Academic Orchestra Leipzig
The Academic Orchestra Leipzig is an amateur symphony orchestra in Leipzig . It was founded in 1954 by the conductor Horst Förster as the Collegium musicum of the University of Leipzig and was part of the University of Leipzig until 1991. Along with other cultural institutions, it was subordinate to the “main culture department” of the university. During the fall of the Berlin Wall, the university separated from its orchestra, and it has no longer been an official part of the university. Instead, the Academic Orchestra reorganized itself as a registered association in 1991 . Horst Förster is the artistic director.
Members
The Academic Orchestra is committed to non-profit organization the student making music, there is alongside students from different fields and from many alumni and other academics. Membership in the University of Leipzig or any other Leipzig university is not mandatory. The club members make music free of charge. The members of the Academic Orchestra are supported in various pieces by professional musicians from the Gewandhaus Orchestra , the MDR Symphony Orchestra and students from the HMT Leipzig .
Concert activity
Since 1956 the orchestra has performed the so-called academic concerts six times a year . The performances have been taking place in the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig since 1981 . For an amateur symphony orchestra, the continuous concert activity with 6 subscription concerts a year is remarkable. Most of the concerts have been sold out for years and are occasionally supplemented by additional chamber concerts. From the 1990s to 2010, the Academic Orchestra organized the annual matriculation ceremony at the Leipzig University of Technology, Economics and Culture .
Abroad
The Academic Orchestra has made several tours abroad since 1990, including to France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Norway, Canada, the USA and Japan. 2008 was the first time in China. Before the fall of the Wall in 1989, he made tours abroad to Czechoslovakia , Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.