Kurt Masur (1999)

Among the most internationally renowned and respected conductors of our time. Born on 18 July 1927 in Brzeg, he died on 19 December 2015 in Greenwich, USA. He began his musical studies in Breslau (1942-1944), studying piano and cello. He continued his studies in Leipzig (1946-1948), where he studied conducting, composition and piano.

Kurt Masur held various positions in succession: he was conductor and tutor at the Landestheater in Halle (1948-1951), first conductor at the Städtischen Bühnen in Erfurt (1951-1953), then at the Städtischen Theatern in Leipzig (1953-1955). He worked as conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic (1955-1958), music director of the Mecklenburgischen Staatstheater in Schwerin (1958-1960) and the Komische Oper in Berlin (1960-1964), and as director of the Dresden Philharmonic (1967-1972). In 1970 he took up the prestigious position of director of the Gewandhaus, an orchestra founded in Leipzig in the 18th century with a very rich tradition, led in the past by such great masters as Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Artur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwangler and Bruno Walter, among others. He toured with this orchestra on several continents and made numerous CD recordings, including with Jessye Norman, Yehudi Menuhin and Michel Beroff. He remained director of the Gewandhaus until 1996 and was also a professor at the Leipzig Academy of Music from 1975. In 1991, the artist was entrusted with the position of director of the New York Philharmonic, which he led for 11 years. His predecessors in this position included: Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bemstein, Pierre Boulez and Zubin Mehta.

While realising his ambitious artistic aims with the New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur was at the same time guest conductor of many other ensembles and gave concerts with all the leading orchestras in the world. Performances under his baton have included: National Orchestra of the People's Republic of China, the World Youth Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Paris Orchestra, the Berlin Orchestra, the Royal Cocertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra in Munich. The repertoire he performed was very wide - including works by the greatest masters of world symphonic music of past eras, as well as contemporary composers.

Kurt Masur's connection with Lower Silesian cultural life dates back to 1993, when, as guest of honour at the EuroSilesia International Music Festival (then Covenant), he established contacts with the festival organisers. In the following years, he appeared as a conductor at festival concerts in Brzeg and Wrocław, leading the NOSPR symphony orchestra from Katowice (1994), the Leipzig Gewandhaus Philharmonic (1996), the New York Philharmonic (2000) and the Orchestre National de France (2003). The artist has been personally involved in the development of the EuroSilesia IFM, serving as chairman of the Festival's Honorary Council. In 2004 and 2006 he conducted at the Wrocław Philharmonic the International Conducting Master Courses co-organised by the EuroSilesia Foundation. In 2005, the Kurt Masur Institute for Culture and the Arts in Brzeg was inaugurated, where the artist conducted conducting master classes, with his fees going towards the musical education of children and young people from Brzeg and Wrocław.

The idea of German-Polish reconciliation was close to his heart: In 1995 he received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1996 he became an honorary citizen of his home town of Brzeg, and 11 years later an honorary citizen of the city of Wrocław. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including European of the Year (1990), Musician of the Year (1993), the Ferenc Liszt Award, the Lorenzo-Cantador Medal and the Silesian Cultural Award of Lower Saxony. In 1996 The National Arts Club awarded the artist the Gold Medal of Honour in Music, and in 1997 he was awarded the titles of Commander of the Legion of Honour of the French Government and Cultural Ambassador of the City of New York. In 1999, he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which is awarded to foreigners.

He has been awarded honorary doctorates nine times, including by The Julliard School of Music in New York, the University of Leipzig and Yale University. In recognition of the great merits that Kurt Masur has made for the development of the art of music, and also in view of the strong ties the artist had with Silesia, the Senate of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław decided to honour the artist with the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in 1999.