The Orpheus Vokalensemble is associated with the Landesmusikakademie Baden-Württemberg but is largely independent in the recording studio. It is a cooperative group in which individual members wield considerable influence.

The Orpheus Vokalensemble was founded in 2005. Its formal purpose is to serve as a professional chamber choir associated with the Landesmusikakademie Baden-Württemberg, also known as the Landesakademie Ochsenhausen or the Landesakademie für musizierende Jugend Baden-Württemberg; this is a school and pedagogical center in the town of Ochsenhausen that is focused on musical education for children and adults. As a recording entity, however, the Orpheus Vokalensemble has been independent of the school and has recorded with a variety of ensembles as well as solo, accompanied by a piano. It has no permanent conductor, instead being led by those conductors of the groups with which it collaborates. The Orpheus Vokalensemble was named for and modeled after New York's Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; both groups strive to bring an interactive, chamber music quality to music-making by larger ensembles. Demands on the individual singers are exacting. The ensemble is run cooperatively, with members having a say in the choice of repertory, soloists, conductors, and programming. The Orpheus Vokalensemble landed a recording contract with the Carus label shortly after its founding, releasing An die Sterne, an album of Schumann's secular choral music, in 2006. It has continued to record for Carus.

In live concerts, the Orpheus Vokalensemble has appeared mostly at festivals, beginning with the International Lake Constance Festival in 2006. The group strives to include contemporary music in its programming, and Bo Hansson, Knut Nystedt, and Gregor Hübner are among the composers who have written works for the group. The ensemble's recordings for Carus include lesser-known works of German choral music by Johann Simon Mayr and Isfrid Kayser. When performing solo, as on 2018's Lili Boulanger: Hymne au Soleil, it has sometimes been conducted by Michael Albert. In 2022, the Orpheus Vokalensemble released a recording of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten, Hob. 21/3, with the early music group Concerto Köln. ~ James Manheim, Rovi