Bern, Switzerland [Adventist Review; Wikipedia; CD EUDNews]. Herbert Blomstedt (born July 11, 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Royal College of Music and the University of Uppsala, followed by studies of contemporary music at Darmstadt 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.[1]
Blomstedt is most noted for his performances of German and Austrian composers, such as Beethoven, Mendelsson, Schubert, Bruckner and Strauss.
A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Blomstedt does not rehearse on Friday nights or Saturdays. He does, however, conduct concerts, since he considers actual performances to be an expression of his religious devotion rather than work.
He has been Music Director or Principal Conductor of the Norrkoeping Symphony Orchestra (1954–1962), Oslo Philarmonic Orchestra (1962–1968), Danish Radio Symphony (1967–1977) and Swedish Radio Symphony (1977–1982). From 1975-1985, he served as chief conductor of the Dresdner Staatskapelle, 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 is currently Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony and Honorary Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
Over the years Blomstedt has generously contributed to the Adventist Church’s musical landscape, as well as its educational system. Blomstedt also used his public spotlight to share his faith in God.
Here some comments of Maestro Blomstedt about the Religion-Music connection: "The most obvious connecting link between religion and music is the search for truth. I play every day with some of the greatest musicians of our time, and I find them all more or less religious, even if they don’t attend church. Like me, they are searching for truth. Of course there are also other links between religion and music.
Martin Luther saw music as the greatest gift of God after theology
and the Romantics attributed transcendental powers to music: transporting humanity to the very gates of heaven. The Swedish novelist and philosopher Lars Gustafsson, for many years a professor at the University of Texas in Austin, said this in his latest book: “There is something mysterious with music, something spiritual, or something demonic, that we don’t find in the other arts. As if music could reach further into the secrets of our existence than we can do with words or symbols or pictures. Could it be that music knows more about the world and the universe than we normally are aware of? Is music the door to another, inner world? And if it is a door to this other world, this other world must exist.
I think these obvious and sometimes mysterious links between music and religion are the main reasons for the surge of interest in music in the Adventist Church. When I started as a professional symphony conductor 60 years ago, I think I was the only one in our church, and I was viewed with much suspicion. This was “the world,” and I was considered “lost.” But I had understanding parents and loving church members. Without them I would not be where I am today. God has led in miraculous ways, and I am not alone anymore. Now several professional, full-time Adventist conductors are active with philharmonic orchestras today. Plus all those working in our schools, churches, and universities. Plus dozens of Adventist musicians now playing in the great symphony orchestras around the world."
"In the Adventist Church there are plenty of talents and artists. God has given an X-Factor to all of us, great gifts that we want to use for His Glory. Let us, as adventist leaders, promote these gifts in our church, starting a blessed process of enthusiasm and joy!", so Corrado Cozzi, Communication Director in the EUD region.
(pictures: Adventist Review; Wikipedia)
