Shall We Gather VOCES8 & Ringmasters

• Robert Lowry (1826 - 1899):
• 1 Lowry: Shall We Gather at the River (Arr. Morgan for Vocal Ensemble) 04:36
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943):
• 2 Rachmaninoff: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op. 31: V. Little Entrance. Come, Let Us Worship 02:02
• Eric Whitacre (b. 1970):
• 3 Whitacre: Lux Aurumque 04:38
• Giovanni Gabrieli (1557 - 1612):
• 4 Gabrieli: Deus, Deus meus a 10 03:42
• Franz Biebl (1906 - 2001):
• 5 Biebl: Ave Maria 07:20
• Jan Sandström (b. 1954), Michael Praetorius (1571 - 1621):
• 6 Sandström, Praetorius: Det är en ros utsprungen (2026 Remaster) 03:43
• Blake Morgan (b. 1991):
• 7 Morgan: Moonrise 04:10
• Rasmus Krigström (b. 1986):
• 8 Krigström: In Memoriam (Ring Out Wild Bells) 06:25
• Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963):
• 9 Mäntyjärvi: Pseudo-Yoik 02:15
• Blake Morgan:
• 10 Morgan: Loch Lomond (A Folk Fantasia) 07:17
• Paul McCartney (b. 1942), John Lennon (1940 - 1980):
• 11 McCartney, Lennon: The Fool on the Hill (Arr. Puerling for Vocal Ensemble) 04:48
• Willie Hutch (1944 - 2005, Bob West (1942 - 2016), Hal Davis (1933 - 1998), Berry Gordy Jr. (b. 1929):
• 12 Hutch, West, Davis, Gordy Jr.: I'll Be There (Arr. Morgan for Vocal Ensemble) 04:19
• Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948), Alan Menken (b. 1949):
• 13 Schwartz, Menken: The Bells of Notre Dame & Out There (Arr. Dale & Krigström for Vocal Ensemble) 07:04
• Total Runtime 01:02:19

Info for Shall We Gather

"Shall We Gather" brings together two of the world’s most distinctive vocal ensembles — VOCES8 and the Swedish barbershop champions Ringmasters — in a vibrant and compelling collaboration that celebrates the shared human instinct to sing together. Recorded at The VOCES8 Centre in London, the album blends the warmth and precision of the choral tradition with the unmistakable ‘ring’ and energy of barbershop harmony, creating a sound world that is both fresh and immediately engaging. Spanning centuries and styles, the programme moves effortlessly from Renaissance polyphony and Romantic choral works to folk song, contemporary composition, and iconic popular repertoire. Alongside music by Gabrieli, Rachmaninov, Praetorius and Whitacre sit imaginative arrangements of Loch Lomond, The Fool on the Hill, and I’ll Be There, culminating in a thrilling version of The Bells of Notre Dame. At its heart lies a simple but powerful idea: music as a communal act — an invitation to gather, listen, and connect. With exceptional vocal artistry and a palpable sense of joy in collaboration, Shall We Gather offers a unique meeting of styles and traditions, appealing equally to choral audiences and fans of contemporary a cappella.

VOCES8
Ringmasters

VOCES8
The 2023 GRAMMY-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 tours globally performing an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading musicians, orchestras, and conductors. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos which is shared both online and in person. VOCES8 is the flagship ensemble of the VOCES8 Foundation which actively promotes “Music Education for All,” reaching up to 40,000 people annually. VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues from Wigmore Hall to the Sydney Opera House. This season they perform over 100 concerts globally. Online the VOCES8 Digital Academy and the LIVE From London digital festival continue. They publish music and educational material with VOCES8 Publishing and Edition Peters, including The VOCES8 Method written by Paul Smith. Ken Burton is Composer-in-Residence with Jim Clements as Arranger-in-Residence. The group’s latest recordings are A Choral Christmas featuring Taylor Scott Davis’s “Magnificat,” Christopher Tin’s “The Lost Birds,” (a GRAMMY Award nominee), and Home conducted by Eric Whitacre, featuring “The Sacred Veil” and “Seven Psalms” by Paul Simon.

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 capella 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!

This album contains no booklet.