Participants Universitas Cantat 2015
BeFour Soloist Quartet of the AMU Chamber Choir, Poland
BeFour Soloist Quartet of the AMU Chamber Choir
BeFour is the first female vocal quartet in the history of Universitas Cantat. The ensemble's formation occured spontaneously in 2011 and since then they have worked just as enthusiastically, performing in the same (and, to all intents and purposes, final) line-up: Kamila Tracewska, Karolina Piesik, Anna Komendzińska and Brygida Sawicka-Stępińska. Their recipe for success is simple. The girls somehow combine their unique personalities and musical tastes to achieve a common goal: one sings high, the other low, the third one gets the lyrics right. And Brygida sings in tune. BeFour is governed by a managed democracy. The quartet performs mostly a cappella music and regards precise harmony of female voices to be of utmost importance. The ensemble is continually expanding its range of repertoire, from classical choral pieces to Latin American, popular, folk and early music.... and when the choral literature lacks fresh ideas, they write their own arrangements. At the same time however, BeFour eagerly enter various vocal-instrumental projects, which makes them more and more recognizable among music lovers, not only in Poznań. The girls have already cooperated with Jarek Kostka, Jan Adamczewski, Marek Kozłowski, Jarosław Wachowiak, Stan Breckenridge, Michael McGlynn, Fernando Gil Estrada, Jorge Vega, Piotr Wiza, Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, TrombQuartet and with the AMU Chamber Choir, naturally. Both the concertgoers and fans of BeFour emphasise the exceptionally blended tone quality and the cohesive sound of the ensemble, which shows that it is possible to achieve one-voice sound with four voices. Not only possible, but real: the girls have proven it by impersonating a female quartet from the Middle Ages and performing choral pieces in Jarek Kostka's "Hildegard of Bingen – Visions" project, which has been renewed several times. BeFour maintain an active artistic presence in Poznań and on the international art scene. They performed during the José María Bravo Márquez International Choral Festival in Medellín, Colombia, and at the Per Musicam Ad Astra 2nd Copernicus International Choral Festival in Toruń. They also gave concerts for audiences in Poznań at the 7th Poznań Carolling and the 5th University Bitter Lamentations (Gorzkie Żale) in the Franciscan Cloister. In 2014 BeFour won the 2nd prize and Gold Diploma at the prestigious National Choir Tournament „Legnica Cantat 45”. As a whole, BeFour are 103 years old, soon turning 104.
