KURT MASUR AT 80: CONCERTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Maestro Masur will present concerts with all four orchestras of which he has been music director over the past thirty years: the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France.

FEBRUARY 28, 2007
Kurt Masur kicks off his 80th anniversary year by conducting the New York Philharmonic in a concert and gala benefit in support of the American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation. The concert features works of Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. The gala chair is Alexandra Kauka. The honorary chairmen are The Consul General of Germany, Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth; Ambassador Richard Holbrooke; and Dr. Henry Kissinger.

JUNE 16, 2007
Maestro Masur will lead the Gewandhaus Orchestra as part of a special gala to celebrate his birthday and to benefit the Mendelssohn Foundation. The concert will feature a varied, celebratory program, with guests including the Mitteldeutschen Rundfunk Chor (Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes) and Anne-Sophie Mutter (Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto). Works by other composers will highlight Masur's conducting career in the United States (Bernstein and Gershwin) and France (Dukas).

JULY 18, 2007
Kurt Masur's actual birthday will be celebrated in a remarkable concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert, part of the London Proms, will feature the combined forces of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra National de France performing Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings and Bruckner: Symphony No. 7.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
The celebration in New York, Leipzig and London will be followed by this concert and benefit in Paris, Kurt Masur's current conducting home. For the concert, Maestro Masur will be joined by violinist Joshua Bell performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto; the gala will again benefit the Mendelssohn Foundation.