Every year during the Bachfest, the Lord Mayor of the City of Leipzig awards the Bach Medal in recognition of efforts on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The medal jury consists of the artistic directors of the Bachfest, the musical director of the Gewandhaus, the artistic director of the Leipzig Opera and the headmaster of the University of Music & Theatre »Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy« Leipzig.

Up till now, the Bach Medal was given to

2003 Gustav Leonhardt
2004 Helmuth Rilling
2005 Sir John Eliot Gardiner
2006 Ton Koopman
2007 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
2008 Hermann Max
2009 Frieder Bernius
2010 Philippe Herreweghe
2011 Herbert Blomstedt
2012 Masaaki Suzuki