[1] He was supported by Dietrich Knothe from 1952 on (dismissed for political reasons in October 1962), which was intended primarily for a cappella works and rehearsals.

The concert tour through Scandinavia (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) in October 1957 marked the choir's international breakthrough.

In 1964, Horst Neumann was engaged as guest conductor; from 1967 to 1978, and thus as successor to Armin Oeser, he was choir director.

In 1982 the choir and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra gave guest performances in Japan conducted by Wolf-Dieter Hauschild.

[5][6] The MDR Rundfunkchor has an extensive repertoire (a cappella, choral symphonic works, ensemble singing, secular and sacred music).

Boris Blacher, Thomas Buchholz, Thomas Bürkholz, Alan Bush, Jean-Luc Darbellay, Paul Dessau, Paul-Heinz Dittrich, Hanns Eisler, Fritz Geißler, Sofia Gubaidulina, Hans Werner Henze, Günter Kochan, Marek Kopelent, Wilfried Krätzschmar, Ernst Hermann Meyer, Günter Neubert, Krzysztof Penderecki, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, Gerhard Rosenfeld, Friedrich Schenker, Kurt Schwaen, Siegfried Thiele, Carlos Veerhoff and Udo Zimmermann.

[1] In 2019, the choir participated in the opening concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival at Eberbach Abbey, singing Dvořák's Stabat Mater with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

A reviewer noted: "Extremely well prepared MDR Rundfunkchor communicates an impeccable, focused sound and is unerringly responsive to the sacred text.