Berlin Radio Choir

The Rundfunkchor Berlin, founded in 1925, soon gained distinction under conductors such as George Szell, Otto Klemperer, Hermann Scherchen, and Erich Kleiber, as well as through significant premieres, including of works by Arthur Honegger, Ernst Krenek, Darius Milhaud, and Kurt Weill. Today, the choir — 64 singers strong and led since 2015 by Chief Conductor Gijs Leenaars — gives around 60 concerts a year, at its home base with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, as well as on international tours. Conductors with whom it has collaborated include Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Through community projects such as its annual sing-along concert, a song exchange for students, and the “Sing!” education program for children, the choir seeks to encourage as many people as possible to sing. It also supports young professional talent through a Schola, an academy, and a master class in choral conducting. Its recordings have been widely acclaimed and have received numerous distinctions, including three Grammy Awards. For the present concert, the choir is prepared by Florian Helgath, who has led Chorwerk Ruhr since 2011 and the Zurich Sing-Akademie since 2017 and will assume the chief position of the Netherlands Radio Choir in 2027. The Rundfunkchor Berlin is an ensemble of the Rundfunk Orchestras and Choirs GmbH, whose shareholders are Deutschlandradio, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Berlin, and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

Lucerne Festival debut on 29 August 2006 in works by Weill, Schoenberg, and Bernstein conducted by John Axelrod.

May 2026