Günther Herbig (born 30 November 1931) is a German conductor. Born in

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (, , ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of its eponymous region and district. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway ju ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, Herbig studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

in 1951 (then in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) with

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

. He later was a student of Hermann Scherchen, Arvids Jansons, and

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...

. After completing his studies, he became ''Kapellmeister'' at the

Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar The (DNT) is a German theatre and musical organisation based in Weimar. It is a twin institution, consisting of the theatrical (German National Theatre, now solely based in Weimar) and the symphony orchestra known as the . It has a total of ...

in 1956. He subsequently held operatic posts in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

. From 1972 to 1977, he was chief conductor of the

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the '' Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and ...

. He was chief conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1983. After a dispute with the DDR Politburo, Herbig left the GDR and emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In North America, Herbig was music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1990. He worked regularly with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

from 1988 to 1994, initially as its artistic adviser and later as its music director. From 2001 to 2006 he served as Chief Conductor of Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, now Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. More recently Herbig has been the principal guest conductor and music adviser (2003–2006; and 2009–present) of the

Columbus Symphony Orchestra The Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Columbus, Ohio. The oldest performing arts organization in the city, its home is the Ohio Theatre. The orchestra's current Executive Director is Denise Rehg. Ross ...

. Since 2006 he is the Main Invited Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (OFCG) in Spain Herbig holds the title of Conductor Laureate of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra.

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1931 births Living people People from Ústí nad Labem Sudeten German people German male conductors (music) German expatriates in the United States Naturalized citizens of Germany 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians {{Germany-conductor-stub