Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig

The Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" is Leipzig's university of music and drama. It traces its roots to the Conservatorium der Musik founded by Mendelssohn in 1843, Germany's oldest music academy, and took its present form in 1992 when it merged with the theatre academy founded in 1953. Its main building on Grassistraße, with a neo-Renaissance façade, opened on 5 December 1887. Its concert venue is the Großer Saal (Great Hall), built in 1999–2001 to a design by Gerber + Partner of Dortmund and given an award by the Bund Deutscher Architekten in 2004. The hall stages the university's concerts and major events, from student recitals and orchestra concerts to guest festivals such as Con spirito, the Leipzig chamber music festival (September 2026).