Ralf Otto

Ralf Otto (born 1956) is a German conductor, especially known as a choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded the Vokalensemble Frankfurt, focused on contemporary music and winning competitions including Let the Peoples Sing. Since 1986, he has been director of the Bachchor Mainz, with a tradition of performing Bach cantatas in broadcast church services. He added late romantic and contemporary works to their repertoire and made international tours with them. They made world premiere recordings of some cantatas by Bach's oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, among other recordings. Otto was professor of choral conducting at the Folkwang Hochschule from 1990 to 2006, when he took the same position at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz.

Life and career Vokalensemble Frankfurt Otto was born in Kassel. While still studying church music at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, Otto founded the Vokalensemble Frankfurt in 1981. With this chamber choir, consisting of young, partly professional singers, who specialised in demanding and rarely performed works of all eras, Otto achieved international competition successes,