Auf Wiedersehen from the Gewandhausorchester

Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester has returned to Germany after an eight-day tour of the United States. The tour, with performances in Houston, Washington, D.C., Boston, Newark and New York, including picturesque moments and memory-making school visits alongside moving concerts.

Kicking off in Houston, Texas with a special event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall dividing East and West Germany, the Gewandhaus players performed for a number of American dignitaries, including former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker. While in Houston, three of the musicians likewise took part in a visit to a nearby school that is part of the Teach for America program, bringing classical music to students who may otherwise not have heard Bach performed live.

From Texas, the Gewandhausorchester moved to the East Coast, where they brought their unique sound to the Kennedy Center with an homage to Mendelssohn and received raving reviews from critics at The Washington Post.

Boston’s famous Symphony Hall played host to the orchestra the following day before they set off again for Newark and finally New York. Throughout the week, the musicians from Leipzig, Germany, where the peaceful demonstrations against the East German government eventually led to the reunification of West and East Germany, took part in remembrance events as well as public performances, like that shown in the image above in front of New York’s monumental Flatiron building.

With six performances in eight days, the whirlwind tour is a one-of-a-kind event that builds on nearly 40 years of touring history in the U.S. Though the next tour, in February 2015, is limited to performances across Europe, after the warm reception in the U.S., Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester is surely saying, Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye, until we meet again!).