Music
Günther Herbig
born 1931 · conductor
German conductor who left East Germany and led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1990, as it moved back into the restored Orchestra Hall.
- Born
Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia
age 94- Detroit years
- 1984–1990
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Herbig was born in 1931 in Ústí nad Labem in Czechoslovakia and trained in Weimar, later studying with Hermann Scherchen and Herbert von Karajan. He built his career in East Germany as chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic and then the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, until a dispute with the ruling party's Politburo led him to leave the GDR for the United States. In 1984 he became music director of the Detroit Symphony, filling a post that had been vacant since Antal Doráti left in 1981. He resumed the orchestra's national radio broadcasts and made recordings with it for RCA. His tenure spanned the last seasons at the riverfront Ford Auditorium and the 1989 return to the restored Orchestra Hall on Woodward Avenue. From 1988 he also worked with the Toronto Symphony, and he left Detroit in 1990.
Highlights
- Music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1984–1990
- Resumed the DSO's national radio broadcasts
- Recorded with the DSO for RCA
- Led the orchestra during its 1989 return to Orchestra Hall
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1984–1989
Ford Auditorium
Demolished · 1956–2011
The DSO's riverfront home for the first five of Herbig's seasons; demolished in 2011.
Performed here · 1989–1990
Detroit Symphony Orchestra — Orchestra Hall
Herbig led the orchestra in its first season back in the restored hall.