About Us

Colorado MahlerFest, held each January in Boulder, Colorado, celebrates the life, music, and times of the great composer Gustav Mahler. Founded in 1988 by Dr. Robert Olson, who was then on the music faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the weeklong festival includes lectures, chamber recitals, films, and symposia, culminating in two orchestral performances, typically proceeding chronologically through Mahler's works. MahlerFest is now nearing completion of its second cycle, performing everything Mahler ever wrote. The MahlerFest orchestra's 100-plus musicians come together from across the country, mostly on a volunteer basis, for a week of intense music-making, drawn by their passion for Mahler's music. Maestro Olson, currently Director of Opera and Orchestras at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, returns to Colorado each year to conduct the festival.

In 2005, the International Gustav Mahler Society of Vienna awarded Colorado MahlerFest its rarely bestowed Mahler Gold Medal. MahlerFest was honored alongside the New York Philharmonic, joining such past recipients as the Vienna Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein. In January 2007, world renowned baritone Thomas Hampson joined the festival for Mahler's song cycle, Das Lied von der Erde. The performances, Hampson's first in Colorado, were recently named by the Denver Post's fine arts critic as one of the "10 best" concerts of the Denver-Boulder area's 2006-2007 concert season.

Photo: Keith Bobo