Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum was founded in 1979 by Max Pommer and Walter Heinz Bernstein.[1] All musicians are members of the Gewandhausorchester.[2] The ensemble collaborates with the Bach Archive in applying historical research to performances with modern instruments.[3]
Pommer was succeeded in 1988 by the oboist Burkhard Glaetzner. He added to the repertory, including works of the Classical period. From 2003 to 2013, the violinist and academic Albrecht Winter directed the NBCM, returning to the Baroque repertory, including works by Vivaldi, Corelli, Telemann, Bach's sons, and composers from the early days of the Gewandhaus. In a concert series from 2009 to 2011, the NBCM played the Gewandhaus programs which had been given 225 years earlier in the same hall, based on historic Programmzettel.[6] The first such concert had been held in 2006 when the NBCM played the program of the first concert in the Gewandhaus in 1781, as the final concert of the Gewandhaus-Festwochen for the 225th anniversary of the house.[6]