When small nuances make a big difference

“I want people to hear that a choir consists of living human beings,
who all contribute to the expression of the music.”
Peter Dijkstra

The choir is made up of thirty-two professional singers. Together they form the Swedish Radio Choir, an ensemble with a range that extends from the sweetest a cappella sounds to the enormous power and elasticity of an oratorio. Each and every individual form of expression is offered a space in the ensemble, contributing to the choir’s unique sound. The repertoire is incredibly rich, with a wide variety of genres and a generous mix of early and contemporary music, and almost everything in-between. In addition to their concerts with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Berwaldhallen and their own series of concerts, the Choir is regularly engaged by orchestra conductors including Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev and Daniel Harding for concerts, tours and recording.

The Swedish Radio Choir, one of the world’s most well-known and celebrated a cappella ensembles, was formed in 1925. But it was twenty-seven years later in 1952, with its newly appointed chorus master Eric Ericson, that the Choir began to develop into the flexible instrument that it is today. By bringing fresh tastes and talents, each new chorus master since Ericson’s original appointment has also had a unique influence on the choir. Peter Dijkstra, the young Dutchman who received the Eric Ericson Award in 2003, has been the Choir’s Principal Conductor since autumn 2007. He generally focuses on the modern a cappella repertoire and has furthered the Choir’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest ensembles. This year’s programme includes tours to the USA, Russia, Italy, Japan and Switzerland with maestro Claudio Abbado, Daniel Harding and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra among others.

Over the years, the Principal Conductors of the Swedish Radio Choir have been Axel Nylander and Einar Ralf (1925–1952), Eric Ericson (1952–1982), Anders Öhrwal (1982–1985), Gustaf Sjökvist (1986–1994), Tðnu Kaljuste (1995–2001), Stefan Parkman (2002–2005) and most recently Peter Dijkstra (2007).