The Swedish Radio Choir

In 1952, Eric Ericson was appointed head conductor and he proved to be a master at rediscovering works by Richard Strauss and Max Reger, which the choir has rehearsed and restored to their rightful place in musical history.

The choir has also provided many Swedish composers with an instrument with which to formulate and communicate their musical ideas. Several of these works have gone on to be classics in choir repertoires at home and abroad.

In the early 1960s, the choir travelled to Berlin to hold concerts which established its international reputation and led to many recordings and a host of invitations to all corners of the globe. Composers and conductors even travelled to Sweden to study with and learn from the choir.

Anders Öhrwall took over as conductor in the 1980s and expanded the repertoire with challenging Baroque pieces. When Tõnu Kaljuste took over he expanded the choir's horizons to the East with Russian music as well as new compositions from composers who were unknown at the time such as Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke and Krzysztof Penderecki.

Contact with these composers has led to several prize-winning recordings as well as memorable tours all over the world. Since 2006, the choir has worked without a chief conductor but with two guest conductors, Tõnu Kaljuste from Estonia and Peter Dijkstra from the Netherlands. Over the course of its 70-year history, the choir has released more than 40 recordings.