Today is Conductor Herbert Blomstedt’s 97th Birthday!

Blomstedt has served several principal conducting positions and remains active on the podium today

Swedish-born conductor Herbert Blomstedt was born on this day 97 years ago.

Born in the United States to Swedish parents and educated in upstate New York, Darmstadt, and Basel, Blomstedt made his conducting debut in 1954 with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently served as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, the Swedish and Danish radio orchestras, and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Later, he became music director of the San Francisco Symphony, chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig.

His former orchestras in San Francisco, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Dresden, as well as the Bamberg Symphony and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, all honored him with the title of conductor laureate.

He holds several honorary doctorates, is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Music Academy, and was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit. In April 2016, he received the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize of Denmark for his life’s work as an artist.

Blomstedt is particularly known for his interpretations of Austro-Germanic and Scandinavian repertoire — from Beethoven and Bruckner to Grieg and Nielsen.

BRUCKNER | SYMPHONY NO. 4 | HERBERT BLOMSTEDT & THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC | 2021