The Real Group

The Real Group
(From left) Anders Edenroth, Emma Nilsdotter, Lisa Östergren, Morten Vinther Sørensen, Jānis Strazdiņš
Background information
Origin	, Sweden
Genres	A cappella, Vocal jazz, Pop
Years active	1984–present
Website	www.therealgroup.se
Members	Emma Nilsdotter (soprano) Lisa Östergren (alto) Anders Edenroth (tenor) Morten Vinther Sørensen (baritone) Jānis Strazdiņš (bass)
Past members	Margareta Bengtson Johanna Nyström Peder Karlsson Anders Jalkéus Katarina Henryson

The Real Group is a professional a cappella group from Sweden, consisting of five members: Emma Nilsdotter, Lisa Östergren, Anders Edenroth, Morten Vinther Sørensen and Jānis Strazdiņš.

The group's members compose or arrange most of the songs that they perform. A large portion of the group's recorded songs are sung in English, with the remainder being almost entirely in Swedish. The group cites Bobby McFerrin as an early source of inspiration: "What we do may never have happened if we hadn't heard his [albums].".

The Real Group has performed in more than 2000 concerts worldwide. In 2002 The Real Group performed at the opening ceremony of The FIFA World Cup in Seoul. They performed live to the audience of 60,000. On 22 December 1993, to commemorate the fiftieth birthday of Queen Silvia of Sweden, The Real Group backed up former ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad in a performance of the ABBA hit "Dancing Queen", using an a cappella arrangement that would later be released on the album "Varför får man inte bara vara som man är".

The Real Group was formed in 1984, when its original members were students at the Swedish . All had previously attended Adolf Fredrik's Music School (Swedish: Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser), a school in Stockholm known for its song and choral curriculum.Margareta Bengtson had been the Soprano with the group since its inception but broke off from the group to work on her solo albums at the end of 2006. Johanna Nyström filled her spot for some time, until Emma Nilsdotter replaced her in 2008, and had her first appearance with the group in Kremlin Palace. Johanna Nyström also filled in for both Margareta Bengtson and Katarina Henryson when they were on maternity leave or otherwise away.

Morten Vinther Sørensen joined the group in 2010 to replace Peder Karlsson, who shifted his focus to developing The Real Academy.

In 2015 Jānis Strazdiņš joined the group as the bass after Anders Jalkéus decided to retire due to health reasons.