Mahler and Beethoven
Peter Davison
Peter Davison and Kenneth Woods in discussion.
See the entire program here.
Festival Artist Recital
Matthew Sharp
Open in Youtube – here
Open in Facebook – here
Program Highlights
“Die zwei blauen Augen” (from Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen)
“Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (from Rückert-Lieder)
“Navarra” by Pablo de Sarasate (click for more on the connection between Mahler and Sarasate)
Festival Artists play an important role at Colorado MahlerFest. They are principal players in our orchestra and guest artists, they play chamber music, and they play a role in our educational programs. This video features three string players from our roster.
Lauren Spaulding
Matthew Sharp was scheduled to appear at MahlerFest for the first time in May 2020, where he would have sung the role of Hunding in Wagner’s Die Walküre and played cello in the orchestra for Symphony No. 2. He is a multi-talented and very creative individual. In April, as theaters and orchestras all over the world were going dark, Sharp created “A magical multi-media tale of a life saved by music for 7+ and their guardians, based on a true story.” Watch episode 1 here.
Lauren Spaulding lends her talents to a wide variety of ensembles, including electric cross-over groups. She has served as the principal violist of the MahlerFest orchestra since 2014. She is one of the few MahlerFest musicians who call Colorado home, where she made these videos for our 2020 Virtual Fall Mini Festival.
Karen Bentley Pollick
In addition to serving as our Principal Second Violinist, Karen Bentley Pollick is also a MahlerFest board member. Her performance here took place on February 22, 2020, at the Incanto Theatre in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as part of a four-concert chamber music series presented by the classical/contemporary chamber ensemble Virtuosos de Cámara. Incanto is a small theater that normally features ethnic, pop, and jazz music, as well as musical theatre offerings. The Virtuosos de Cámara inaugural series proved extremely popular in the city, and plans for a repeat series in either 2021 or 2022 (depending on the pandemic) are underway. One interesting note regarding this performance: no acoustic piano was available in Puerto Vallarta, and pianist Oana Tomai played the performance on a digital portable piano – a first for her! In addition to Karen Bentley Pollick, this performance features violinist Karina Burkhanova. The performers reprised “Navarra” for an audience of over 1,000 at the San Pancho Music Festival on February 29, 2020.