Herbert Blomstedt

Herbert Thorson Blomstedt Swedish ˈhæ̌rːbɛʈ ˈblʊ̌mːstɛt Born 11 July 1927 Is A Swedish Conductor. Herbert Blomstedt Was Born In Springfield Massachusetts The Son Of Adolf Blomstedt 1898–1981 And His Wife Alida Armintha Thorson 1899–1957 . Two Years After His Birth His Swedish Parents Moved The Family Back To Their Country Of Origin. He Studied At The Stockholm Royal College Of Music And The University Of Uppsala Followed By Studies Of Contemporary Music At The Darmstädter Ferienkurse In 1949 Baroque Music With Paul Sacher At The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis And Further Conducting Studies With Igor Markevitch Jean Morel At The Juilliard School And Leonard Bernstein At Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center. Blomstedt Also Lived In Finland During His Youth. He Won The Koussevitzky Conducting Prize In 1953 And The Salzburg Conducting Competition In 1955. Blomstedt Is Most Noted For His Performances Of German And Austrian Composers Such As Beethoven Felix Mendelssohn Johannes Brahms Franz Schubert Anton Bruckner Richard Strauss And Paul Hindemith And Also As A Champion Of Scandinavian Composers Such As Edvard Grieg Franz Berwald Jean Sibelius And Carl Nielsen. A Devout Seventh-Day Adventist Blomstedt Does Not Rehearse On Friday Nights Or Saturdays The Sabbath In Seventh-Day Adventism. He Does However Conduct Concerts Since He Considers Actual Performances To Be An Expression Of His Religious Devotion Rather Than Work. He Has Been Music Director Or Principal Conductor Of The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra 1954–1962 Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra 1962–1968 Danish Radio Symphony 1967–1977 And Swedish Radio Symphony 1977–1982 . From 1975 To 1985 He Served As Chief Conductor Of The Staatskapelle Dresden In The Process Making Many Well-Regarded Recordings Including Works Of Richard Strauss And The Complete Beethoven And Schubert Symphonies And Leading The Orchestra On International Tours. Blomstedt Was Music Director Of The San Francisco Symphony From 1985 To 1995. He Led The Orchestra On Regular Tours Of Europe And Asia And Made Numerous Prize-Winning Recordings For London/Decca Winning Two Grammy Awards A Gramophone Award And A Grand Prix Du Disque As Well As Awards From Belgium Germany And Japan. After Leaving San Francisco Full-Time Blomstedt Held Principal Conductorships With The North German Radio Symphony 1996–1998 And Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra 1998–2005 . Blomstedt Is Currently Conductor Laureate Of The San Francisco Symphony And Honorary Conductor Of The Bamberg Symphony Danish National Symphony Orchestra NHK Symphony Swedish Radio Symphony Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra And Staatskapelle Dresden. Awards 2022 Knight Commander's Cross Of The Order Of Merit Of The Federal Republic Of Germany
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