Acappella Group The Filharmonic Join ‘Pitch Perfect 2′
Next year’s Pitch Perfect 2 has added some more talent to its roster, with A cappella group The Filharmonic signing on to make an appearance in the upcoming musical-comedy sequel.
The Los Angeles-based, all-male sextet is formed of members Joe Caigoy, Jules Cruz, Niko Del Rey, Barry Fortgang, Trace Gaynor, and VJ Rosales, with band-name The Filharmonic in reference to the boys’ native country, the Philippines. The group became famous after appearing as contenders on season four of NBC’s reality competition The Sing Off, which aired in December of last year.
Although they were eliminated before reaching the final round, the group quickly became audience favourites, blending ’90s hip-hop tracks with contemporary urban rhythms, as well as touches of more traditional musical styles, including jazz, musical theatre and classical orchestrations.
The Filharmonic will be joining returning cast members Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp and Brittany Snow as female group The Bellas, as well as new performer Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Ender’s Game).
The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks, who acted as producer on the first movie (as well as making a brief appearance in the film itself), will be taking over directing duties from the original’s Jason Moore. This will be Banks’ feature film debut, after previously directing a pair of comedy shorts as well as a segment for last year’s all-star comedy anthology Movie 43. Kay Cannon, writer for the first, will also be returning to pen the screenplay.
The sequel is set to follow the girls through their senior year at Barden University, presumably with more singing stand-offs and Rebel Wilson’s Fat Amy stealing the show before graduation. No news yet on whether The Filharmonic boys will be battling with, or against, the Bellas.
Pitch Perfect 2 is due for release in UK cinemas on May 15, 2015. You can check out The Filharmonic’s music at their .
