Colorado MahlerFest is an annual event held in
Boulder, Colorado, which each year celebrates one major
symphonic
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...
work by Austrian composer
Gustav Mahler. While "Colorado MahlerFest" is the official name of the event and the organization, the individual annual events are simply referred to as "MahlerFest" (dropping the "Colorado"), followed by a Roman numeral. It is the one of only two North American arts organizations to have received the Gold Medal of the International Gustav Mahler Society, the other being the New York Philharmonic. The founder of MahlerFest was conductor
Robert Olson, who currently serves on the faculty of the
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the universi ...
who led the festival until his retirement in 2015.
Kenneth Woods
Kenneth Allen Woods (born 1968) is an American conductor, composer and cellist, resident in the UK.
Early career
Woods studied conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His subsequent conducting mentors have includ ...
succeeded Olson as artistic director in 2016.
One of Woods' initiatives as the festival's second artistic director has been an expanded emphasis on contemporary music and the involvement of annual Visiting Composers, including Jesse Jones,
David Matthews,
Kurt Schwertsik
Kurt Schwertsik (born 25 June 1935) is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is known for creating the "Third Viennese School" and spreading contemporary classical music.
Life
Schwertsik was born in Vienna. A pupil of Joseph Marx and Karl Schiske ...
and Donald Fraser. The festival has presented American premieres of Schwertsik's 'Nachtmusiken,' David Matthews' 'Romanza' and John McCabe's 'Pilgrim.' The festival has also run a mentoring scheme for advanced young conductors, The Mahler Conducting Fellowship, whose alumni include many of the most accomplished conductors of the new generation.
The festival strives to be at the forefront of research into Mahlerian performance practice and the latest scholarly editions. In 2017, the orchestra premiered a new revision of Derryck Cooke's Performing Version of Mahler's Tenth Symphony incorporating new corrections by Colin Matthews, David Matthews and Peter Wadl, having given the world premiere of Joseph Wheeler's completion of the Tenth in 1997. In 2019, the orchestra gave the world premiere of the new Critical Editions of