Colorado MahlerFest

09/30/2026

Join us on Saturday evening for a repeat performance of "Four Wayfarin' Songs" for Viola and Folk Ensemble - Kenneth Woods, conductor reimagining of Mahler's "Songs of a Wayfarer" that was a highlight of the festival last May.

Wayfarin’ Folk Ensemble
Lauren Spaulding, Viola
Kenneth Woods, Guitar
Andrea Segar, Violin
Juan Tovar Vargas, Clarinet
Susan Cahill, Bass

Three Boulder arts groups, one night at eTown Hall. On Saturday, October 3, Create Boulder Nights returns with Boulder Ballet, Colorado MahlerFest and Boulder Symphony.

See excerpts from Boulder Ballet’s [In]Human, hear Mahler reworked for viola and folk ensemble and catch Boulder Symphony strings playing The Beatles, Coldplay, Massenet and Max Richter. Boulder Ballet and Boulder Symphony will also share the stage for a piece set to music by Philip Glass.

The first two nights sold out. Come early for happy hour at 5 p.m., with drinks and light bites available.

Tickets are still available: https://events.humanitix.com/october-3-2026-create-boulder-nights

09/03/2026

Back by popular demand!

One of the festival’s most talked about performances, Ken’s arrangement of "Four Wayfarin’ Songs for Viola and Folk Ensemble," returns on October 3.

Tickets and info at https://events.humanitix.com/october-3-2026-create-boulder-nights

09/01/2026

New Symposium Video Available!

Saying Farewell: Musical Autobiography and the Curse of the Ninth

Presented by Thomas Peattie, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi, on May 16, 2026.

The often-repeated story that Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (1908–09) represents a farewell to life continues to shape our understanding of what came to be the composer’s last completed symphony. Closely bound up with this “farewell story” is an equally influential tale centered around Mahler’s own claim that since no great writer of symphonies had ever surpassed the hallowed number achieved by his forebear, Ludwig van Beethoven, to undertake the composition of such a work would be to tempt fate. In this talk I consider the origins of these intertwined stories and show how their persistence both helps and hinders our understanding of Mahler’s late symphonic writing. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which narratives of illness and death (shaped in part by Mahler’s own biography) have haunted the symphony’s popular and critical reception. I will also consider why these narratives continue to be used as interpretive keys in our seemingly insatiable quest to explain the meaning of a work that remains among the composer’s most powerful and moving utterances

"Saying Farewell: Musical Autobiography and the Curse of the Ninth"...

08/25/2026

"The swamp held two significant meanings: a natural wonder of immense beauty and a sanctuary for fugitive enslaved people seeking freedom along the Underground Railroad during the time of American slavery.... It is not merely a musical depiction of a geographic location, but a powerful reflection on the human spirit's enduring quest for freedom and the historical significance of a landscape that served as a beacon of hope." From notes by Leah Claiborne.

Our recording of William Grant Still's "Dismal Swamp" with Leah Claiborne will be featured on Performance Today on Wednesday August 26. It's available online beginning around 2 am, https://www.yourclassical.org/performance-today

And available in our store - https://mahlerfest.org/products/mahler-symphony-no-6-martinu-grant-still

07/21/2026

What does Fin de siècle Vienna have to do with hippie counter culture?

After introducing our performance of "Tommy" this past May, renowned music historian John Covach, Director of the University of Rochester Institute for Popular Music, gave this fascinating presentation exploring the connection between the mystical world that Gustav and Alma Mahler experienced in Vienna to the spiritual exploration of the 1960s.

"Fin de siècle Vienna and the Psychedelic Sixties" - John Covach, D...

06/15/2026

Joseph Horowitz and Hilan Warshaw discuss their views on Mahler's time in New York in a conversation moderated by the Vice President of the MahlerFest Board, Thomas Tape.

Horowitz wrote the play "The Marriage: The Mahler's in New York." Warshaw directed the movie "Mahler in New York." Both were part of MahlerFest 39. In the end, they agree on more of the details than they disagree on but they come to different conclusions about Mahler's time in America.

"Mahler in New York: Different Perspectives" - Joseph Horowitz and ...

06/04/2026

Joseph Horowitz as Gustav in his play, "The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York."
Produced during MahlerFest 39, Channeling Change into Creativity, May 13-17, 2026

Esther van Zyl, Alma
Joseph Horowitz, Gustav
Mel Schaffer, Coda
Jack Tamburri, Director
Paul Ambrose Leiber, Projection and Sound Design

Other clips of the play at https://youtu.be/bfhKkmDxwYo
https://youtu.be/7bhDcSZYZUs

Recorded live at Canyon Theater at the Boulder Public Library
May 14, 2026

Full program book is available here with program notes for the play on page 19 -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sd0mQGlpjm2aMD_QVQSaGqqK8RkncdXQ/view?usp=sharing

05/27/2026

A clip from Joseph Horowitz's play "The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York" as perfomed at MahlerFest 39.

05/22/2026

"You kind of have to experience it live."

What a season!
Join us next year for the 40th anniversary season, Mahler's 8th Symphony, and more!
https://mahlerfest.org/pages/mf40

05/19/2026

What a fantastic MahlerFest 39!

Were you there? Do you have pictures? Share them!

This one comment sums it up:

"Thank you for this year’s Mahlerfest. The communal warmth, the selfless dedication, the gracious idealism of what you’ve created – its all humanizing and (alas) rare."

Thank you to everyone who participated in any way!