{"id":6820,"date":"2015-05-18T11:42:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T10:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=6820"},"modified":"2015-05-22T14:50:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T13:50:56","slug":"kenneth-woods-appointed-artistic-director-of-colorado-mahlerfest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2015\/05\/18\/kenneth-woods-appointed-artistic-director-of-colorado-mahlerfest\/","title":{"rendered":"KENNETH WOODS APPOINTED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF COLORADO MAHLERFEST"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a Reblog: Read the original o<\/a>fficial press release from MusicCo International<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE- A new interview as Ken speaks to Peter Alexander at Sharps and Flatirons here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Coverage from Norman Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc here<\/a>:\u00a0“The Colorado MahlerFest in and around the city of Boulder is one of the boldest musical initiatives of modern times. ”<\/p>\n

News feature from ClassicalSource here<\/a><\/p>\n

Story from Colorado Public Radio here<\/a><\/p>\n

News from Boulder’s “Sharps and Flatirons” blog here<\/a><\/p>\n

Boulder Daily Camera story with coverage of final concert of MahlerFest XXVIII and announcement<\/a><\/p>\n

Luxembourg’s Pizzicato Magazine here<\/a><\/p>\n

KENNETH WOODS APPOINTED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF\u00a0<\/strong>COLORADO MAHLERFEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Kenneth<\/a><\/p>\n

Kenneth Woods<\/a><\/strong> has been appointed Artistic Director of the Colorado MahlerFest. He is only the second Artistic Director in the festival\u2019s 28-year history and succeeds Founding Artistic Director Robert Olson. Woods will oversee his first festival, MahlerFest XXIX, in May 2016.<\/p>\n

Of his appointment, Woods remarks, \u201cI\u2019m thrilled and humbled to be invited to steer the festival\u2019s ongoing exploration of one of the greatest composers of all time. I\u2019ve always been impressed by the sophistication of MahlerFest\u2019s programming and presentation, not to mention the musical standards attained by its participants. I must extend enormous congratulations to Bob Olson for everything he has achieved. The complexity and scale of some tasks can only be fully appreciated once you\u2019ve done them yourself, and as someone who has put together a few crazy Mahler projects of my own over the years, I know something about the kind of heroic effort Bob has made to build and sustain this festival. I take very seriously my responsibility to keep the torch he has lit blazing brightly for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded by conductor Robert Olson in 1988, the Boulder-based Colorado MahlerFest is an annual celebration of the life and music of Gustav Mahler. Throughout one week every May, the festival explores Mahler through symposia, exhibits, films and the performance of a major symphonic work by the composer. MahlerFest is currently in the midst of its third cycle of Mahler\u2019s symphonic compositions. In 2005, MahlerFest received the Gold Medal of the Vienna-based International Gustav Mahler Society, an honor so far bestowed on only one other American organization, the New York Philharmonic.<\/p>\n

Gustav Mahler\u2019s music has been a lifelong source of inspiration for Kenneth Woods, and has played an important part in his career. He has conducted acclaimed performances of the symphonies and songs across the Americas and Europe. His first recording of Mahler\u2019s music, Schoenberg\u2019s chamber ensemble versions of Das Lied von der Erde <\/em>and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen<\/em> (Somm Records, 2011), received an IRR Outstanding rosette from International Record Review. Off the podium, Woods is in demand as an essayist and speaker on Mahler\u2019s life and music. He has given talks and participated in panel discussions on Mahler for the BBC and NPR, and was the official blogger of The Bridgewater Hall\u2019s Mahler in Manchester series in 2010-11. In his native US, Woods achieved national media recognition as conductor of the Pendleton-based Oregon East Symphony for staging Redneck Mahler<\/em>, an event that galvanized the community of a small, western Rodeo town.<\/p>\n

With its combination of conducting, symposia, pre-concert lectures, films, community engagement and blog posts, MahlerFest\u2019s format plays perfectly into Woods\u2019 multifarious hands. \u201cFor me,\u201d he says, \u201cMahler has a singular creative voice. His music should be experienced as an immersive, transformative experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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