The Ring Ensemble was founded in 1991 by four singers from the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir. Since then it has performed in various sizes, at its largest as a group of twelve people. The members of the Ring Ensemble all come from different musical backgrounds, ranging from teaching to choral conducting, and most of them are Masters of Music from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Members of the ensemble have studied abroad at various establishments, for example in Bremen, London and California.
The repertoire of the ensemble extends from music of the Renaissance to the very latest contemporary works. Cooperation with Baroque ensembles such as Battalia and Tragicomedia and with guitarist Timo Korhonen allows more variety in the repertoire. The Ring Ensemble has given concerts at many music festivals, performing both a cappella and in larger productions, and performs on radio and television.
A major project in recent years was the performing and recording of a new reconstruction of the St Mark Passion (BWV 247) by J.S. Bach with the European Union Baroque Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman. In 1993-1996 this production was performed at prestigious festivals such as The Early Music Festival in Utrecht, Holland, La Chaise Dieu Festival in France, Bachwoche Ansbach, Germany and the Festival de Música Religiosa in Cuenca, Spain. The recording of the St Mark Passion for the Musica Oscura label was released in autumn 1996. |