Leipzig Gewandhaus Plans Memorial Concert for Blomstedt

The Gewandhaus Orchestra will honour Herbert Blomstedt with a memorial concert in Leipzig on Tuesday 10 November. The conductor, who died in Gothenburg on 4 November aged 99, had led the orchestra as Gewandhauskapellmeister from 1998 to 2005 and remained closely connected with it as honorary conductor.

Andris Nelsons, the current Gewandhauskapellmeister, will conduct Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony. The Gewandhaus Choir is due to open the evening with Bach’s motet Komm, Jesu, komm. These choices place the memorial in a musical language associated with the orchestra and with Blomstedt’s long relationship to Leipzig.

The programme also makes space for spoken tributes. Gewandhaus director Andreas Schulz, Leipzig mayor Burkhard Jung, Saxony’s minister-president Michael Kretschmer and orchestra board chair Bernhard Krug are expected to address the gathering. Their participation reflects the conductor’s impact on both the ensemble and the city’s public life.

The most personal gesture will come from the audience. Those present are invited to sing Jesu, meine Freude, a chorale counted among Blomstedt’s favourites. This turns remembrance from a series of speeches into a collective act of music-making, a fitting tribute to a figure whose work was always realised with others.

Blomstedt’s tenure in Leipzig was one chapter of an exceptionally long conducting life, but his association with the Gewandhaus continued well beyond the formal post. The memorial is framed as a chance for musicians and listeners to say farewell together in the building where many shared that experience.

The event should be understood as a tribute, not another announcement of his death. Its distinctive news is the programme, leadership and invitation for audience participation on 10 November.