Click here to view the gallery of artwork submitted.
March 25, 2020 – COVID-19 Update
Envisioning MahlerFest deadline extended – MahlerFest is still evaluating our options for our May festival in light of the COVID-19 situation. In the short term, we are inviting artists to participate virtually/digitally, and we will “display” submissions online during our May festival week, regardless of whether the festival continues as planned or is rescheduled/cancelled.
The new deadline for submissions is April 30, 2020
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see music?
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
EVENTS & DEADLINES
LISTEN
CALL TO ARTISTS
ABOUT GUSTAV MAHLER
ABOUT MAHLER’S SECOND SYMPHONY
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Colorado MahlerFest’s Envisioning Mahler program invites all local artists to listen to and respond to Mahler’s Second Symphony, ahead of our performance of the symphony on May 17, 2020. We believe that exploring the connections between music and the visual arts can be an exciting and rewarding experience for artists, audiences, and viewers.
Mahler’s deeply emotional music resonates with the same philosophical themes about the meaning of life and death that visual artists have long wrestled with in their works. Moreover, his vibrant orchestral palette lends itself naturally to imaginative visual explorations of line, shape, and color.
This season, the inclusion of Philip Sawyers’ Homage to Kandinsky and the chamber version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition has provided an added opportunity for a reboot of our visual arts program, which was part of MahlerFests XVI and XVII in the early 2000s. Now titled “Envisioning Mahler,” this project will engage local artists to create works inspired by Mahler’s Second Symphony.
Artists must register and submit digital images of completed pieces by April 1, 2020 April 30, 2020 (extended deadline).
EVENTS & DEADLINES
April 1 – Deadline for artist registration. Click here to register. Deadline extended to April 30.
April 30 – EXTENDED Deadline for artist registration. Click here to register.
May 13-17 – Art works will be displayed digitally during our online festival
May 16 – Streamed performance of Philip Sawyers Hommage to Kandinsky
May 17 – Streamed performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony
Kandinsky’s Composition IV inspired one of the main musical themes in Sawyers’ Hommage to Kandinsky
LISTEN
There are several versions available on YouTube including this classic recording of the London Symphony conducted by Leonoard Bernstein and this more recent recording with the Munich Philharmonic conducted by Valeri Gergiev. There are also many versions on Spotify, one of our favorites is the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Otto Klemperer.
CALL TO ARTISTS
Click here for all the details.
ABOUT GUSTAV MAHLER
Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. Read more here.
ABOUT MAHLER’S SECOND SYMPHONY
Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. This symphony was one of Mahler’s most popular and successful works during his lifetime. It was his first major work that established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection. Read more here.
For more information or questions, email Colorado MahlerFest’s “Envisioning Mahler” program at Art@MahlerFest.org.
Kandinsky Improvisation 4, one of the works that inspired Sawyers’ Hommage to Kandinsky