The founder of the VokalEnsemble Köln, Max Ciolek, studied church music and is today a tenor of international repute. He has sung in almost all European countries, in the United States, China and Morocco, and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He is a frequent guest at international festivals and has drawn encouragement and inspiration in his work as a singer and choral conductor through collaboration with conductors such as Ton Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe, Hermann Max, Sigiswald Kuijken, Thomas Hengelbrock and Peter Neumann.