Crowned Barbershop World Champions in 2012, Ringmasters fuse jaw-dropping a cappella virtuosity with the infectious energy of pop music. Their electrifying performances take you from barbershop classics to Swedish choral music, through Simon & Garfunkel to the Beatles, Elvis Presley and beyond. Their four albums and numerous videos to date show the breadth of their repertoire and their sheer vocal power.
Ringmasters grew out of Sweden’s rich choir tradition. All four members attended Sweden’s renowned Adolf Fredrik’s Music School before making the natural transition into Stockholm Music Gymnasium. As well as performances with Ringmasters, all four still sing with or direct at least one other top choir.
Having stumbled across barbershop harmony through an episode of The Simpsons, they realised it offered a chance to compete in ensemble singing. Under the guidance 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 started competing in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s world championships and in 2012 they made history as the first non-American quartet to win the gold medal.
In between winning medals, the four singers honed their craft as featured musicians cruising the Caribbean, and later the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Required to develop and perform shows night after night they learnt how to own a stage, no matter how late they had stayed in the bar the night before.
Their world championship victory led to major U.S. tours, where standout performances of signature pieces such as the Bells of Notre Dame Medley (now viewed over 2.5 million times on YouTube) captured the attention of the global a cappella community. In recent years, Ringmasters have toured extensively in Germany, while continuing to appear on stages around the world.
In 2026 Ringmasters will celebrate their 20th anniversary with performances in Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, the UK and of course in Sweden.
Collaboration is central to their artistry, whether performing with an orchestra or with another vocal ensemble. In 2026 they will perform with The King’s Singers at London’s Wigmore Hall and with VOCES8 in both the UK and Germany, with whom they will release an album featuring music from the renaissance to today.
Jakob’s love of sport almost had catastrophic consequences. When deciding on a high school, he applied to one specialized in breeding ice hockey stars. To our delight, but to the dismay of Sweden’s national team, Jakob changed his mind and placed his bets on his voice instead of his skates. The rest is history.
Jakob shares the load of lead singing in Ringmasters when he doesn’t sing the tenor part. He also holds very long notes at the end of some songs. When his idol, Tim Waurick of Vocal Spectrum, challenged Jakob to see who could post the longest, Jakob went first, clearing 52 seconds. Tim then decided it was wise just to leave it at that, and Jakob won on a walkover.
He remains the undisputed champion.
Rasmus has a head made for barbershop harmony. It contains the harmonies for over 150 tags, and Rasmus never misses an opportunity to sing them out, with old and new friends alike. He has found good use for this uncanny ability in his work as an arranger. In between supplying up and coming quartets he has also penned a few of Ringmasters’ own numbers.
As meticulous about structure in the real world as he is in the world of music, Rasmus holds regular meals and daily routines sacred. He might sound a bit square, but you can depend on Rasmus to turn into the roundest of pegs whenever there’s a party.
He also plays the drums and once came close to joining the progressive metal band The Flowerkings. Luckily, they thought him too young.
Didier’s talent for singing was unveiled at an early age while attending a French pre-school in Stockholm. His mother knew he would be a singer when he, just three years old, entertained the parents at his school with French songs, standing on a bin.
She made him, against his will, go to Adolf Fredriks School of Music where he learned to appreciate every aspect of music and today he can be very grateful to her for being able to sing with Ringmasters as well as the Royal Swedish Opera Choir and the Swedish Radio Choir, among other acapella groups.
When he’s not learning opera arias or barbershop songs he can often be seen with his phone in his hand watching an ice hockey or football game with his favorite team Djurgårdens IF, to some annoyance of the other guys.
As a young boy, Victor was always performing comical skits or musical acts to parents, teachers and the rest of his school. Then being raised in the wonderful climate of Swedish choral tradition, he grew up to become quite the singing stage animal.
Various schools and universities of music taught him to be a versatile singer and combined with his never-ending fascination for vocal sounds and what the voice can do, he has explored almost every genre from classical to barbershop to pop and even metal.
Victor’s career now evolves around singing, coaching, composing and arranging music. His a cappella group Lemon Squeezy have toured the world for over 15 years and recently won the world championship of barbershop in 2025.
Outside of music he takes deep interest in spiritual practices, health, relationships and psychology and loves to enjoy beautiful nature in silence.
As of 2026 Emanuel serves Ringmasters from behind the curtains when he's not doing the occasional sub gig with the group. While not being the active touring baritone of the quartet anymore, Emanuel's responsibilities are now much more focused on the management side along with administrative tasks. This guy knows the ins and outs of the whole operation!
