CHORWERK RUHR
The CHORWERK RUHR was founded in 1999 by the KulturRuhr GmbH, the Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet, the City of Essen and the State Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs, Urban Development, Culture and Sport. The first artistic director and conductor of CHORWERK RUHR was Professor Frieder Bernius.

Since Bernius' departure in 2003, such great artists as Reinhard Goebel, Peter Neumann, Robin Gritton, Sylvain Cambreling and Hans Zender have conducted individual programmes with CHORWERK RUHR, before the Austrian conductor and composer Professor Rupert Huber led CHORWERK RUHR from 2008 to October 2011. On 1 November 2011, the multi-award-winning choral conductor Florian Helgath took over as artistic director.

Since February 2000, concerts from the entire spectrum of early to contemporary music have taken place. Under Frieder Bernius, CHORWERK RUHR was able to establish itself as an outstanding ensemble for baroque music, but in recent years the focus has shifted more towards new music. However, the repertoire still includes compositions from Bach to Zender and from Monteverdibis Rihm. Historically precise sound reconstructions stand on an equal footing with innovative concepts and world premieres in the history of the vocal ensemble, for example by composers such as Hans Schanderl, Gerhard Stäbler, Clytus Gottwald, Rupert Huber, Moritz Eggert, Robert Moran, Eriks Esenvalds and Nikolaus Brass. Every year CHORWERK RUHR commissions up to two compositions.

CHORWERK RUHR has already collaborated with renowned orchestras in its projects. These include Ensemble Resonanz, Concerto Köln, Musica Antiqua, musikFabrik, the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Ensemble Modern and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. In addition to performances as part of the Ruhrtriennale, such as most recently in 2012 with CWR 63 - Prometheus and CWR 64 - Nach spätem Gewitter and in 2013 with CWR 69 - Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern and CWR 70 - Ikon of Light, the ensemble is active throughout Germany. In Berlin, CHORWERK RUHR was invited to sing at the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany. In March 2014, CHORWERK RUHR also performed in the renowned BR musica viva concert series for contemporary music in the Herkulessaal in Munich. CHORWERK RUHR was also a guest at the Audi Summer Concerts in Eichstätt and Ingolstadt, where the ensemble performed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in July 2014 under the direction of Kent Nagano together with the Audi Youth Choir Academy and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Prague.

CHORWERK RUHR has been able to steadily build on its success with the press and the public in recent years, establishing itself as one of the high-quality artistic trademarks of the Ruhr metropolitan region and one of the top choirs in Germany. This is evidenced, for example, by recordings by WDR and DLR, CD productions, and the film recording of the opera "Moses und Aron" by Arnold Schönberg. The latter was performed with great success at the Ruhrtriennale 2009. In 2016, the US press voted two Ruhrtriennale productions with CHORWERK RUHR, "Carré" and the performance of "De Materie" in the Park Avenue Armory Hall, "The Best Classical Music of 2016″.

Florian Helgath
has quickly established himself as one of the leading choral conductors of the younger generation. Since 2011 he has been Artistic Director of CHORWERK RUHR, with whom he works on choral music of all epochs at the highest level, both in a cappella and in choral symphony. Since 2017/18 he has also taken over the artistic direction of the Zurich Sing-Akademie. From 2009 to 2015 Florian Helgath worked as conductor of the Danish Radio Choir and was Artistic Director of the Via Nova Choir Munich from 2008 to 2016, with whom he presented numerous highly acclaimed world premieres. In October 2020, he accepted a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, where he teaches Bachelor's and Master's programmes in choral conducting.

Florian Helgath is a regular guest with the SWR Vokalensemble, RIAS Kammerchor, MDR Rundfunkchor, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Netherlands Radio Choir, Choeur de Radio France, Choir of the Warsaw National Philharmonic and others and works with orchestras such as the Munich Radio Orchestra, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Danish Chamber Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln and Ensemble Resonanz. Performances have taken him to many major concert halls, the Berliner Festspiele, Audi Sommerkonzerte, Eclat Festival Neue Musik Stuttgart, Thüringer Bachwochen and especially to the Ruhrtriennale, where he has created numerous contemporary music theatre productions and various other projects in the industrial halls of the Ruhr. Upcoming highlights include his debuts with the Brussels Philharmonic & Flemish Radio Choir, Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Swedish Radio Choir. Renewed engagements await him with the Netherlands Radio Choir.

His discography with Chorwerk Ruhr includes the CD Bodenschätze, which presents music from the Florilegium Portense together with Capella de la Torre, and a CD with the Mozart Requiem completed by Michael Ostrzyga - together with Concerto Köln. In addition, the CD Geistliche Gesänge with works by J.S. Bach, Reger and Knut Nystedt with the MDR Rundfunkchor, which won the ICMA Award 2017, and works by Palestrina and Wagner, also with the MDR Rundfunkchor, Contemporary Choral Music with the Via Nova Choir and J.S. Mayr Missa in c - Stabat Mater with the Orpheus Vokalensemble and Concerto Köln among others.

For the album Da Pacem: Echo of the Reformation with the RIAS Kammerchor and Capella de la Torre, Florian Helgath received the ECHO Klassik 2017. The recording of Tigran Mansurian's Requiem with the RIAS Kammerchor (rehearsal: Florian Helgath) and Munich Chamber Orchestra on ECM Records was nominated for a Grammy 2018.

Florian Helgath has assisted and rehearsed with Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Christian Thielemann, among others.

Florian Helgath gained his first musical experience in his home town with the Regensburger Domspatzen and later studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. His most important teachers include Michael Gläser, Stefan Parkman and Dan Olof Stenlund, who had a decisive influence on his development as a conductor.

He has made a name for himself internationally as a finalist and prize-winner in competitions such as the Eric Ericson Award 2006 in Sweden and the Competition For Young Choral Conductors 2007 in Budapest.