Netherlands Radio Choir, chief conductor
SWR Vokalensemble, chief conductor from 2028
Benjamin works across the choral repertoire, from early music to the most demanding contemporary works. He has appeared at major venues in Europe, the USA, China, Japan, and Australia. With the Netherlands Radio Choir, he directs the ensemble’s regular series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He is also a frequent guest with leading choral ensembles including the BBC Singers, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Chorwerk Ruhr, Chamber Choir Ireland, the Flemish Radio Choir, and the Hungarian National Choir.
From August 2028, Benjamin will be Chief Conductor of the SWR Vokalensemble.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include his return to Asia to conduct the Taipei Chamber Singers at Taipei National Concert Hall, a Christmas broadcast with the Flemish Radio Choir, and tours with Chorwerk Ruhr. He returns to Stuttgart for two major projects with the SWR Vokalensemble: a curated Luciano Berio programme (“Knoblauch & Rattengift”) and a concert tour featuring music by Britten, Weill, and a new commission by Mike Svoboda.
He enjoys a close relationship with composer Sir James MacMillan. At the Concertgebouw he will conduct Seven Last Words from the Cross and Stravinsky’s Mass for Choir and Winds. With Rundfunkchor Berlin, he presents Hoffnung, a virtuosic programme featuring works by MacMillan, Xenakis, and Schnittke.
“Every note, every sound melts on the tongue, is interpreted, invites you to notice. ‘Devotion to the music’: here this term really applies.”
A cappella and new music
With razor-sharp hearing and a deep passion for choral singing, Benjamin is regularly invited to conduct the central 20th-century a cappella repertoire. He is committed to performing and commissioning new music and has developed close relationships with Sir James MacMillan, Jörg Widmann, Jonathan Dove, Roxanna Panufnik, Peter-Jan Wagemans and other leading composers. He is now known for his work on some of the most technically challenging choral scores in the repertoire.
Recordings
Benjamin records for Pentatone and their debut album featuring motets by Mendelssohn and Rheinberger was released in 2023 to critical acclaim. Described as "unmissable" by Stretto and "an extraordinary choral disc" by Scherzo, the recording received 5 stars from BBC Music Magazine and was nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. The follow up disc, with choral masterpieces by Frank Martin, Daniel-Lesur and Messiaen, will appear in Autumn 2025.
New formats
Beyond traditional concerts, Benjamin is committed to developing innovative ways to experience choral singing. He has staged Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Tom Guthrie, performed in Rundfunkchor Berlin's Human Requiem, and contributed to the development of Robert Wilson's groundbreaking staging of the Bach Motets. For Groot Omroepkoor, he created The Living Room, a multidisciplinary format that incorporates cross-genre and multimedia collaboration. Its first edition in 2021 featured a ritualized staging of Igor Stravinsky's choral works, followed by collaborations such as “Circus of Angels” with Sven Ratzke and a new video-based staging of Tarik O'Regan’s Mass Observation.
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With British and German roots, Benjamin was born in Hertfordshire, UK and now lives in Berlin. He read music at Hertford College, Oxford, and three years after graduating was appointed a Director of Music at the University of Oxford — a position he later relinquished to become the youngest Chief Conductor of a major European ensemble at the time. Today, alongside an international career as a performer and recording artist, Benjamin also teaches the Master’s course in Choral Conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
“As compelling as the programme’s conceptual lines are those drawn by Benjamin Goodson. The conductor takes Bach with airiness, lightness and athletic energy.”