THE RADIO SWEDEN CHOIR – When small nuances make a big difference.
The Radio Sweden Choir has been seen and heard in many different contexts as of late. In the spring of 2010 they toured Japan and the USA; here in Sweden, few have missed their prizewinning song of thanks in the Radiotjänst licensing campaign, which has been shown, among other places, on Sveriges Television in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
In the fall of 2009, the Radio Sweden Choir set out to conquer European audiences yet again. In September, they travelled to Brussels to perform five exclusive concerts in connection with the inauguration of the Swedish presidency of the EU. They have continued to keep a busy tour schedule for the whole of the 2009/2010 concert season. Among the high points have been the concerts in Japan in spring 2010, and the prestigious task of performing Mozart’s Requiem together with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado in Turin at the end of April.
The Radio Sweden Choir consists of 32 professional singers. Together, they build an instrument that ranges from the lightest a cappella tones to an oratorio instrument of enormous power and elasticity. Each individual expression is allowed a place in the collective, giving a sound found nowhere else – the Radio Sweden Choir’s own sound. Their repertoire is richly nuanced with many genres and a generous blend of early and modern music, as well as almost everything in between. Besides their concerts with the Radio Sweden Symphony Orchestra in Berwaldhallen and their own concerts, they are frequently engaged by orchestral conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, and Daniel Harding for concerts, tours, and recordings.
The Radio Sweden Choir, one of the world’s best-known and respected a cappella ensembles, was formed in 1925, but it was twenty-seven years later (in 1952) under the direction of the new principal conductor, Eric Ericson, that the choir began developing into the flexible instrument it has been ever since. But each new principal conductor after Ericson has also marked the choir in his own way, bringing new colorations and accomplishments. Since the fall of 2007, the choir has been led by Peter Dijkstra, the young Dutchman who, among other achievements, won the 2003 Eric Ericson Award.
Read more about Peter Dijkstra here! - Peter Dijkstra, Music Director
Principal Conductors of the Radio Sweden Choir:
2007– Peter Dijkstra
2002–2005 Stefan Parkman
1995–2001 Tõnu Kaljuste - Tõnu Kaljuste, Former Guest Conductor
1986–1994 Gustaf Sjökvist
1982–1985 Anders Öhrwall
1952–1982 Eric Ericson
1925–1952 Axel Nylander och Einar Ralf
Members of the choir
Discography
I want audiences to hear that a choir consists of living people, who are all contributing towards giving music a voice. Peter Dijkstra, Principal Conductor of the Radio Sweden Choir.
July 2010
For more information contact:
Karin Adolfsson, Sales Manager
Tel: 08-784 51 12,
karin.adolfsson@sr.se
