About the Swedish Radio Choir

The Swedish Radio Choir was founded in 1925, the same year as Swedish Radio. With its 32 professional singers, the choir still operates according to the original idea: to give the whole country access to high-quality music. Through collaborations with prominent contemporary composers, they have constantly paved the way for a new repertoire. With its acclaimed recordings and tours, the Swedish Radio Choir has also made a name for itself as one of the leading choirs in the world.

The Swedish Radio Choir & Kaspars Putnins, chief conductor Berwaldhallen, Swedish Radio Photo: Mattias Ahlm/Swedish Radio

The Swedish Radio Choir – 100 years of breadth and brilliance

Swedish Radio began broadcasting on 1 January 1925, and the Radio Choir was formed in April of that year and gave its debut concert on 1 May. Today it lives on as one of the oldest radio choirs in Europe. Then as now, Swedish Radio would offer its listeners new cultural experiences. Since the first radio broadcasts, the Radio Choir has been heard regularly on Swedish Radio, usually a cappella, sometimes in orchestral works and even in radio operas. The Radio Choir quickly became a style-forming ensemble.

"The choir’s ability to convey details in the music and how the singers inspire each other makes performing with them a unique experience."

- Kaspars Putniņš

After the Second World War, a young music student named Eric Ericson, who was interested in choirs, travelled around Europe. He met musicians, composers and artists and discovered a large choral repertoire – often forgotten or rarely performed works. He also learnt about newly written choral music and the musical ideals of the new era.

At home, Eric Ericson’s Swedish composers of the same age were commissioned to write the new Swedish choral music of the time. Sven-Erik Bäck, Ingvar Lidholm and Lars Edlund were three of the first to take on the task. Eric Ericson took over as chief conductor of the Radio Choir in 1952. With the help of singers from his own chamber choir, he created a choir with new ideals. Success was not long in coming: Europe and the world soon recognised the Swedish Radio Choir.

During its 100 years, the Swedish Radio Choir has had ten chief conductors who have not only preserved the tradition but also added a new and broader repertoire. Today, the Swedish Radio Choir is internationally recognised as one of the world’s best ensembles. When the choir was awarded a prize in Cannes in 1999 for its recording of Alfred Schnittke’s 12 Botpsalmer under the direction of Tönu Kaljuste, the motivation was: ‘the world’s foremost ensemble for contemporary music’.

So what is it that makes the Swedish Radio Choir so special? Of course, the link to Swedish Radio has been crucial to the choir’s ability to reach a large audience across the country – and since the 1960s, across Europe through the EBU. But the flexibility of the singers, both vocally and stylistically, has also been crucial:

”A member of the Radio Choir is first and foremost a good musician, with a technically well-trained voice, of course, who is committed to all musical styles. But for me it’s not just a question of musicality but also, shall we say, musical education. To be able to go from Bach to Schoenberg and to be able to get into the different scores, it takes quite a lot of musicianship to do that,” said Eric Ericson.

As we celebrate 100 years of Swedish Radio and the Swedish Radio Choir, we do so with a proud tradition behind us and with our eyes on the future. Radio listeners and concert-goers will be treated to new musical discoveries, new interpretations of older music, new choral music and fulfill the promise made as early as 1925: that the content will be ”maintained at a high level of idealism, culture, and artistry”. And it is safe to say that the Swedish Radio Choir has more than fulfilled this requirement over the past 100 years.