Ardú vocal ensemble is the latest Irish group to wow music lovers. They have hit it out of the park with their stunning cover of Pentatonix’s “Take Me Home.” The group is made up of six singers from Ireland and the UK who have backgrounds in traditional choral singing. Before coming together they had met each other in Dublin over the years through their participation in various choirs and productions.

“Ardú was originally founded by our artistic director Ciarán with our soprano Vicky. The rest of us joined at different stages over the last two years,” Ardú member Leanne told IrishCentral.

“Since the summer of 2015, we have performed at Cork International Choral Festival, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London International A Cappella Choir Competition and The London A Cappella Festival and these opportunities really helped us to perfect ourselves as a group and find our ‘Ardú sound’.”

Their latest video demonstrates how far they have come as a group.

“The best thing about singing a cappella music is how it challenges you to use your voice in a different way,” said Leanne.

“We spend a lot of time exploring how to use the voice as an instrument – for example as a drum through beatboxing or trying to match the colors of brass instruments in the accompanying sections of some of our jazzier repertoire.

“There are also no limits to the repertoire that you can explore as an a cappella group, and we love to mix it up by singing music from all genres: classical, contemporary, pop, rock, jazz etc.”

With plans to develop a program of Celtic a cappella music they could take to the States in the future, Ardú is certainly ones to watch!

You can find more on Ardú vocal ensemble on their Facebook page or on Twitter. 

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* Originally published in October 2016.