Since our debut in 1993 in Genoa, Italy, our 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. We have fine-tuned our singing through the masterclasses of Rachid Safir (Les Jeunes Solistes) and the Hilliard Ensemble. 

Our most appreciated trait is how we 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.

Born in 2003 for a performance in Spoleto, our Gioco di Voci programme has been called the revelation of the Festival dei Due Mondi. Since then, we have often been called by Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti, who was very fond of our ensemble, to perform in many following seasons of the same Festival. We also perform extensively the medieval and Renaissance sacred repertoire, and we are studying the different languages of contemporary music, often in direct collaboration with the composers. 

In 1997 we have recorded a CD called Music for Van Dyck (recently republished by Newton Classics), a collection of works inspired by Flemish polyphony composing styles. On that occasion we commissioned and premiered works by Ennio Morricone, Matteo D’Amico, Claudio Ambrosini and others. With this repertoire we have been awarded the special prizes for Best solo-voice vocal ensemble and Best Italian ensemble at the 42nd International Seghizzi Competition in 2003.

Twice have we been called to perform for the traditional Sunday’s concert at the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, which have been   broadcast live on national radio RAI Radio 3.

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 a research on the original books printed by Ottaviano Petrucci in the early 1500s. The same programme has been recorded for Naxos in a CD to be released in May 2015.