--- title: "Music in Leipzig: City of Music ♥ Leipzig Region" url: "https://www.leipzig.travel/en/discover/city-of-music-leipzig" description: "Leipzig is music, past and present ► discover great composers, choirs, festivals and venues in the City of Music :Leipzig!" language: "en" breadcrumb: "Root > Leipzig Travel > Discover > Music > City of Music :Leipzig" --- City of Music :Leipzig ====================== - - - - *Play video*Play external content Please accept all necessary cookies to watch this video. The fascinating power of music can be felt everywhere in Leipzig and the surrounding region – on streets and squares, in churches, concert halls, castles, palaces, monasteries, on impressive open-air stages and at the many authentic places where famous musicians lived and worked. Over the past centuries, **more than 500 composers** lived and worked here, including these **great figures of music history**: Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Clara and Robert Schumann, as well as Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg, Albert Lortzing, Gustav Mahler, and Hanns Eisler. You can experience the **originally preserved places** of world-famous along the . The city's rich musical heritage also includes the , the world-famous , and the , which has always been committed to preserving the Wagner legacy and is one of the oldest civic music theatre stages in Europe. But Leipzig is not only a city with a great musical history — it also keeps tradition alive. The city attracts classical music fans with **top-class festivals** and an impressive musical events calendar. - Overview of festivals - **:** 11–21 June 2026 - **:** 1 – 8 Nov 2026 - **(Gewandhaus)**: 9 May – 23 May 2027 - **(Opera Leipzig)**: May 2028 Gewandhaus Festival Days Leipzig -------------------------------- Beethoven Festival Leipzig 2027 May 9 - 23, 2027 Gewandhaus zu Leipzig - Musikstadt Leipzig **Beethoven for All – The Gewandhaus Celebrates 200 Years of Musical Revolution** To mark the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, the Gewandhaus Leipzig will present a festival of international significance in 2027: featuring all symphonies, world‑renowned stars such as Lang Lang, Igor Levit, and Leonidas Kavakos, an exceptionally curated chamber music series, a new version of “Egmont,” and projects that reinterpret Beethoven’s music for today. The festival is structured around three major pillars: performances of the **symphonies** and key instrumental concertos with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons and internationally acclaimed soloists; an excellently curated **chamber music series**; as well as projects that reexamine Beethoven’s music and explore it from contemporary angles. The program spans interpretative traditions shaped over centuries to crossover formats, jazz, and electronic perspectives. Among the participating artists are **Lang Lang, Leonidas Kavakos, Igor Levit, Pablo Ferrández, Anna Prohaska, Julia Fischer, Michael Wollny, the Stegreif Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Octet**, as well as **the Gewandhaus Quartet**, which will perform all of Beethoven’s string quartets. The festival gains a special historical dimension through Beethoven’s close connection with the Gewandhaus Orchestra: it was the first orchestra in the world to perform all of Beethoven’s symphonies as a complete cycle during the composer’s lifetime. The festival continues this tradition. In addition to the symphonies, it also highlights works premiered by the Gewandhaus Orchestra, including the Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56 for piano, violin, cello, and orchestra, the concert aria “Ah! Perfido,” and the Piano Concerto No. 5 in E‑flat major, Op. 73. The Beethoven Festival 2027 presents itself as an artistic statement: for the power of tradition, for the openness of the Gewandhaus, and for a Beethoven whose music has lost none of its political and social impact even 200 years after his death. The **advance ticket sale** has been running since 27 June 2026. - - *Play video*Play external content Please accept all necessary cookies to watch this video. ### Venues of the Gewandhaus Orchestra - ### The Gewandhaus Orchestra Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons und das Gewandhausorchester - Musikstadt Leipzig The **Gewandhausorchester** is the oldest civic symphony orchestra in the world. In **1743**, 16 merchants founded the **concert society** *Das Große Konzert*, laying the foundation for today’s . When the orchestra moved into an exhibition building of the cloth and garment makers in **1781**, the ensemble received its first prestigious concert hall and the name “Gewandhausorchester.” Today, the orchestra performs not only at the **Gewandhaus** but also at the opposite **Opera House**, as well as together with the **famous Thomanerchor** in the **St. Thomas Church**. - Founded in 1743 - world’s oldest civic symphony orchestra - The namesake is the House of the Clothmakers - 3 venues: Gewandhaus, Leipzig Opera, St Thomas Church - Andris Nelsons has been Gewandhaus Kapellmeister since the 2014/15 season Event recommendation: --------------------- Klassik airleben in Leipzig’s Rosental With Klassik airleben, the thanks its audience every year at the **end of the Gewandhaus season**. On **two consecutive evenings**, the world-famous symphony orchestra performs two Grand Concerts **under the open sky** and invites all Leipzig residents and visitors to join. During this time, the **Rosental** turns into an **open-air concert hall** and a meeting place for families, friends, and acquaintances. Thousands of people stream onto the large meadow in front of the stage – with folding chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets. The atmosphere is unique and captivating. Even those who are not classical music fans succumb to the charm of the music, the summery vibe, and the relaxed mood. With wine and snacks, in shorts and flip-flops, everyone listens to the magnificent performance of the **world-class orchestra**. It is not uncommon for friendships to form with “folding-chair neighbours”, and people often make plans to meet again the following year. The **free admission** to Klassik airleben is mainly thanks to the strong **partner of the Gewandhaus Orchestra** – Porsche – and many other companies in the business community. - Bach Festival Leipzig --------------------- Passion June 10 - 20, 2027 Bach-Archiv Leipzig - Musikstadt Leipzig From 10 to 20 June 2027, Leipzig will once again transform into the world capital of Bach and celebrate the Leipzig Bachfest under the motto **"Passion".** Passion stands for devotion and for the story of suffering, for powerful emotions and dedication, for joy and pain, for the heart as well as the cross. For a Bach enthusiast, however, Passion first and foremost stands for two scores that the Thomaskantor wrote here in Leipzig: the **St John Passion** and the **St Matthew Passion**. The latter celebrates its **300th anniversary** in 2027. This is reason enough to place the entire Leipzig Bachfest 2027 under the motto “Passion”. And this will be fulfilled on every level – with an intensity never seen before! At authentic historical venues, internationally renowned performers can be experienced in over 200 events as part of the Leipzig Bachfest. **TRAVEL OFFERS AND TICKETS** Advance ticket sales for the Leipzig Bachfest 2027 begin on 24 November 2026. However, you can already take advantage of the opportunity to for the travel offers for the Leipzig Bachfest 2027 and automatically receive our offer in October/November. - - - - ### Bach sites Leipzig - Trip to the Bach Festival in Leipzig - Bachfest Leipzig – the beginnings Bachfest Leipzig in der Nikolaikirche - Musikstadt Leipzig The first Leipzig Bachfest already took place in **1908** on the occasion of the **unveiling of the "New Bach Monument"**. Selected pieces by Bach were performed; he lived and worked in Leipzig from 1723 until his death in 1750 as **Thomaskantor at the** . As part of the **Leipzig Bachfest**, around **100 different events** take place each year. Johann Sebastian Bach Competition Internationaler Bach-Wettbewerb Leipzig - Musikstadt :Leipzig The internationally renowned **Johann Sebastian Bach Competition** for young performers was first announced in **1950**. From 1996 to 2024, it took place every two years in July with three alternating disciplines: **piano, harpsichord** and **violin or Baroque violin**. The competition is **open to instrumentalists and singers** between 16 and 33 years old. Since 2025, the music competition has been held annually in March with one discipline in focus – and a final streamed worldwide on March 21, Bach’s birthday. Mendelssohn Festival Days ------------------------- Cooperation between the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig and the Mendelssohn House 1 – 8 November 2026 Mendelssohn-Haus Leipzig - Musikstadt Leipzig The memory of **Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy** is kept alive in Leipzig. Traditionally, Leipzig honours the composer and musician every year with many concerts around Mendelssohn Day on 4 November, the anniversary of his death. Since 1997, this has also included the **Mendelssohn Festival Days**, which since 2021 have been presented through a cooperation between the and the with a diverse and sophisticated programme. Internationally renowned artists create a rich musical programme ranging from symphony concerts with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, to choral symphonies, song recitals and chamber music performances. A variety of talks, guided tours and lectures complete the festival days, which are understood as a tribute to Leipzig. - - ### Mendelssohn locations in Leipzig - Festival Days of Opera Leipzig ------------------------------ Verdi Festival Days May 2028 Opernfesttage Leipzig - Musikstadt Leipzig The , with its more than 330-year tradition, is one of the flagship institutions of the musical city of Leipzig, where composers such as Bach, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Wagner wrote music history. As early as 1693, the first opera house on the Brühl was opened as the third civic music theatre in Europe after Venice and Hamburg. Since 1840, the world-renowned has performed at all productions of the opera and the **Leipziger Ballett**. In addition to today’s opera house on Augustusplatz, built in 1960, the in the Lindenau district serves as a venue for musicals and operettas and is part of Oper Leipzig. Opera fans love both the exciting productions and the outstanding musical quality of the house. The international ballet company of Oper Leipzig also delivers performances of the highest calibre. The festival days of Oper Leipzig take place on a **biennial cycle**. Following the magnificent opening with “WAGNER 22” , the international ballet festival “Leipzig dances!” took place in 2024, followed in 2026 by the festival “LORTZING 26”, which focused on the composer Albert Lortzing on the occasion of his 225th birthday and 175th anniversary of his death. In May 2028, the festival days will be dedicated entirely to Guiseppe **Verdi**. - - ### Locations Opera Leipzig - **Thematic focuses of the Leipzig Opera Festival Days** - 2022: Wagner - 2024: Ballet - 2026: Lortzing Welcome to Leipzig – The Podcast for Your Leipzig Trip Opera Leipzig: Something for everyone - Leipzig Music Trail A musical walk - 5.3 km long - 23 stations with information and sound samples on places where famous composers worked - can be explored on foot - average distance between stations: 225 m - recognizable by curved steel elements in the ground as well as information steles - - - ### Explore Leipzig - City Tours Digital city tours through Leipzig Bachdenkmal vor der Thomaskirche - Familie in Leipzig **With the free Explore Leipzig app, you can discover the city's highlights easily and in your own way!** On a total of four interactive city tours, you will get a comprehensive overview of the city of Leipzig and learn many interesting facts and exciting background information during the different tours. You can choose between a **large tour through the city centre**, a **highlight tour**, a **family tour** as well as **four alternative tours through Leipzig's trendy districts**. Tip: The city centre tour “Leipzig on foot” takes you past the Leipzig Opera, the Gewandhaus and St Thomas Church. - - All tips for the music city of Leipzig at a glance --------------------------------------------------