It was founded in 1966 as a youth choir for the broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk by Alois Ickstadt, who conducted it for 45 years.
It performs in concerts, radio productions and recordings, with a focus on a cappella music, but has also participated in joint symphonic productions such as Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand for the opening of the Alte Oper concert hall in 1981.
The choral conductor and pedagogue Alois Ickstadt, who had founded the children's choir for the broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk (hr) in 1961, founded a youth choir, which would become the Figuralchor, for the station in 1966,[1][2] according to his concept to educate choral singers from childhood to adulthood in both vocal training and background information.
The choir's repertoire is focused on sacred and secular a cappella motets, but it also performs symphonic works and oratorios,[1] such as Mahler's Eighth Symphony in the opening concert of the Alte Oper on 28 August 1981, conducted by Michael Gielen.
[4] Schäffer conducted the choir in a festive concert at the Clara Schumann Saal of Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium on 16 September 2016 in a performance of Schubert's Mass in E-flat major.