Summary
Organization name
Colorado MahlerFest
1988
Tax id (EIN)
74-2551709
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, Education
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
2525 Arapahoe Ave Unit E4-941Boulder, CO 80302
Boulder County, CO, US
MahlerFest 39
May 13-17, 2026
Reinvention: Channeling Change into Creativity
When a great artist begins a new chapter in their creative life, it is as if they are reinventing the future. Not just theirs, but ours.
Many artists have experienced new beginnings: Franz Joseph Haydn ended his long tenure in Esterhazy (northern Hungary) and started a new life in London; The Who’s Pete Townshend’s creative frustration and religious awakening changed the course of rock music with Tommy. Unrequited love spurred Leoš Janáček to his peak of originality; and Edward Elgar returned to composition after the First World War.
Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony serves as the focal point of MahlerFest 39. Mahler started over several times as a conductor, a composer, and a man. He began anew with his 5th symphony. Later, after his long tenure at the Vienna State Opera, he sought out new musical and professional challenges in New York prior to composing the Ninth Symphony, the focal point of this year's festival.
MahlerFest 39 explores how a new beginning stemming from frustration, pain, or turmoil can shape an artist’s work.
Featuring:
THE WHO | Tommy
Mahler | Kindertotenlieder
MAHLER | Wayfarer Songs
ELGAR | Cello Concerto
ELCOCK | Symphony No. 11 - World Premiere
BEETHOVEN | Ninth Symphony (Mahler's Version)
MAHLER | Symphony No. 9
Guided Hikes
Educational Programs
Social Activites
Now in it's 39th 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
Mission
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.
Background Statement
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. 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."
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Organization Data
Boulder, CO 80302