masterclasses of Rachid Safir (Les Jeunes Solistes) and the Hilliard Ensemble.

Their most appreciated trait is how they present secular early polyphonic repertoire in a theatrical dimension. Chansons, villanelle, frottole, madrigals by Italian, French-Flemish, Spanish composers are performed in a concert-show where the visual aspect is as important as the musical one.

In recent performances the vocal quartet is often accompanied by period instruments. This enriched ensemble, named Ring Around Quartet & Consort, debuted at Concerti del Quirinale with a new programme, Tutte Frottole!, comprising a selection of Italian frottole from research on the original books printed by Ottaviano Petrucci in the early 1500s. The same programme has been recorded for Naxos.

Visit the Ring Around Quartet website.