While Olson may have brought Mahler into the state, there is something about Mahler’s transcendent sound that keeps him here since. The land called for Mahler, and Olson responded, creating an annual tradition that would play at least one Mahler Symphony for the mountains to hear. The inspiration from Mahler’s music would later revisit him while spending time at Lake Dillon in Summit County, as Olson sat and stared across at the towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains, struck by the landscape that he realized was quite like the lakeside Alps where Mahler composed his symphonies. The memorable march stuck with Olson as he traveled back stateside to take a position at the College of Music at the University of Colorado in Boulder. More than 50 years after Mahler’s death, Olson had traveled to Austria on a Fulbright scholarship, where he happened to hear Mahler’s Fifth Symphony played during the funeral procession of the Austrian president. Mahler never once visited Boulder, let alone traveled to Colorado or any part of the United States west of New York, where the Jewish conductor moved to escape the antisemitism of Europe in the early 20th century, eventually directing the New York Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic for several years before his death in 1911.īut it would be a young conductor an entire generation later, Robert Olson, who brought Mahler to the Centennial State. “It hits you in your gut in a way that I don’t think anything else does.”īurton says she does wonder, as many other fans might, “ Why isn’t this happening in Vienna?” where Mahler spent the height of his career as the conductor of the Vienna Court Opera. “They come to this event, and they are just blown away.”Įthan Hecht, executive director of MahlerFest and principal violist of the Fort Collins Symphony jokes, “I’ve been known to call the emo composer, huge extremes from the highs and the lows, both emotionally and orchestration-wise.” The effect is overwhelming, he says.
“Some people have lived here 30 years and didn’t know about MahlerFest,” she says. Since then, Burton has been a stalwart supporter, hosting visiting musicians in her house during the festival and raising awareness with the community. Photo courtesy of Colorado MahlerFestīurton herself hadn’t even heard of it until five years ago, when she voted with the City Council to designate May 21 as Colorado MahlerFest Day in honor of the nonprofit festival’s 30th anniversary. And while people come from all over the world to play and attend, this internationally renowned festival is a gem still yet to be discovered by some members of its local community.
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This year’s 36th annual MahlerFest will take place May 17–21 and feature a performance of Mahler’s epic Second Symphony as well as a program of concerts, a daylong symposium, multiple instrument master classes, dinners, as well as other free events across Boulder.
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That's only $1 per issue! Subscribe Today »Įmblematic of this unexpected hub for world-class music is Colorado MahlerFest, Boulder’s annual week-long celebration of the legacy of late Austro-Bohemian romantic composer and conductor Gustav Mahler-born in 1860 in what is now the Czech Republic and known for his commanding emotional works that would eventually lead him to be recognized as one of the most influential symphonic composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.ĭespite Mahler never having stepped foot in Colorado during his lifetime, the modern-day Front Range festival has become home to the longest-running event dedicated to his impact since its founding in 1988, drawing a professional ensemble each year to perform of one of Mahler’s major symphonic works along with other chamber and orchestral music influenced by the late Romantic’s pioneering sound. Sign up for early access tickets to 5280 Top of the Town!.The 25 Best Neighborhoods in Denver in 2023.
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