Herbert Blomstedt

Herbert Blomstedt studied at Uppsala University, New England Conservatory and Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Training under Paul Sacher, Igor Markevitch and Jean Morel is recorded. Naoto Ōtomo is recorded as having studied under Herbert Blomstedt. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is opera. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Distinctions recorded are Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Star of People's Friendship, Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog and Rolf Schock Prize in Musical Arts.

• Name — Herbert Blomstedt • Birth Name — Herbert Thorson Blomstedt • Born — 11 July 1927 • Birthplace — Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. • Occupation — 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. Blomstedt also lived in Finland during his youth. 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. 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 Nordic 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 secular 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 as well as the Saxon State Opera, 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 holds the title of conductor laureate with the San Francisco Symphony and is honorary conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. At age 98, he continues to conduct, and in February 2025, he completed a series of concerts with the San Francisco Symphony. In October 2025, he conducted a series of concerts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. In May 2026, Blomstedt conducted two performances of Gustav Mahler's 9th Symphony with the Detroit Symphony at Orchestra Hall. Also in May 2026, he returned to San Francisco to perform a series of concerts with the same program. Blomstedt conducted the first concert but was unable to complete the series due to health concerns. In 2026, Blomstedt was honored with a bust in the Stockholm's Berwaldhallen.

Blomstedt was married to Traute, who died in 2003. They had four daughters.