Günther Herbig is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

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Born in Ústí nad Labem

Ústí nad Labem

Ústí nad Labem is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The city is the 7th-most populous in the country.Ústí is situated in a mountainous district at the confluence of the Bílina and the Elbe Rivers, and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction...

, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, Herbig studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy in Weimar in 1951 with Hermann Abendroth

Hermann Abendroth

Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth was a German conductor.-Early life:Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, Germany, belonging to a family which had already produced other artistic figures of divers disciplines...

. He later was a student of Hermann Scherchen

Hermann Scherchen

Hermann Scherchen was a German conductor.-Life:Scherchen was originally a violist and played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens...

, Arvid Jansons

Arvid Jansons

Arvīds Jansons was a Latvian conductor and father of conductor Mariss Jansons.Jansons studied violin from 1929 until 1935 at the Conservatory of Liepāja, then composition and conducting at the Conservatory of Riga while working as violinist at Riga Opera...

, and Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...

. After completing his studies, he became Kapellmeister at the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar in 1956. He subsequently held operatic posts in Erfurt

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

 and Potsdam

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

. From 1972 to 1977, he was chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic. He was chief conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1983. After a dispute with the DDR Politburo, Herbig left East Germany and emigrated to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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In North America, Herbig was music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...

 from 1984 to 1990. He worked regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...

 from 1988 to 1994, initially as its artistic adviser and later as its music director. From2001 to 2006 he served as Chief Conductor of Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, now Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. More recently Herbig has been the principal guest conductor and music adviser (2003–2006; and 2009–present) of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Columbus Symphony Orchestra

The Columbus Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Columbus, Ohio. The oldest performing arts organization in the city, its home is the Ohio Theatre. The orchestra's current President and Chief Creative Officer is Roland Valliere...

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Herbig is now the artistic adviser and principal guest conductor of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra

National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan)

The National Symphony Orchestra , also known as Philharmonia Taiwan outside Taiwan, is one of the leading orchestras in Asia. Since 1987, the orchestra has its residence in the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan.- Subscription Concert Series :...

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