The Gewandhausorchester is the oldest civic symphony orchestra in the world. The enterprise was founded in 1743 by a group of 16 musical philanthropists – representatives of the nobility as well as regular citizens - forming a concert society by the name of Das Große Concert. On taking residence in the trading house of the city's textile merchants (the 'Gewandhaus') in 1781, the ensemble assumed the name Gewandhausorchester. Many celebrated musicians have been appointed to the office of Gewandhauskapellmeister (Music Director and Principal Conductor), including Johann Adam Hiller, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Arthur Nikisch, Kurt Masur, Herbert Blomstedt and Riccardo Chailly. Andris Nelsons assumed the position of 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister in September 2018. The Gewandhausorchester´s unique contribution to Europe´s historical and current musical wealth has been recognized with the award of the European Cultural Heritage Label.

Music lovers worldwide revere the highly individual sound palette that distinguishes the Gewandhausorchester from all other symphony orchestras. This unique sound identity, along with the extraordinarily rich diversity of the repertoire which the Gewandhausorchester performs, is cultivated in over 250 performances each year in the Orchestra's three 'homes': as symphony orchestra in the Gewandhaus, orchestra of the Leipzig Opera and orchestra for the weekly performances of the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach with the Thomanerchor in St. Thomas's Church. No other elite symphony orchestra dedicates itself so intensively to the performance of the music of J.S. Bach. The Gewandhausorchester has toured the globe on a regular basis since 1916 and records extensively for the media of radio, television, CD and DVD.

Few other ensembles have exerted such significant and enduring influence on the development of the symphonic music tradition as the Gewandhausorchester. Throughout its history, the orchestra has consistently attracted the collaborative energies of the world's most eminent composers, conductors and soloists. The Gewandhausorchester performed a complete cycle of the symphonies of Beethoven during his lifetime (1825/26), as well as the first ever cycle of Bruckner's symphonies to be mounted (1919/20). Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto Emperor, Brahms' Violin Concerto and Deutsches Requiem and Bruckner's 7th Symphony are just a fraction of the wealth of the core symphonic repertoire to be given its first performance by the Gewandhausorchester. The orchestra commissions and premieres new works every season to this day.

A decisive contribution to the development of the symphonic repertoire must be attributed to the celebrated Gewandhauskapellmeister, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. During his tenure from 1835 until 1847, he presided over the first performances of numerous works from his own pen, for instance the Violin Concerto, the Scottish Symphony and his Overture to Ruy Blas, as well as the world premieres of many works of other composers, including Schubert's C major Symphony The Great and Schumann's 1st, 2nd and 4th symphonies. Through the introduction of new programming concepts - highly innovative for the time - Mendelssohn sharpened the Gewandhaus audiences' awareness of the music of times past, most notably reviving the performance of the orchestral oeuvre of J.S. Bach.

It was on Mendelssohn's initiative that Germany's first conservatoire was founded, in Leipzig, in 1843 - the modern-day University of Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (UMT). Following the principles established by Mendelssohn himself, the Gewandhausorchester and the UMT have collaborated since 2004 in the form of the Mendelssohn Orchestra Academy (MOA), offering the most talented young musicians the opportunity to hone their skills to the level required by the world's elite orchestras. During the two-year training programme, members of the MOA receive individual tuition, coaching and mentoring from musicians of the Gewandhausorchester and from professors of the UMT. They hone their practical skills through regular active participation in concerts both at the Gewandhaus and on tour, in performances at the Leipzig Opera, at St Thomas’s Church, as well as in an intensive programme of chamber music. This enables the young musicians to acquire a diverse repertoire and gain invaluable experience for their future careers. In the 2024/2025 season, the Gewandhausorchester will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the MOA. Members of the MOA and of the Gewandhausorchester will perform a gala concert which will open the Mendelssohn Festival 2024. The MOA will also play a decisive role in the Shostakovich Festival 2025, as part of the Festival Orchestra for three symphonic concerts, as well as in chamber concerts taking place at the UMT and at the Mendelssohn House.

Recordings by the Gewandhausorchester

The CD productions released by the Gewandhausorchester have been decorated with a plethora of international record awards, including a Golden Disc. Under the direction of Riccardo Chailly, the Decca label produced a complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonies and nine of his overtures (CD, 2007-2009) and a cycle of Brahms' symphonies (CD, 2012-2013). Riccardo Chailly also led the Orchestra in numerous acclaimed DVD recordings of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler (accentus music, 2011-2015).

To mark the occasion of Herbert Blomstedt's 90th birthday in July 2017, a new complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonic oeuvre conducted by the Gewandhausorchester's Conductor Laureate was released by accentus music. In July 2022. shortly before Herbert Blomstedt’s 95th birthday, the first disc of a complete cycle of the symphonies of Franz Schubert was released (symphonies 8 & 9, Deutsche Grammophon). 2022 also saw the release of the third and final disc of Herbert Blomstedt’s Brahms symphony cycle, coupled with the Tragic Overture, op. 81 and the Academic Festival Overture, op. 80 (Pentatone).

Andris Nelsons, the 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister, has led the orchestra in DVD recordings on the accentus music label of Antonín Dvořák's 9th Symphony From the New World (released in February 2018), Alban Berg's Violin Concerto coupled with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Scottish Symphony (released in August 2018), and Peter Tchaikovsky’s 6th (February 2019) and 5th symphonies (February 2020).

On the occasion of Sofia Gubaidulina's 90th birthday in October 2021, Deutsche Grammophon released a CD with world premiere recordings of Der Zorn Gottes, Das Licht des Endes and the violin concerto No. 3 Dialog: Ich und Du (Vadim Repin, violin) under the baton of Andris Nelsons. In May 2022, a seven-CD box set of symphonic works by Richard Strauss, recorded by the Gewandhausorchester and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, of which Andris Nelsons is also Music Director, was released by Deutsche Grammophon.

Under the baton of Franz-Welser Möst, the Gewandhausorchester can be heard together with pianist Igor Levit in Tristan - Préludes for piano, tapes and orchestra of Hans Werner Henze (Sony Classic 09/2022).

In 2022 Andris Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester completed the cycle of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, produced on CD by Deutsche Grammophon. In 2023, the CDs of the cycle were released as a box set, including a recording of the Symphony No. 0, which will appear on CD for the first time played by the Gewandhausorchester.

February 2023 saw the re-release of the complete cycle of Bruckner’s symphonies under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor Laureate of the Gewandhausorchester. The recordings, made between 2005 and 2012, have been considered reference performances ever since their initial release ten years ago (accentus music).

In spring 2024, the Gewandhausorchester and Andris Nelsons, together with Lang Lang and his wife, Gina Alice, released the album Saint-Saëns, featuring Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals in the version for two pianos and orchestra and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor.

A touring orchestra of KD SCHMID.

SEASON 2024/2025 - THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF GEWANDHAUSORCHESTER LEIPZIG.