Now in it's 38th year, Colorado MahlerFest is led by Artistic Director Kenneth Woods, the world-class conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra. Under the leadership of an inspiring team of Festival Artists – our principal players from top orchestras across the country – The Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra draws together young professionals, conservatory and university students, and advanced amateurs to create an ensemble that blends aspiration and inspiration.
Mahler's music portrays stories that are easy for anyone to understand and relate to in a deep and profound way. He illuminates our shared human experience and reminds us of how deepely we are all connected to each other.
Attend open rehearsals, watch a scholarly presentation, join the discussion over dinner, talk to the conductor or a musician before or after a performance - we welcome you to become part of MahlerFest.
“Kenneth Woods conducts a very fine and exciting account of ‘Resurrection’ and his musicians respond to his galvanising and idiomatic direction with great skill and commitment.”
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“Woods’s reading of the Mahler symphony was both spacious and sharply detailed. Of his 94 players, the vast majority are Mahlerfest regulars. They come from as far away as New York and Texas, Canada and Korea. They relish this composer’s sweet portamentos and prickly dynamics. They also manifest a rare degree of pride and engagement.”
Why Colorado Mahlerfest Matters
MUSIC THAT MOVES YOU
To Celebrate the legacy of composer Gustav Mahler through an annual festival featuring all of Mahler's musical output as well as contextual cultural and educational events.
In 1973, Robert Olson received a Fulbright scholarship to study conducting in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky, who had previously mentored Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta. While in Vienna, Olson was deeply moved by the funeral march of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony played during the funeral precession of the Austrian president.
One day, Olson was reading a Mahler biography while sitting on the shore of Lake Dillon. He realized that this beautiful landscape was not unlike Mahler’s summertime composing environs, and it was then that he conceived the Colorado MahlerFest.
In 2005, Colorado MahlerFest was awarded the International Gustav Mahler Society's Gold Medal. The Medal has only been awared 46 times since 1958. MahlerFest and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra are the only two North American Organizations to receive the Gold Medal.
MahlerFest has grown but has remained true to Maestro Olson’s founding principles.
In 2016, Kenneth Woods took over as Artistic Director and the organization hired it's first staff member. Since then, MahlerFest has seen tremendous growth. The festival has added world-class musicians to the orchestra such as Parry Karp, Jorja Fleezanis, and Zachary DePue (current Concertmaster). In 2021 MahlerFest performed the world premiere of Philip Sawyer's Symphony No. 5 and included a free outdoor chamber orchestra concert. And in 2022 MahlerFest performed it's first opera, Bela Bartók’s "Bluebeard’s Castle."
Organization name
Colorado MahlerFest
1987
Tax id (EIN)
74-2551709
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, Education
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
Colorado MahlerFest 2525 Arapahoe Ave Unit E4-941Boulder County, CO, US