The ffortissibros men’s chamber choir has its origins at the J. W. von Goethe Music Gymnasium in Schwerin. In the year of its foundation, 2019, the ensemble made its debut by participating in the Limburg Men’s Choir Festival as the youngest and, moreover, the only choir from northern Germany. There, it was awarded a gold diploma as well as the special prize for the best interpretation of a Romantic choral work. In 2021, Benedikt Kantert took over as musical director.
At the end of April 2022, ffortissibros took part in the world’s largest male choir competition, the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival, and won first place in both the category and overall rankings. Benedikt Kantert was also named the competition’s best conductor. In 2023, the choir achieved outstanding success by winning first place at the 11th German Choir Competition in Hanover. In 2025, ffortissibros competed at the Grand Prix of Nations in Mauritius, winning a gold medal in the Chamber Choirs/Vocal Ensembles category and finishing overall in second place. In the Sacred Choral Music category, the choir also won a gold medal and took first place with the highest score of the entire competition. For its cultural work, the ensemble was honoured in 2021 with the Art and Culture Prize of the Sparkassenstiftung Mecklenburg-Schwerin and in 2022 with an entry in the Golden Book of the City of Schwerin.
Furthermore, the ensemble is distinguished by a busy concert schedule both at home and abroad, having performed on numerous occasions at renowned concert venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus and St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig. Performances at festivals such as Anima Mundi in the Duomo di Pisa or the Greifswald Bach Week round off the concert calendar. In 2024, the ensemble was part of the "Junge Elit"” concert series at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
Beyond its focus on a cappella music, the choir expands its repertoire through collaborations with orchestras and other ensembles. Alongside its classical concert programme, ffortissibros captivates a cross-generational audience through alternative performance formats and educational work. These include concert talks, panel discussions and lectures, concerts in unusual venues, and interactive workshops for children and adults. In 2024, the male chamber choir presented a cross-section of its diverse work at Europe’s most important gathering of the vocal music scene, chor.com.
A particular focus of their work lies on the world premiere of works by forgotten and contemporary composers, transcending genre boundaries. Part of this work includes, for example, the male choir works of the composer Miloslav Kabeláč, which he composed as resistance music against the invasion of Nazi Germany in Czechoslovakia.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the world premiere of Miloslav Kabeláč’s resistance cantata "Neustupujte!" (in English: "Do not yield!"), ffortissibros organised a concert in Prague on 26 October 2025 – the Czech National Day – in collaboration with the Young Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Saxony.
In 2024, ffortissibros released its first CD featuring world premiere recordings of works by the Schwerin-based composer Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken. The recording was produced by the renowned label Rondeau Production in collaboration with Dr Reinhard Wulfhorst and his music publisher Edition Massonneau. Also in 2024, the choir featured on the album "BAUM" by the artist Mine. In November 2025, the choir went on to participate in the "MINE & ORCHESTER" concert tour in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin as a backing choir and support act.