The MDR Leipzig Radio Chorus is among Germany's top vocal ensembles. Based in Leipzig, the group has performed and recorded around Germany and often abroad. The ultimate ancestry of the MDR Leipzig Radio Chorus (German: MDR Rundfunkchor or Mitteldeutscher Rundfunkchor) dates back to the early days of radio. In 1924, a choir named the Leipziger Oratorienvereinigung ("Leipzig Oratorio Association") was heard on MDR radio in a performance of Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung. A later broadcast featured a Leipziger Solistenchor ("Leipzig Soloists' Choir"), and the radio station singers were formalized in 1934 as the Kammerchor des Reichssenders Leipzig ("Chamber Choir of the Leipzig Reich Radio"). The group made its first recordings, of German folk songs, in 1937. The choir dissolved during World War II but was reestablished in 1946 under conductor Heinrich Werlé with a mixed-gender group of 27 singers. The group operated under various names and became the MDR Rundfunkchor in 1992. Other major conductors have included Herbert Kegel (1949-1978), Jörg-Peter Weigle (1980-1988), Gert Frischmuth (1988-1998), Howard Arman (1998-2013), Risto Joost (2015-2019), and, since 2020, Philipp Ahmann. Longtime assistant conductor Dietrich Knothe was dismissed in 1962 after directing the group not to sing East Germany's national anthem. The MDR Rundfunkchor began touring abroad in 1957 when it appeared in what was then Czechoslovakia; in 1982, it toured Japan, and in 1990, it became the first East German choir to appear in Israel. The choir has accompanied the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (MDR Sinfonieorchester) and has also given concerts independently. The MDR Leipzig Radio Chorus has a large catalog of recordings, both on German labels, including Berlin Classics and Genuin, and those abroad, including PentaTone Classics. In 2022, the choir was heard on Solo Musica in a recording of Vaughan Williams' A Serenade to Music with the MDR Sinfonieorchester under conductor Dennis Russell Davies. ~ James Manheim, Rovi