Following a long-time as well as fruitful collaboration, Philipp Ahmann has become chief conductor of Leipzig's MDR Radio Choir in January 2020. In 2013 the ensemble appointed him Principal Guest Conductor for a period of three years. He will become chief conductor of the WDR Radio Choir in Cologne from 2025/26 season.
From 2008 to 2018, he was chief conductor of the NDR Vokalensemble in Hamburg and, in addition, led prestigious orchestras specialising on "early music" and ensembles for "New Music", including the AKAMUS Berlin, B'Rock, Bell'arte Salzburg, Concerto con Anima, Concerto Köln, Le Concert Lorrain, the Elbipolis Barock Orchestra Hamburg, Holland Baroque and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, Ensemble Resonanz, Fabergé-Quintett, Gürzenich-Orchester Cologne, MDR Sinfonieorchester and NDR Radiophilharmonie, as well as the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Dutch Radio Choir, WDR Rundfunkchor, SWR Vokalensemble and RIAS Kammerchor. Productions with the Bigband "Spielvereinigung Sued", NDR Bigband and the NDR Brass bear witness to the conductor's versatility. The cross-genre production “A KIND OF…CHORAL MUSIC” was awarded the German Jazz Prize 2024.
Philipp Ahmann has been acclaimed not only for exploring a cappella repertoire from every musical period but also for his interpretation of oratorio works of oratorio works ranging from Baroque to contemporary. His vast repertoire encompasses besides numerous works by Bach, Handel, and Telemann as well as works of the French, Italian and Salzburg Baroque, the key works of the Viennese Classic and the romantic period, such as Haydn's "The Seasons", Mendelssohn's "Paulus" and "Elijah", Mozart's "Requiem", Schubert's "Missa in E-flat" as well as Berlioz' "L'enfance du Christ", and, furthermore, many works of the modern era.
In August 2019, Philipp Ahmann made his successful debut at the Ópera Nacional de Chile in Santiago with a staged production of Handel's Rodelinda.
He has been a guest at renowned festivals such as Rheingau Music Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the International Handel Festival Göttingen and Handel Festival Halle.
Numerous CDs recorded with the MDR Rundfunkchor and the NDR Choir gained enthusiastic critical acclaim.
Born in 1974, Philipp Ahmann studied with Marcus Creed in Cologne and gained further artistic impulses by Frieder Bernius, Peter Neumann and Robin Gritton, as well as due to collaborations with renowned conductors, such as Gerd Albrecht, Alain Altinoglu, Semyon Bychkov, Dennis Russell Davies, Christoph von Dohnányi, Peter Eötvös, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Thomas Hengelbrock, Heinz Holliger, Marek Janowski, Wladimir Jurowski, Andrew Manze, Kent Nagano, Andris Nelsons, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Thielemann, and Lothar Zagrosek.
In 2025, Philipp Ahmann was appointed Professor of Choral Conducting at the Cologne University of Music and Dance.
