Over two weeks in April 2020, we presented Mahler’s New York: A Digital Festival, a celebration of the composer / conductor and erstwhile New Yorker / Philharmonic Music Director (1909–11). We dropped new content every day: video broadcasts of past performances, audio of the complete symphonies, an archival exhibit and virtual walking tour on Google Arts & Culture narrated by the musicians, activity guides for kids and families, recipes courtesy of Neue Galerie New York’s Café Sabarsky and Mahler’s sister, interviews with those who played under Mahler, Zoom backgrounds, the musicians performing Mahler together while quarantined, and more.
Although the festival has ended, we invite you to continue exploring Mahler’s life and music through the Mahler’s New York page and beyond.
In this period of global isolation and crisis, we hope you will take comfort and inspiration in Mahler’s music and musings.
“And now, in this solemn and deeply stirring moment, when the confusion and distractions of everyday life are lifted like a hood from our eyes, a voice of awe-inspiring solemnity chills our heart, a voice that, blinded by the mirage of everyday life, we usually ignore: ‘What next?’ it says. ‘What is life and what is death? Will we live on eternally? Is it all an empty dream or do our life and death have a meaning?’ And we must answer this question, if we are to go on living.” — Mahler, on his Symphony No. 2, Resurrection
