Schedule includes films, a virtual symposium, performances

By Peter Alexander May 6 at 2:30 p.m.

Colorado MahlerFest has announced a virtual festival to run May 13–17, with many of the online offerings available beyond those dates.

The online festival was modeled on the original plans for MahlerFest XXXIII, which would have taken place in Boulder over those same dates. Those plans had to be canceled early in April due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Like the planned live MahlerFest XXXIII, the virtual festival will culminate with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, in this case on video.

The full schedule for the virtual festival, available here,  includes performances, films, a virtual symposium and an art gallery, among other offerings. These will be made available at the MahlerFest online page, and will be released at 3:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time each day.

MahlerFesti artistic director Kenneth Woods

In a release issued May 5, MahlerFest artistic director Kenneth Woods is quoted saying, “Canceling this year’s festival was a particularly painful step. We had worked all year to put together what we felt was the most dynamic and ambitious program the festival has ever delivered. Reinterpreting those plans into something we could present online was a new challenge. We are proud of what we have assembled and excited to share it.”

Among the highlights of the online festival will be a message from former Governor John Hickenlooper; a film made for the virtual festival by Gavin Plumley, showing why Mahler is a good composer for life under quarantine; CU distinguished professor and Helen and Peter Weil faculty fellow David Korevaar performing Schubert from his home; interviews and podcasts with musicians who were scheduled to be part of the festival; and other related events.

Gustav Mahler