MDR Rundfunkchor & Philipp Ahmann
Biography MDR Rundfunkchor & Philipp Ahmann
MDR Rundfunkchor
When major orchestras in Germany or abroad plan to perform a choral work it is invariably the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR that comes at the top of their wish list. As the largest concert choir within the German Broadcasting Corporation (ARD), the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR is widely regarded among experts as one of the best. Not only an excellent partner for major orchestras, the ensemble regularly demonstrates its expertise with highly acclaimed a cappella performances.
Secular and sacred music, wide-ranging ensemble singing and choral symphonic works complete a repertoire that encompasses practically a thousand years of musical history. Numerous world premieres attest to the 73 choir members’ reputation as a specialised ensemble for contemporary music.
In the fifteen years of his tenure from 1998 Howard Arman lastingly consolidated the reputation of this acclaimed world-class ensemble. From the season 2015/2016 he was succeeded by Risto Joost as artistic director of the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR. Nearly 200 LPs and CDs—many of them award-winning—have been recorded by the ensemble during its more than 70-year history. In 2017 the choir was awarded the International Classical Music Award for its recording of Max Reger’s Motets, Op. 110.
Whether via the European Broadcasting Union, through touring or in guest performances worldwide, the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR, which was awarded the European Cultural Prize in 2013, acts as a supreme musical ambassador for central Germany.
Philipp Ahmann
was born in 1974 and studied conducting with Marcus Creed at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He began working with radio choirs in 2005, and has since then worked as a guest conductor with the SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart, the WDR Radio Choir Cologne and the Berlin Radio Choir. In 2008 Philipp Ahmann was appointed Chief Conductor of the North German Radio Choir in Hamburg. Under his direction the chorus in 2009 launched its own series of subscription concerts which has met with an enthusiastic response from audiences and critics alike and has now successfully established itself within Hamburg’s music scene.
Since 2010 Philipp Ahmann has collaborated closely with the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR. In 2013 the ensemble appointed him Principal Guest Conductor for a period of three years and he continues to work with the choir on a regular basis.
Philipp Ahmann has been acclaimed not only for exploring a cappella repertoire from every musical period but also for his interpretation of oratorio works ranging from Baroque to contemporary. He has worked with early music orchestras such as Bell’arte Salzburg, B’Rock, Concerto con Anima, Concerto Köln, Le Concert Lorrain and the Elbipolis Baroque Orchestra Hamburg, ensembles specialising in contemporary music including the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and Ensemble Resonanz as well as with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and the NDR Radiophilharmonie. Concerts with the NDR Bigband and NDR Brass as well as his involvement with the NDR sing-along project “SINGING!” with over 600 singers bear witness to his versatility.
A guest at renowned festivals such as Rheingau Music Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the International Handel Festival Göttingen, Philipp Ahmann has released CDs with the NDR Choir and the MDR LEIPZIG RADIO CHOIR which have been received with critical acclaim.
