November 4, 2026
1927–2026
When Herbert Blomstedt first led the San Francisco Symphony as a guest conductor in February 1984, audiences in this country hardly knew who he was. Long before he died, on November 4, at age 99, that had all changed, and today the world understands how much has passed with him: a way of making music, by a man who believed music made a difference, who inspired orchestras well into his ninth decade, seemingly inexhaustible and determined to plumb the classics and share their secrets.
Just why Blomstedt was so little-known to America when he debuted here had more to do with his deliberate effort to deflect attention from himself than with his accomplishments—he had already served as chief conductor of the esteemed Dresden Staatskapelle, and of the Oslo Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony, and his training included studies with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood, where he won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize. San Francisco was quick to recognize his gift. A month after his debut he was hired as Music Director, his term to commence in 1985. In his decade here, he transformed the San Francisco Symphony from a regional orchestra into an ensemble with an international profile. Within five years of his arrival he led the Symphony’s first European tour in 15 years, with acclaimed concerts at the Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Lucerne festivals. He and the Orchestra recorded extensively for Decca, including cycles of the Nielsen and Sibelius symphonies still recognized as benchmarks.
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Just why Blomstedt was so little-known to America when he debuted here had more to do with his deliberate effort to deflect attention from himself than with his accomplishments—he had already served as chief conductor of the esteemed Dresden Staatskapelle, and of the Oslo Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony, and his training included studies with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood, where he won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize. San Francisco was quick to recognize his gift. A month after his debut he was hired as Music Director, his term to commence in 1985. In his decade here, he transformed the San Francisco Symphony from a regional orchestra into an ensemble with an international profile. Within five years of his arrival he led the Symphony’s first European tour in 15 years, with acclaimed concerts at the Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Lucerne festivals. He and the Orchestra recorded extensively for Decca, including cycles of the Nielsen and Sibelius symphonies still recognized as benchmarks.
Story continues below...
Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and grew up in Sweden, where he moved with his family when he was two. His father was a minister in the Adventist Church, of which Blomstedt himself was a devout lifelong member. Indeed, he approached music-making as though spreading a gospel. He believed music could lead to spiritual truth. “Through music,” he said, “we can sometimes travel to that part of the human soul where we are closest to the finest aspects of ourselves.” He was decent, kind, always a gentleman.
Blomstedt left the San Francisco Symphony in 1995, taking the title of Conductor Laureate and returning every year since then to conduct. His subsequent posts were as chief conductor of Hamburg’s North German Radio Symphony (known today as the NDR Elbphilharmonie) and the legendary Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. More and more, although he also championed contemporary composers such as Ingvar Lidholm and Charles Wuorinen, he became known as a master of the composers who meant most to him, Beethoven and Bruckner. In 2021, almost 40 years after Blomstedt’s SF Symphony debut, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that “the esteem in which orchestras and audiences now hold [him] is a belated reward for a resolutely unshowy musician who has gone about his business decade after decade. What he offers, above all, is a kind of preternatural rightness: no gesture feels out of place, no gesture feels routine.”
Herbert Blomstedt helped make the San Francisco Symphony the orchestra it is. Even the memory of him inspires.
The San Francisco Symphony and Elim Chan will dedicate the January 14–16, 2027 performances to Herbert Blomstedt, honoring his life and enduring legacy.
Blomstedt left the San Francisco Symphony in 1995, taking the title of Conductor Laureate and returning every year since then to conduct. His subsequent posts were as chief conductor of Hamburg’s North German Radio Symphony (known today as the NDR Elbphilharmonie) and the legendary Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. More and more, although he also championed contemporary composers such as Ingvar Lidholm and Charles Wuorinen, he became known as a master of the composers who meant most to him, Beethoven and Bruckner. In 2021, almost 40 years after Blomstedt’s SF Symphony debut, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that “the esteem in which orchestras and audiences now hold [him] is a belated reward for a resolutely unshowy musician who has gone about his business decade after decade. What he offers, above all, is a kind of preternatural rightness: no gesture feels out of place, no gesture feels routine.”
Herbert Blomstedt helped make the San Francisco Symphony the orchestra it is. Even the memory of him inspires.
The San Francisco Symphony and Elim Chan will dedicate the January 14–16, 2027 performances to Herbert Blomstedt, honoring his life and enduring legacy.
