Artists biographies
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

It is the oldest civic concert orchestra in the world. The orchestra had its origins in the concert society called the "Grand Concert" founded by 16 merchants in 1743. Following its move into the meeting house of the cloth merchants (the "Gewandhaus") in 1781, the ensemble was named the "Gewandhaus Orchestra." In 1884, the orchestra moved into a new concert hall that had been built through the sale of endowment shares, which was destroyed during the air raids of 1944. In 1981, a new Gewandhaus was opened on Augustusplatz.

Few other orchestras have contributed as much to the development of the symphonic musical tradition as the Gewandhaus Orchestra. For example, it performed all of Beethoven's symphonies during the composer's lifetime. The orchestra also presented the world's first complete Bruckner cycle as well as the first  Shostakovich cycle during the 1970s.

The orchestra boasts an exceptionally wide repertoire and an unusually large number of performances. This is due in part to its multiple functions as a concert orchestra, an opera orchestra at the Leipzig Opera, and a chamber orchestra which performs cantatas with the world-famous St. Thomas's Boys Choir at St. Thomas's Church. With more than 200 performances in these three venues and on tour, the Gewandhaus Orchestra is the musical heart of the City of Leipzig and its most important musical ambassador.

Felix Mendelssohn, Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter number among the most distinguished Gewandhaus Music Directors. Herbert Blomstedt, who succeeded Kurt Masur in 1998, was the orchestra's 18th Music Director. Since September 2005, Riccardo Chailly has held the post of 19th Gewandhaus Music Director.

The Gewandhaus's "Grand Concert" series has been named "Best Concert Programme of the 2008/2009 Season." In the opinion of the Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband (Association of German Music Publishers) the Gewandhaus Orchestra presented the best programming during the 2008/2009 season.