“I trashed Brad Pitt’s emails, I thought it was a joke. And instead…”. The funny story of the Bolzano choir

Nobody puts Brad Pitt in a corner. Or almost, because evidently there are those who manage to resist him or even say no. Even if, as in this case, completely inadvertently.

But let’s go in order: the star was the owner, until last year, of the production company Plan B Entertainment, which made the award-winning film The Last Black Man in San Francisco with Danny Glover, from December on Netflix. On the occasion of the creation of the film’s soundtrack, a video emerges that attracts the attention of Pitt’s team. And, you know, when Hollywood aims for something, it usually gets it. In this case, however, he had to work hard and not a little because the performance in question belonged to Choriosum, amateur choir Bolzano chapel. The staff received two emails, promptly trasheduntil at a certain point something changed, with an unexpected turn worthy of the best screenplay.

Just search this music group on Instagram (has 221 followers) to realize that no, they have never received a similar request and could never have imagined it. Sure, they rehearse once a week, perform in concerts, sing at weddings and in May they go back on tour in South Tyrol but mister Pitt is another story altogether. And the tell to Vanity Fair director Hannes Knollseisen, a 43-year-old agriculturalist from the Farmers’ Union who graduated from the conservatory, who has been in charge of the choir for 17 years (he took over the leadership of the 40 elements just a year after its foundation). And, when he goes over her on the phone he still seems very amused and a little incredulous.

How did the staff of Brad Pitt?
«The first time a request arrived from the contact form on our site, but we are a small non-profit association and something like this seemed suspicious to us, a kind of joke or spam and we trashed it».

What did the message say?
«They were two lines in which a certain Terry D’Ambrosio asked to be able to use the recording of our version of Blue, the song by Joni Mitchell, for one of his films which he called “independent” but for us that word didn’t make much sense. Later we thought he was referring to crowdfunding or something similar but at the time we did not answer ».

Did he try again?
«Of course, the next message was longer and more detailed and spoke of a certain urgency. They had been waiting for weeks for our feedback to include the performance in the film The last black man in San Francisco, which was finishing. He wrote that he is the music supervisor and that he really needs the song. We let it slide, but he sent an email saying that the project was going to the Sundance Film Festival and that he was in a huge hurry ».

How did you convince yourself?
«Given the insistence and the fact that in any case we had nothing to lose, we accepted and sent him the recording. We agreed, but don’t ask me for the amount because I don’t feel like commenting on this, but then it ended there”.

Weren’t you curious to understand what happened to the song?
«Yes, in fact they sent us the four sequences of the film in which they had inserted it but it was less than two minutes and the film, which was released in America in the summer of 2019, had never reached the cinema with us and we put the story aside.”

When he realized that the film was produced by Brad Pitt?
«Searching Wikipedia for information on the film, after its American release. That’s where we saw the name of Brad Pitt – we were incredulous and delighted. At that moment we understood that the project was important and that we would be part of it».

Then?
«We haven’t thought about it since 2019, then a “Christmas surprise” arrived: one of our members noticed in December that the film was on Netflix and let us know».

reactions?
“We are happy to have given our small contribution. We make music for passion, without an ulterior motive, and that song almost accidentally ended up on the only CD in the history of the choir, in 2015. Who could have imagined that it would have come such a long way?».

What is special about your arrangement?
“It has ten voices, compared to the usual four, because it’s adapted for a jazz choir. The fact that it has been appreciated is a recognition not only for our choir but for the world of choirs. We don’t use tools and stage a special sound, so seeing it in a film is a way to enhance the work done. Especially in this project, where music really plays an important role».

What did you learn from this story?
«Not to wait for the third email before replying to a proposal».

Would he have done something different if he had known that Brad Pitt was behind that email?
“Absolutely yes, I have no doubts.”

After this sudden fame do you dream of other illustrious collaborations?
«No, because the choir is made up of members who have another job and a family, so it doesn’t seem realistic to anyone to imagine something like this, even if we like this mingling with the world of cinema and in the past we have already dedicated a tour to Giorgio Moroder, a composer from our area who has won three Academy Awards. But I would like to say one thing: Brad, come and hear us live. You are welcome here with us!».

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