Another highlight of the BSO/GHO Alliance is a musician exchange program offering musicians from each orchestra a rare opportunity to spend 3-6 months performing with its partner orchestra in the latter’s home city. BSO musicians participating in the exchange program will immerse themselves in the many activities of the GHO, including weekly subscription concerts with the orchestra,, regular concerts with the Leipzig Opera, and Sunday performances of Bach cantatas at St. Thomas Church, where Bach served as Thomaskantor, composing weekly cantatas from 1723 through 1750, the year of his death at age 65. GHO musicians who participate in the exchange program will perform with the BSO during their weekly subscription concerts, perhaps also taking part (depending on the timing of their visits) in performances during the Boston Pops spring season and Tanglewood summer season.

There is also a musician exchange program between the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) and the Mendelssohn-Orchesterakademie (MOA), two of the world’s most acclaimed training programs for classical musicians.