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Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" - Max Reger / University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" - Max Reger (Music Trip station 10)

Hochschule für Musik und Theater (College of Music and Theatre)
Main Building, Grassistraße 8

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy founded the Leipziger Konservatorium (Leipzig Conservatoire) in 1843 - the first specialist music college in Germany. The Konservatorium was originally housed in a building in the courtyard of the first Gewandhaus (see Site of Old Conservatoire, Notenspur Station 20), before taking occupation of Hugo Licht's neoclassical edifice in the Grassistraße in 1887. The inauguration took place on 5th December of that year.

One of the most influential figures to contribute to the College's burgeoning renown was Max Reger, who, in addition to his post as Universitätsmusikdirektor (University Music Director), held a professorship for composition from 1907 until his death in 1916. Other luminaries to play a prominent role in shaping the institution's history since its move to the Grassistraße include the Thomaskantoren (cantors of St. Thomas’s) Günther Ramin and Kurt Thomas, and three Gewandhauskapellmeister, Carl Reinecke, Arthur Nikisch and Hermann Abendroth.

Eminent alumni of more recent times include the former Gewandhauskapellmeister Kurt Masur, Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller, Gewandhausorganist Michael Schönheit and the pianist Karl-Heinz Kämmerling.

Today, the Hochschule offers an extensive range of practically-orientated studies, encompassing musical genres from classical to jazz, pop to musical theatre, as well as drama. The student population numbers approximately 850 young people at any one time, who present their talent to the public in more than 600 events annually.

The construction of the College's modern concert hall (Großer Saal) was completed shortly before the end of the millenium. The design for the 430 seat hall was awarded a prize by the Saxony division of the Federation of German Architects in 2004.

In 2002, the Hochschule expanded its capacity to cater for the demands of the modern-day music industry beyond measure with the acquisition of substantial, superbly appointed premises on Dittrichring, near the Schauspielhaus (Playhouse) and the Thomaskirche.

The traditional bond between the Hochschule für Musik and the Gewandhaus, stretching back to the college's inception, has been intensified with the recent introduction of a Masters qualification in the form of an orchestra academy in conjunction with the Gewandhausorchester.

Internet:
Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HMT)