Groundbreaking a capella group to perform Feb. 11

A vocal group from Sweden called the "masters of modern a cappella” will perform at Augustana College Feb. 11.

The Real Group will take the stage at 8 p.m. in Wallenberg Hall, second floor of the Denkmann Memorial Building. 

(This event is sold out.)

The Real Group has recorded 17 albums and appeared more than 2,000 times worldwide. The group was formed in 1984 when its members were students at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

They sing in English and Swedish and cite American jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin as an early inspiration.

Music writer and blogger Jeff Meshel calls The Real Group masters of modern a cappella, a burgeoning genre.

"Modern a cappella is a young person’s genre, singers typically in their 20s, the music an innovative amalgam of pop/jazz," writes Meshel. "It is distinguished from older styles of a cappella and vocal jazz groups by ‘singing the arrangement.’ A core attribute is ‘groove.’"

And audiences are interested. The 2012 sleeper hit "Pitch Perfect" followed an all-girl a cappella group, and the NBC show "The Sing Off" featured only a cappella groups.

“A cappella has really come into its own, not just as a form of music that is kind of fun in college, but as its own art form,” says Julian Horowitz, a member of the Maccabeats, a Jewish a cappella group, interviewed in Moments magazine.

The Real Group won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the CARA (Contemporary A Capella Recording) Awards in 2019 Boston.