Hans-Christoph Rademann is one of Germany's leading choral conductors, specializing in early music and, in particular, the rich musical culture of Baroque-era Saxony. He is the conductor of the Dresdner Kammerchor, which he founded while still a student, and director of the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart. Rademann was born in Dresden, in what was then East Germany, on August 5, 1965, but grew up an hour away in Schwarzenberg near the German-Czech border, where his father was a church musician. He soaked up choral music there and also took lessons on violin and piano. In 1975, Rademann joined the boychoir at Dresden's Kreuzkirche, remaining a member until 1983. He studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden, graduating in 1990. Rademann took master classes from renowned early music specialists Helmut Rilling and Philippe Herreweghe. In 1985, he founded the Dresdner Kammerchor, and as of the early 2020s, he remained that group's director. Rademann also served as the artistic director of the Singakademie Dresden from 1991 to 1999. In 1996, he made his recording debut, leading that group and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1999, Rademann became director of the Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, collaborating there with world-famous conductors such as Roger Norrington, Semyon Bychkov, and Christoph Eschenbach. In 2007, he became conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor in Berlin, holding that position until 2015. He has appeared as a guest conductor with major choirs, including the Collegium Vocale Gent, the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, and the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Rademann is also active as an orchestral conductor, with both Baroque-oriented groups such as Concerto Köln and the Akademie für Alte Music Berlin and traditional orchestras, including the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Dresden Philharmonic. In 2013, he succeeded Rilling as director of the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart and its associated Gächinger Cantorey choir. He has also conducted opera. By the early 2020s, Rademann had amassed a substantial recording catalog on the Carus label, with other releases on Raumklang and Harmonia Mundi. His recordings, with the various groups he has conducted, often featured German Baroque music and especially that of the Saxony region in which Bach was active, but his repertory includes Romantic works and stretches as far forward as the 21st century. In 2022, by which time he had released some 70 albums, he led the Gächinger Cantorey in a recording of Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung on the Accent label. Rademann has been a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden since 2000. ~ James Manheim, Rovi