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 and Kurt Masur. After his inauguration in 2005, Riccardo Chailly’s phenomenally successful tenure as Gewandhauskapellmeister came to an end in 2016. Andris Nelsons assumed the position of Gewandhauskapellmeister in the 2017/18 season.

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 200 performances each year in the Orchestra’s three ‘homes’: as concert 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 enjoys
almost unparalleled presence in 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 each 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”. Following the principles established by Mendelssohn himself, the Gewandhausorchester and University collaborate in the form of the Mendelssohn Orchestra Academy, offering the most talented young musicians the opportunity to hone their skills to the level required by the world’s elite orchestras. Graduates of the Orchesterakademie receive a master’s degree from the University.

The CD and DVD productions released by the Gewandhausorchester since the turn of the
millenium 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. This label has released two DVD productions with
the Orchestra and the new Gewandhauskapellmeister, Andris Nelsons: Antonín Dvořák’s 9th
Szmphony From the New World (released in February 2018) and Alban Berg’s Violin
Concerto coupled with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Scottish Symphony (released in
August 2018). Andris Nelsons is currently leading the Gewandhausorchester in the recording
of a complete cycle of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, produced on CD by Deutsche
Grammophon. The 3rd Symphony formed the initial release in the spring of 2017, followed
by No. 4 in February 2018 and No. 7. in April of that year. Symphonies No. 6 and 9 were
released in May 2019. Conductor laureate Herbert Blomstedt is leading the
Gewandhausorchester in the recording of a complete cycle of the symphonies of Johannes
Brahms. The Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 formed the initial release in September
2020, coupled with the Tragic Overture op. 81, followed by No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 &
Academic Festival Overture op. 80 (Pentatone). 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.