RIAS Kammerchor

Often named among the world's top choirs, the Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir (RIAS Kammerchor) has been notable for virtuoso performances of difficult new works, and increasingly for its explorations of early music. The group has appeared both a cappella and with Germany's top orchestral ensembles and conductors. The Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir has a substantial recording catalog, much of it on the Harmonia Mundi label and covering the varying interests of the conductors who have led the group. In 2025, the choir was heard with the Freiburger Barockorchester on the album Mendelssohn: Ein Sommernachtstraum. The Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir was formed in 1948 in a city still under divided military rule. The group often uses the shorter name RIAS Kammerchor. The initials RIAS stand for Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor ("Radio in the American Sector"). From the start, the choir played a key cultural role in the recovering city of Berlin; under conductors Herbert Froitzheim (1948-1954) and Günther Arndt, the group established comprehensive educational programs that included presentations in schools and academies for the training of young singers. Under Uwe Gronostay (1972-1986) and British-born Marcus Creed (1987-2001), the choir built an international reputation, resting on historically accurate interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque works, and, increasingly, on the performance of new works written for the choir itself. These have included pieces by Pierre Boulez, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, and Paul Hindemith, among others. The choir has also been visible at major orchestral concerts, including one marking the opening of the Berlin Philharmonie (Herbert von Karajan conducted the choir in a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9). Contemporary conductors have included Daniel Reuss (2001-2006), who favored early music and brought in top conductors of the historical-performance movement like Philippe Herreweghe, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, and others as collaborators; Hans-Christoph Rademann (2007-2015), who emphasized German repertory; and, since 2017, Justin Doyle. The choir consists of 35 singers, all professionally trained, and performs a regular concert series at the Philharmonie in addition to periodic tours. The Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir has been unusually prolific as a recording ensemble, issuing more than 50 albums dating back to the 78 rpm era when conductor Karl Ristenpart recorded pioneering historical interpretations. The most common period in the group's recording catalog is the Baroque, but the choir is flexible and has recorded music as recent as that of Arvo Pärt. Many are on the German branch of the Harmonia Mundi label; these include a recording under Doyle of Benjamin Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia in 2019. The Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir has issued a series of albums devoted to Bruckner's choral music on the Accentus label. The group also collaborates with outside conductors, and in 2025, it released the album Mendelssohn: Ein Sommernachtstraum with the Freiburger Barockorchester and its director, Pablo Heras-Casado. By that time, the choir's recording catalog comprised at least 80 digital releases, plus many more from the analog era. ~ James Manheim, Rovi