Biography of the Swedish Radio Choir

For nearly 100 years, the Swedish Radio Choir has paved the way to the future of Swedish choral singing, inspiring choirs worldwide. The 32 professional choristers form a unique, dynamic instrument hailed by music-lovers and critics all over the world, as well as by the conductors and composers who explore and challenge the choir’s potential. The Swedish Radio Choir performs at Berwaldhallen, concert hall of the Swedish Radio, as well as on tours all over the country and the world. Also, they are heard regularly by millions of listeners on Swedish Radio P2, Berwaldhallen Play, and globally through the EBU.

The award-winning Latvian conductor Kaspars Putniņš was appointed Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir in 2020. Two of its former Chief Conductors, Tõnu Kaljuste and Peter Dijkstra, were named the choir’s first Conductors Laureate in 2019. Since January 2019, its choirmaster is French orchestral and choral conductor Marc Korovitch, with responsibility for the choir’s vocal development.

The Swedish Radio Choir is known for its broad repertoire, ranging from European choral classics to groundbreaking new vocal music. The choir has been an important part of the Swedish Radio’s cultural output since the beginning: it was founded in 1925, the same year as Sweden’s inaugural radio broadcasts, and gave its first concert in May that year. In 2010, the Swedish government awarded the Swedish Radio Choir its Special Prize at the Music Export Prize Awards “for putting Swedish choral music in the international spotlight for more than half a century”.

Multiple acclaimed and award-winning albums can be found in the choir’s decades-long record catalogue. Late 2023 saw the release of Chief Conductor Kaspars Putniņš first recording with the choir: Robert Schumann’s Missa sacra, recorded with organist Johan Hammarström. The Swedish Radio Choir tours regularly in Sweden as well as internationally. To commemorate the choir’s centenary in 2025, it has performed at several venues around the country, including Växjö Cathedral, Lund’s Allhelgona Church, Studio Acusticum in Piteå, and Kiruna Church, among others.