Herbert Blomstedt, a conductor celebrated for his seven-decade career leading orchestras in Scandinavia, Germany, and the United States, including a tenure as music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1985 to 1995, died Wednesday at his home in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was 99.

Blomstedt's final public performance was on May 15 with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall. During a performance of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony, he entered the stage in a wheelchair and struggled, leading to a halt in the music for several minutes. He was subsequently replaced for two subsequent concerts and canceled future scheduled appearances for the year.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Swedish parents on July 11, 1927, Blomstedt moved back to Sweden in 1929. He studied at Stockholm's Royal Academy of Music and Uppsala University before pursuing further studies at The Juilliard School in New York. He received a scholarship to study with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Center after an impromptu meeting.

Blomstedt's extensive international conducting career began in 1954 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He held principal conductor positions with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (1954-1963), Oslo Philharmonic (1962–1968), Danish Radio Symphony (1967-1977), and Swedish Radio Symphony (1977-1982). In Germany, he served as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Semperoper (1975-1985) and later led Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra (1996-1998) and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (1998-2005).

During his time with the San Francisco Symphony, Blomstedt won Grammy Awards for recordings of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” in 1993 and Johannes Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” in 1996.

A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Blomstedt observed the Sabbath by refusing to conduct rehearsals on Friday nights and Saturdays, though he would lead performances on those days, viewing himself as a "preacher of music."

Blomstedt's management agency, KünstlerSekretariat am Gasteig, confirmed his death. He had performances scheduled into 2027, including a planned appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic next June. He is survived by four daughters and seven grandchildren. His wife, Waltraud Petersen, died in 2003.