The city of Leipzig and Thomaskantor Prof. Andreas Reize want to continue working together in the long term. As the current contract would expire in 2026, the top management is now proposing an eight-year contract extension until June 30, 2034. If the City Council agrees long-term continuity will be created in this central position of Music City Leipzig. At the same time, the city would like to show its appreciation for the outstanding work of the Thomaskantor since he took up his post in September 2021 .
Thomaskantor Prof. Andreas Reize has since developed the Thomanerchor both pedagogically and personally and led it to an extraordinary artistic maturity. As a result, the St. Thomas Choir has lived up to its claim and reputation as the oldest cultural institution in Leipzig with a history spanning more than 800 years to achieve international stature and recognition. The choir and Thomaskantor have been able to present themselves as "brand ambassadors" of the city of Leipzig, particularly through the most recent extremely successful tour of the USA in March 2025 with performances at Princeton University, Carnegie Hall New York and Rice University, Houston (Texas), among others. Weekly motets and the organization of the annual Bach festivals of the city of Leipzig are part of the permanent service of the Thomaskantor and the Thomanerchor.
The long term of the new contract is intended to give both the Thomaskantor and the Thomaner planning security. The eight-year extension corresponds to the cycle of a choir member from the first admission to the choir in Year 5 up to and including Year 12. The first year of the choir, which will then have worked entirely under Prof. Andreas Reize, will end in 2029.
Background
Andreas Reize was born in Solothurn, Switzerland, in 1975. He studied church music in Bern and Winterthur-Zurich. He completed a degree in historical performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and a postgraduate course in orchestral conducting at the Lucerne University of Music. He also completed a concert diploma in organ, a teaching diploma in piano and postgraduate studies in conducting.
Most recently, Andreas Reize conducted the Cantus Firmus vocal ensemble and the Cantus Firmus consort orchestra, was music director of the Waldegg Opera and, since 2007, director of the boys' choir "Singknaben der St. Ursenkathedrale Solothurn". Ursenkathedrale Solothurn", director of the Gabrielichor Bern and choir director of the Zurich Bach Choir since 2011 and principal guest conductor at the Theater Biel-Solothurn for early music since 2019. Guest conducting engagements have taken him to various renowned ensembles, including the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He has taught choral conducting at the Bern University of the Arts and the University of the Arts Graz.
