MDR Rundfunkchor

The MDR Radio Choir is the oldest and largest choir of the public broadcasting service in Germany. Founded in 1924, it operated after 1945 as the Leipzig Radio Choir and has been known under its current name since 1992. The German conductor Philipp Ahmann has served as Artistic Director since 2020. The ensemble performs with major orchestras and has appeared under Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Herbert von Karajan, Kurt Masur, Sir Simon Rattle, and Christian Thielemann. The Choir’s repertoire, which also performs a cappella concerts, spans almost a millennium of music history and includes sacred and secular works. Nearly 250 recordings document its artistic work. The MDR Radio Choir was awarded the European Culture Prize in 2013. For this evening’s concert, the Choir has been prepared by Howard Arman, who helmed the ensemble from 1998 to 2013.

Lucerne Festival debut on 13 September 2006 in a performance of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder under Michael Gielen.

March 2025