„Tosca“ in Haus des Rundfunks

Founder of OperaWebinar and Music Director at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw from 2011 to 2014, Italian conductor Carlo Montanaro was discovered by Zubin Mehta, who recommanded him to the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, where he improved his skills under Leopold Hager, Erwin Acél and Yugi Yuasa for three years.

Since 2001, Montanaro has conducted opera and concerts in major venues including Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Fondazione Arena in Verona, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Parma and Teatro Verdi in Trieste (a collaboration which led to a Japanese tour with the Orchestra). Titles included Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Aida, Tosca, La Sonnambula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly and La Bohème.

He conducted two works in the 2004-2005 season at Teatro Comunale in Florence, as well as various symphonic concerts with Fondazione Arena Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Teatro Cilea in Reggio Calabria and Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He conducted Il Trovatore and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the State Opera of Stuttgart, as well as Il Barbiere di  Siviglia with Fondazione Arturo Toscanini.

Highlights between 2006 and 2008 include a great public and critical success conducting Un Ballo in Maschera with the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv (new production), his American debut in Colorado with Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, I Dialoghi delle Carmelitane in Bilbao to great critical acclaim, and Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In 2008 he made his debut at La Scala with La Traviata, and he opened the Macerata Summer Festival with Carmen directed by Dante Ferretti. He conducted Il Corsaro at Festival Verdi in Parma and made his debut at Hercules Halle in Munich in a concert with the Weimar Staatskapelle and Erwin Schrott.

His 2009 opened with Madama Butterfly at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, followed by his return to Opera Colorado in Denver for Così fan tutte and a highly praised new production of Simone Boccanegra at Megaron in Athens, where he was then invited again to conduct Aida. He opened the 2009/10 Season at Canadian Opera conducting a new production of Madama Butterfly, and he conducted Mefistofele in Frankfurt, Verdi’s Requiem at Musikverein in Graz, Roméo et Juliette in Verona, La Traviata in Munich and Aida in Hamburg with great reviews from public and critics.

In 2011 he debuted with Carmen at Semperoper Dresden to great success, and he was reinvited to conduct Il Barbiere di Siviglia and a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera. Further highlights: Don Quichotte and Attila at Seattle Opera, a new production of Turandot in Warsaw, Lucia di Lammermoor in Bilbao, Aida, Manon Lescaut, Turandot and Macbeth in Hamburg, La Bohème at Teatro Comunale di Firenze, L’Amico Fritz and a new production of Adriana Lecouvreur in Frankfurt, La Traviata in Warsaw and in Cincinnati.

In September 2012 he returned to Musikverein in Graz to conduct a concert version of Verdi’s Giovanna D’Arco, and since then he conducted Falstaff in Hamburg, Tosca and L’Elisir d’Amore in Munich, Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Tokyo, Don Carlo, Verdi’s Requiem and Turandot in Warsaw, La Bohème in Seattle, Don Carlo in Frankfurt, Il Corsaro in Budapest, Norma at the Festival in Peralada. In season 2013/14, Madama Butterfly in Nagoya and Hamburg, La Traviata in Oviedo, La Bohème in Budapest, The Consul in Seattle, a concert version of Attila in Warsaw, Carmen, L’Elisir d’Amore and Tosca in Munich, Tosca and Il Trovatore at the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg, as well as concerts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra del Santa Cecilia in Rome.

In season 14/15 he successfully debuted at Opéra Bastille in Paris with Il Barbiere di Siviglia. After that, he was on the podiums of the Hungarian National Philharmonic (Verdi’s Requiem) and Seattle Symphony for a series of concerts. He then conducted a new production of La Fanciulla del West in Hamburg, Rigoletto and La Traviata in Warsaw, Mefistofele in Budapest, Simon Boccanegra in Frankfurt, Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Budapest and Pécs, Nabucco in Seattle.

Highlights in the recent seasons include the debut at Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Tosca), at Korean National Opera (Tosca and La Bohème), at Sydney Opera House (La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor and Werther) and at San Francisco Opera (Carmen and La Bohème), as well as Rigoletto and Madama Butterfly at Warsaw Opera, Maria Stuarda, Madama Butterfly, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto and L’Elisir d’Amore in Seattle, a new production of Rigoletto in Frankfurt, La Traviata at Dallas Opera, La Traviata and Ernani in Melbourne, Lucia di Lammermoor at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Rigoletto at Opéra de Montréal, Un Ballo in Maschera at the Hungarian State Opera, La Traviata, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Tosca at Opéra de Paris, La Bohème at Hamburgische Staatsoper, La Traviata and Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper, Il turco in Italia at Teatro di San Carlo, Les contes d’Hoffmann at ABAO Olbe Bilbao.

In concert, he appeared with Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he conducted Mozart’s Requiem at Teatro Regio di Parma.

Most recently he conducted Tosca at Oper Frankfurt, Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro di San Carlo, La Juive and Madama Butterfly in Sydney, Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper, Madama Butterfly at Palm Beach Opera, La traviata at Seattle Opera. Moreover, made his debut with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Future engagements include Fedora at Oper Frankfurt, Nabucco, Aida and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Deutsche Oper.

Soprano Melody Moore is enjoying a thriving career on the world’s leading stages, prompting Opera News to label her “a revelation,” and of her sold-out appearance at Carnegie Hall to rave, “As I left the auditorium, I could only think: more of Moore, please.”

The 2021-2022 season will see Ms. Moore’s return to Los Angeles Opera to repeat her tremendous success in the role of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida for six performances in May/June. Concert highlights of the season include Gertrude in Hänsel and Gretel with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Donald Runnicles, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Juraj Valčuha. She also returns to the recording studio this season, documenting her interpretation of the title role in Puccini’s Tosca in a recording featuring the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, which will be released on the Pentatone label. Finally, Ms. Moore will be marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary soprano Renata Tebaldi with a recording featuring selections from the Italian repertoire.

Despite a number of postponements and cancelled productions due to COVID closures, Ms. Moore continued to reach audiences in the 2020-2021 season thanks to her recording projects, for which she is in prolific demand. Most recently, her renditions of the tragic title heroine Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Minnie in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro (all released on the Pentatone label) have been widely praised by reviewers and consumers alike.

In opera houses and festivals across the U.S. and Canada, Ms. Moore has sung the title roles of Kátya Kabanová and Salome, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Susan Rescorla in Heart of a Soldier, Mimì in La bohème, and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Julie in Show Boat, Marta in the American premiere of Weinberg’s The Passenger, the title role in Carmen, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and Regine St. Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna. Additional performances have included the title role in Manon Lescaut and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as well as appearances in Phillip Glass’ Appomattox and in Francesca Zambello’s highly acclaimed production of Wagner’s full Ring cycle in Washington. Her portrayal of Desdemona in a full recording of Verdi’s Otello was released by Pentatone in 2017. From the recording studio, 2019 saw the release of Moore’s critically acclaimed An American Song Album Pentatone recording.

On the concert stage, Ms. Moore has appeared with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner’s Te Deum, with Bard SummerScape Festival as the title role in Turandot, with Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra in performances and a recording of Gordon Getty’s opera Plump Jack, and with the New Century Chamber Orchestra. She has joined Rufus Wainwright for gala concerts at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.

A Masters of Music graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Ms. Moore is a former Adler Fellow of San Francisco Opera and a participant of the Merola program.

The Operalia Prize winner Stefan Pop is one of the internationally sought-after tenors, especially in the Italian repertoire, from belcanto to Verdi and Puccini.

In the 2021/22 season, Stefan Pop will return to the Berlin State Opera as Pinkerton (Madame Butterfly). Stefan Pop gives his role debut as Cavaradossi (Tosca) at the Royal Opera House in London. At Müpa Budapest he will be heard as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia. His extensive engagements in Italy include Pollione (Norma) in Parma, Gennaro (Lucrezia Borgia) in Bologna and Rodolfo (La Bohème) in Palermo. On the concert podium Stefan Pop can be heard in the Verdi Requiem in Bratislava.

The 2020/21 season began for Stefan Pop as Rodolfo (La Bohème) in Liege next to Angela Gheorghiu’s Mimi. Another highlight was his Duca (Rigoletto) in Taormina under the baton of Placido Domingo. The greatest successes of the past seasons include Jacopo (I due Foscari) in a new production in Parma, which was also recorded on CD and Blu-ray, and Rodolfo at the Vienna State Opera.

Stefan Pop’s further repertoire includes the great roles of Verdi such as Alfredo (La traviata), Duca (Rigoletto), Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), Adorno (Simone Boccanegra), Foresto (Attila), Jacopo (I due Foscari), Macduff (Macbeth), Ismaele (Nabucco) and Cassio (Otello), but also the Belcanto repertoire such as Gennaro (Lucrezia Borgia), Pollione (Norma), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Nemorino (Elisir d’amore), Roberto Devereux to Gounod’s Faust and the Italian singer in Rosenkavalier, whom he sang at the Salzburg Festival.

Stefan Pop sings at many important opera houses around the world such as the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra de Paris, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, the Hamburg State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Zurich Opera House, the Teatro Real Madrid and the New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv. Pop is also a celebrated guest in Japan.

The tenor has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Fabio Luisi, Daniele Gatti, Michele Mariotti, Nello Santi and others. A concert tour with Angela Gheorghiu took him to Seoul, Shanghai and Oman Muscat. In 2019 he won the “Oscar della Lirica Young Generation”.

Stefan Pop was born in Bistrita (Romania). He studied and graduated from the music academy “Ghoerghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca and then won the competitions “Hariclea Darclee” and the “International Music Competition Seoul”. Stefan Pop has been an honorary citizen of his hometown since 2015.

Lester Lynch has become recognized for his charismatic portrayals and commanding voice as he tackles some of Verdi’s most important characters, amidst rave reviews, from Macbeth to Rigoletto and Simon Boccanegra. But his repertoire extends far beyond the great Verdi roles. He is also an expert in contemporary opera: His performances of Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero, Busoni’s Doktor Faust and Nico Muley’s The Glitch have garnered many accolades.

Lynch made his debut at the renowned Teatro alla Scala singing the role of Crown in Porgy and Bess, and the Royal Opera House as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Other theaters of note include Semperoper Dresden, Volksoper Vienna, Lyric Opera Chicago, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

Most recently, Mr. Lynch performed with the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa in an innovative Verdi vs. Wagner program, sang Tonio, in I Pagliacci with the Tatar State Opera in Kazan, Russia, and made his film debut as Merrivale in a film version of Gordon Getty’s newly written opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, based on the popular 1934 book by James Hilton.

Upcoming 2022 highlights include performances as the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček with the English National Opera, and Wotan in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Nashville Opera and several performances of Verdi’s Macbeth.

Mr. Lynch’s recording work is featured on Pentatone, including performances as Iago in Verdi’s Otello, as Michele in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, as Germont in La Traviata (release scheduled for 2022) and his 2017 debut solo album, “On My Journey Now”.

Bass-baritone Kevin Short’s most recent and future engagements include PORGY in Porgy and Bess Metropolitan Opera, ABBOT in Zhou Long’s Madame White Snake Opéra Comique and Beijing Music Festival, RIVERS/RALSTON in Getty’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips (recording and film), ZUNIGA in Carmen and SPRECHER in Die Zauberflöte Washington National Opera, NICK SHADOW in The Rake’s Progress Théâtre de Caen, l’Opéra de Reims, l’Opéra de Rouen, l’Opéra de Limoges, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, ZACCARIA in Nabucco Savonlinna Festival, Welsh National Opera and Florida Grand Opera, DR PRIMUS in Getty’s Usher House Welsh National Opera, PORGY in Porgy and Bess and DON FERNANDO in Fidelio  Seattle Opera, JACK RANCE in La Fanciulla del West New York City Opera, LE COMTE DE GORMAS in Le Cid Theater St. Gallen, ANGELOTTI in Tosca, PFLEGER in Elektra and DOCTOR GRENVIL in La Traviata Metropolitan Opera, ROCCO in Fidelio Opera Omaha, Il RE in Aida Bregenzer Festspiele, Der fliegende Holländer (title role) and NICK SHADOW Staatstheater Bern, MEPHISTOPHELES in Faust and LEPORELLO in Don Giovanni Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, as well as ZACCARIA in Nabucco, ROCCA in Un giorno de regno, ARCHIBALDO in Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re, PHILIPPE II in Don Carlos and PAGANO in I Lombardi Sarasota Opera. He recorded a solo aria album with Mo. Lawrence Foster and Orchestre de l’Opéra de Marseille on Pentatone, which was released in 2018.

Highlights of Mr. Short’s concert appearances include Opera Orchestra of New York, Avery Fisher Hall, Porgy and Bess Philadelphia Orchestra, PAGANO I Lombardi Philadelphia Orchestra, Messiah Cleveland Orchestra, Rossini’s Stabat Mater San Francisco Symphony, Stravinsky’s Les Noces Boston Symphony, The Rake’s Progress St. Louis Symphony and Detroit Symphony, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Baltimore Symphony, Messiah and La Damnation de Faust  New Japan Philharmonic, Die Zauberflöte Swiss and Italian RAI Orchestra in Verdi arias; Parma Reggio Emilia Orchestra in another aria concert of operatic favourites.

Kevin received his training at Morgan State University, B.S., the Curtis Institute of Music, M.M., and the Juilliard School of Music Opera Center. He was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the International Competition for Verdian Voices, the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, the Bruce Yarnell Competition for Basses and Baritones, the Opera America Competition, the Leiderkranz Competition, and received awards and grants from the Sullivan Foundation, the Shoshana Foundation and Opera Index.

A hugely excting talent, bass Alexander Köpeczi began his musical training in Cluj, Romania as a pianist and accompanist. He then moved onto studying voice and made his professional debut in 2014 as Kalil in the world premiere of György Selmeczi’s opera Bizánc at the Miskolc Opera Festival in Hungary. A prize winner at the 57th Francisco Viñas Singing Competition in Barcelona, he was invited in the summer of 2021 to take part in the prestigious Young Artists Project at the Salzburg Festival, and the 2021/22 season sees him making his company debut at the Royal Opera House with a triple appearence: Sacrestano in Tosca alongside Angela Gheorghiu, Lodovico in Otello and Leone in a concert version of Atilla under the baton of Speranza Scappucci. He also returns to the Hungarian State Opera as Colline in La bohème, and joins Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin for a recording of Tosca as Sacrestano with San Francisco Classical Recording Company. Looking further ahead to future seasons, he will make house debuts at Bayerische Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin and the Osterfestspiele Salzburg, and return to the Royal Opera House.

Recent highlights include the world premiere of Jeno Hubay’s Le luthier de Crémone at the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest, conducted by Oliver von Dohnányi; the Levente Szörényi 75th anniversary concert and Kálmándy30 – Jubilee Gala, both in Budapest; Brander in La damnation de Faust with the Transylvania State Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca, Colline in La bohème, Lodovico in Otello and Zuniga in Carmen at the Hungarian State Opera House, where he was a memeber of the ensemble; Il Re in Aida; Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Jose Castro in La fanciulla del West and Lodovico in Otello at the Hungarian National Opera in Budapest.

Köpeczi can also heard as Jose Castro and Billy Jackrabbit on the PENTATONE recording of La fanciulla del West. Following this performance he was immediately re-invited to sing Doctor Grenville in recording of La Traviata for the same label, which is due for release later this year.

A frequent guest soloist at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne Festival, English National Opera, Colin Judson has established himself as the most sought after character tenor of his generation.
His coming engagements include his debut with Opera de Paris as Funeral Director in A Quiet Place, appearances at the Glyndebourne Festival as Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro, English National Opera as Spoletta in Tosca. Recent appearances include Youth, Hotel Porter and Guest in Death in Venice, Pang in Turandot, Snout in  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kunz Vogelgesang in  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Monostatos in  Die Zauberflöte, Night Porter in Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House, Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger, and the Schoolmaster in Cunning Little Vixen with the Glyndebourne Festival.

His acclaimed portrayal of the role of Sellem in The Rake’s Progress has taken him from Caen, Reims, Limoges, Luxembourg Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Scottish Opera to Turin’s Teatro Regio. He took on the role of Kuzka in Khovanshchina with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte and Goro in Madama Butterfly both with Opéra de Toulon.
Judson had collaborated with renowned conductors including Antonio Pappano, Vladimir Jurowsky, Robin Ticciati.
Further operatic appearances include Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Real Madrid, Der Nationale Opera Amsterdam, Opera de Lyon, Scottish Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Finnish National Opera. Colin has regularly appeared for Oper Köln.
Judson works extensively in contemporary opera, credits including creating the role of Andrew in Harrison Birtwistle’s The Last Supper and performing in Richard Thomas’s ‘Kombat Opera’ series for the BBC.
Colin studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music. Immediately after his studies, He began his career with the British Youth Opera, English Touring Opera and Glyndebourne Festival.

Georg Streuber studied classical singing with Matthias Weichert at the Hochschule für Musik “Carl-Maria von Weber” in Dresden, where he was able to deepen his knowledge as a student in the lied classes of Ulrike Siedel and Olaf Bär as well as in masterclasses with guest lecturers such as Gerold Huber, Peter Schreier, Evelyn Herlitzius, Camilla Nylund among others. After graduating in 2013, Magdalena Hajossyová, Allison Oakes and since 2018 Verena Rein have been important mentors in his vocal development.

At the national competition “Jugend Musiziert” he was awarded prizes in the solo competition in 2005 and as a member of an a cappella ensemble in 2007. In 2011 he won 1st prize at the international Duschek Competition in Prague, and in 2012 he received a special prize for song interpretation at the Lions Singing Competition in Bad Endorf, Bavaria.

Since 2003, lieder recitals and oratorio performances have been the focus of his activities as a concert singer. He has worked with conductors such as Christian Kluttig, Peter Schreier, Georg Christoph Biller, Hermann Max and Robin Ticciati. Invitations to  recitals have taken him to several German cities, to the Netherlands and to Romania.

In 2007 he made his debut as Papageno in a Chemnitz studio production of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”. Guest engagements have taken him to opera theatres and festivals in Dresden, Berlin, Bad Hersfeld, Plauen/Zwickau and most recently to Chemnitz as Falke in “Die Fledermaus”.

Georg Streuber was an academist in the RIAS Chamber Choir in 2011 and has been engaged in the Rundfunkchor Berlin since 2012. He was also a member of the Bayreuth Festival Choir from 2012-18.

Born in Sonneberg/Thuringia, bass-baritone Axel Scheidig began his musical training at the Special School for Music Education in Wernigerode and with the Radio Youth Choir of  Wernigerode . From 1991 to 1998 he studied vocal performance and musical theatre with Helga Bante at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and graduated with an artistic diploma. He attended masterclasses with Barbara Schlick, Kurt Moll, Siegfried Lorenz and Jakob Stämpfli, among others.

Axel Scheidig was a laureate at the International Handel Competition in Halle in 1997 and won the first prize  at the German Music Council in 1998 with the vocal ensemble “Die Weimarer Hofsänger”, which he co-founded. Numerous recordings, concerts and guest performances in Germany and abroad are proof of his extensive experience in chamber music. During his studies in Weimar, he appeared as a soloist at theatres in Thuringia, including Weimar, Erfurt, Meinungen, Gera and Rudolstadt.

From 1998 Axel Scheidig worked in the radio choirs of the NDR, WDR, BR and the Rundfunkchor Berlin, where he has been a member of the ensemble since 2005. Here he also performs regularly as a soloist under conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Simon Halsey, Marek Janowski, Marc Minkowski and Gijs Leenaars, among others at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Sala São Paulo or the Teatro Colón. In addition to his work with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Axel Scheidig is also a much sought-after soloist in the oratorio field with performances throughout Germany. At the Grand Prix of Nations Berlin 2017, which was organised by Interkultur in cooperation with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Axel Scheidig served as a juror.

With around 60 concerts annually, numerous CDs and three Grammys, Rundfunkchor Berlin is one of the world’s foremost choruses. Its wide-ranging repertoire, flexible and richly nuanced sound, flawless precision and enthralling delivery have made it the chosen partner of the major orchestras and conductors in its home city but also internationally, where it functions as a musical ambassador for Berlin in the great concert halls of the world. It is so much more than just a concert and studio chorus.

Along with its symphonic choral central repertoire, Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly forging new paths by means of projects that burst the bounds of the classical concert format and allow choral music to interact with other art forms. The choreographic realization of the Brahms Requiem as “human requiem” by Jochen Sandig with Sasha Waltz & Guests represents a milestone. Following acclaimed performances in Brussels, Taipei and Hong Kong, the work was performed during the 2016-17 season in Berlin, New York and South America. In Christian Jost’s LOVER, a music-theatre piece premiered in 2014 in Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Western symphonic choral music meets a traditional Asian percussion ensemble. In its most recent project, “cosmic lights”, in 2016, Rundfunkchor Berlin presented a multimedia programme based on celestial phenomena including the Northern Lights.

Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly developing new and unusual ways of experiencing choral music and stimulating choruses all over the world to follow its lead. In formats such as the Sing-Along Concert in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Liederbörse (Song Exchange) for Berlin’s school choirs and the project Hand in Hand, it is working intensively with committed amateur choirs. With its International Master Class for choral conducting and the Academy and Schola for young singers, it is fostering the next generation of professionals. And to help make singing an intrinsic component of the primary school day, it created the initiative SING! in 2011.

Founded in 1925, the chorus celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2015. Since its inception, it has been shaped by conductors like Helmut Koch, Dietrich Knothe (1982-93), Robin Gritton (1994-2001) and Simon Halsey (2001-15). At the beginning of 2015-16 season, Gijs Leenaars assumed the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. Simon Halsey retains his ties to Rundfunkchor Berlin as Conductor Laureate and Guest Conductor. Rundfunkchor Berlin is an ensemble of Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin and is sponsored by Deutschlandradio, the German Federal Republic, the state of Berlin and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

The Children’s Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was founded in 2008. In 2013 the choir was expanded to include a youth choir (Junger Chor) and today comprises over 150 children and teenagers. Since its first appearance in “Carmen” in 2009, the choir has sung all children’s choir parts in productions at Deutsche Oper Berlin. In addition to an extensive Romantic opera repertoire, a special focus is on the development of works of modern musical theatre. The children’s choir also has a very active concert schedule. In addition to concerts with conductors such as GMD Sir Donald Runnicles and Zubin Metha in the Berlin Philharmonie, the choir has performed at the Salzburg Festival and in South Africa. In its own innovative concert formats, the children’s choir spans a wide range of works from the Baroque to contemporary music.