NDR Vokalensemble

One of the fine small choirs associated with the branches of Germany's national broadcasting system, the [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chorus[/wimpLink] (in German, [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chor[/wimpLink], Choir of North German Radio) has an unusually wide range of musical expertise. The choir has been associated with a large number of technically difficult premieres of contemporary works. Based in Hamburg, the choir was founded in May of 1946 by what was then the NWDR (Northwest German Radio). The name was changed in 1955. The impetus for most of the choir's performances in its early years was a radio broadcast in which it would join the [wimpLink artistId="4687561"]NDR Symphony Orchestra[/wimpLink]; then a public performance of the prepared work might be added. The choir participated in the world premiere of [wimpLink artistId="3891740"]Schoenberg[/wimpLink]'s opera Moses und Aron in 1954. The choir has also programmed works by [wimpLink artistId="3614775"]Karlheinz Stockhausen[/wimpLink], György Ligeti, [wimpLink artistId="3552642"]Krzysztof Penderecki[/wimpLink], [wimpLink artistId="4112265"]Hans Werner Henze[/wimpLink], and other contemporary composers whose music is often technically as well as conceptually difficult. The [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chorus[/wimpLink] has also performed in projects featuring broadly accessible music; in 2012, the choir participated in the SINGING! project led by American composer [wimpLink artistId="3784849"]Eric Whitacre[/wimpLink], and it has taken a major role in regional music education with its "Konzert statt Schule" (Concert Instead of School) presentations. Nowadays, the choir performs both orchestral and a cappella choral literature of all periods. The [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chorus[/wimpLink] was led by Max Thurn for the first 19 years of its existence; since then, it has had eight directors, all of them German. Since 2009, the director of the [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chorus[/wimpLink] has been [wimpLink artistId="6258862"]Philipp Ahmann[/wimpLink]. The group's discography in collaboration with the [wimpLink artistId="4687561"]NDR Symphony Orchestra[/wimpLink] is large, but it has also been the main attraction on a number of releases, including several albums of the choral music of [wimpLink artistId="4317387"]Max Reger[/wimpLink] in the mid-2000s. The choir released a recording of [wimpLink artistId="3659050"]Handel[/wimpLink]'s oratorio [wimpLink albumId="65950126"]Susanna[/wimpLink] in 2016 with the [wimpLink artistId="8188939"]Festspielorchester Göttingen[/wimpLink]. In 2010, the [wimpLink artistId="6258861"]NDR Chorus[/wimpLink] received the [wimpLink artistId="3655876"]Johannes Brahms[/wimpLink] medal of the city of Hamburg.