The Thomaskantor

Many outstanding musicians have influenced the development of the THOMANERCHOR Leipzig in the past as Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) and provided decisive impulses for Protestant church music. They were not only important musicians and composers, but also models and role models for numerous generations of Thomaners.

Johann Sebastian Bach had a special influence on the Thomanerchor during his tenure as Thomaskantor from 1723 to 1750. For almost three decades, he lived under the same roof as his students as a municipal employee in the cantor’s apartment of the Thomasschule on St. Thomas Churchyard. It was in Leipzig that he wrote the majority of his church music works, including the Christmas Oratorio, the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. The Thomaners mainly sang in the two main churches of St. Nikolai and St. Thomas. The Thomaskantor composed a new cantata every week for the Sunday services. As “Director musices”, Bach was also responsible for all civic music in Leipzig.

Since 2021, Andreas Reize has been the 18th Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach. He was appointed Thomaskantor on December 18, 2020 and officially inaugurated on September 11, 2021 by the Lord Mayor of the City of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung.

Thomaskantor Prof. Andreas Reize

Andreas Reize grew up in Solothurn in Switzerland and was a singer in the choirboys of St. Ursenkathedrale. He studied church music, organ, piano, harpsichord, choral and orchestral conducting at the music academies in Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, Basel and Graz. The years he spent studying with Johannes Prinz in Vienna and Graz, as well as his encounters with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Zurich Opera House and at the Styriarte Graz, paved the way for his development. In the following years, he founded the cantus firmus vocal ensemble and consort with period instruments as well as the cantus firmus chamber choir. He has also been music director of the “Oper Schloss Waldegg” since 2006.

From 2007 to 2021, Andreas Reize directed the Boys’ Choir of St. Ursenkathedrale Solothurn, the oldest boys’ choir in Switzerland. From 2011 to 2021, he took over the direction of the Gabrielichor Bern and the Zurich Bach Choir.In autumn 2021, Andreas Reize was appointed musical director of the THOMANERCHOR Leipzig as the 18th Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach. Andreas Reize performs a Bach cantata every week with the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the motets and church services in St. Thomas Church. He experiments with different line-ups and instrumentations based on historical models. Reize also conducts the concerts and oratorio performances of the Thomanerchor, makes guest appearances with the choir in music centers around the world and is responsible for the regular television, radio and CD productions. Since March 2022, Andreas Reize has also been a lecturer in choral conducting at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, which appointed him an honorary professor on 20 December 2023. Andreas Reize made his debut as a conductor at Leipzig Opera in the 2024/25 season.