Best known as one of the six singers in the popular group Die Singphoniker, tenor Alfons Brandl still appears regularly as a soloist in high-profile concerts across the globe since leaving the group in 2008. Where Die Singphoniker sang an array of repertory, from chant, Renaissance-era and Baroque to modern, folk, and popular songs, Brandl is nearly as eclectic and broad in his solo repertory, singing music from J.S. Bach, Handel, and Mozart to 20th century fare, like Orff's Carmina Burana, a specialty of his which he (as the Swan) has sung more than 60 times in concert. As a member of the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, he teaches choral and orchestral conducting. He also teaches and conducts several amateur choirs in Germany. Brandl has appeared on numerous recordings over the years, most of them available from CPO, Oehms, and Wergo. Alfons Brandl was born in Straubing, Germany, in 1957. His father was his first teacher, and from his early childhood Alfons studied piano, violin, and voice. Brandl's advanced studies were at the Munich Hochschule (music education) and the Munich-based Ludwig-Maximilians University (choral conducting). He had vocal studies later on with Margaret Langen. It was at the Munich Hochschule in 1980 that Brandl and five other students there formed Die Singphoniker. The group enjoyed early success, making its first recording in 1982 for CPO. But Brandl was also developing a parallel solo career on the side, both in concert and recital repertory: he was appearing largely in Baroque-era oratorios and in lieder and song repertory. By the early years of the new century, the popularity and critical success of Die Singphoniker was still growing, with numerous successful recordings and acclaimed concert tours across Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Poland, and elsewhere in Europe, and the U.S. and Canada. In the fall 2003 Brandl went on tour in Germany with conductor Riccardo Muti in a series of highly praised concerts that featured Carmina Burana. In July 2008 Brandl departed Die Singphoniker, having by that time appeared on 31 recordings with the ensemble. He has since remained busy with his teaching activities and with a sizable schedule of concert and solo appearances. Among Brandl's more important recordings is the five-CD CPO set, issued in 2000, Singphonic Schubert, which contains performances by Die Singphoniker from the mid- and late '90s.