The Swedish Radio Choir

A part of Swedish Radio since 1925

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

The Swedish Radio Choir – 100 Years of Variety and Brilliance

Swedish Radio began its broadcasts on January 1, 1925. Already in April of the same year, the Radio Choir was formed, and on May 1, they gave their debut concert. Today, it continues as one of the oldest radio choirs in Europe.

Then as now, Swedish Radio aimed to offer its listeners new cultural experiences. Since the first radio broadcasts, the Radio Choir has been regularly heard on Swedish Radio, often a cappella, sometimes in orchestral works, and even in radio operas. The Radio Choir quickly became a pioneering ensemble.

Eric Ericson and new ideals

After World War II, a young choir enthusiast named Eric Ericson traveled to Europe. He met musicians, composers, and artists and also discovered a large choral repertoire – often forgotten or rarely performed works. He also encountered newly written choral music and the new era's musical ideals.

Back home, Eric Ericson's contemporaries among Swedish composers were commissioned to write the new era's Swedish choral music. Sven-Erik Bäck, Ingvar Lidholm, and Lars Edlund were three of those who first took 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. Successes were not long in coming: Europe and the world soon took notice of the Swedish Radio Choir.

Flexibility and excellence

Over its 100 years, the Swedish Radio Choir has had ten chief conductors who have at the same time preserved the tradition and added a new and broadened repertoire. Internationally, the Swedish Radio Choir today stands as one of the world's best ensembles. When the choir was awarded a prize in Cannes in 1999 for the recording of Alfred Schnittke's 12 Penitential Psalms under the direction of Tönu Kaljuste, the motivation read: "the world's leading ensemble for contemporary music."

What makes the Swedish Radio Choir so special? Naturally, the connection to Swedish Radio has been crucial for the choir to reach a large audience across the country – since the 1960s, also throughout Europe via the EBU. But also the singers' flexibility both vocally and stylistically has been decisive:

"A member of the Radio Choir is primarily a good musician, naturally with a technically well-trained voice, who engages in all musical styles, but for me, it is a matter of not only musicality but also, shall we say, musical education. To be able to go from Bach to Schönberg and be able to enter the different scores, it takes quite a lot of musicianship for that." - Eric Ericson

100 Years of Choral Music

As we now celebrate 100 years of Swedish Radio and the Radio Choir, it is with a proud tradition behind us and with our eyes set on the future. Radio listeners and concertgoers will experience new musical discoveries, new interpretations of older music, new choral music, and fulfill the promise made in 1925: that the content should be "maintained at a high ideal, cultural, and artistic level." And without a doubt, one can say that the Swedish Radio Choir has more than fulfilled this requirement over the past 100 years.