Over the last decade, the Chicago Mahlerites have pursued various activities in support of Mahler's music.

• 4 August 2011. Ravinia Festival. Das klagende Lied (three-part version)


• 1 and 2 July 2011. Grant Park Music Festival. Das Lied von der Erde (performed in the Harris Theater).


• January 15-16, 2005 Saturday - Evanston Symphony Orchestra Dress Rehearsal and Concert
  Members are invited to the free dress rehearsal at Pick-Staiger Hall, Northwestern University.
  Program includes:
  Torke: Bright Blue Music
  Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen(Randall Scarlatta, baritone)
  Dvorak: Symphony No. 6
  Our member, Mr. Lawrence Eckerling, will conduct the orchestra in a performance of the program on Sunday January 16, 2005 (2:30pm) at Pick-Staiger Hall. Tickets $20.


• January 13-16, 2005 Thursday-Sunday - Colorado MahlerFest XVIII
  Chamber Music Series (performed by Colorado University students and faculty members):
  Excerpts from Das Lied von der Erde and Des Knaben Wunderhorn
  Complete Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
  
  Symposium
  Lectures by Dr. Stuart Feder, Prof. Stephen Hefling, and Prof. Marilyn McCoy
  
  Orchestra Concert:
  Brahms: Tragic Overture
  Mahler: Ninth Symphony
  Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra, Robert Olson (cond.)
  
  The Chicago Mahlerites will organize a trip to Boulder, Colorado for this unique Mahlerian event. We will arrive on January 13, and depending on your own preference, stay there till the first concert of the Ninth Symphony on January 15, or stay till the end of the Festival where you can enjoy the second performance of the NInth Symphony and join the musicians for the after-concert banquet. For more information, please visit the MahlerFest website


• July 30, 2004. Friday - Pre-concert Picnic at Ravinia
  Picnic begins at 6:00-6:15pm at the lawn.
  
  Concert (begins at 8pm)
  Mahler: Symphony No. 8
  Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
  Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
  Marina Mescheriakova, soprano
  Deborah Voigt, soprano
  Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
  Charlotte Hellekant, mezzo-soprano
  Vinson Cole, tenor
  Stephen Salters, baritone
  John Relyea, bass-baritone
  Chicago Symphony Chorus
  Apollo Chorus of Chicago
  Chicago Children's Choir


• July 3, 2004. Saturday - CD session
  "If Mahler had written a Piano Concerto..."
  Ferruccio Busoni: Concerto In C Major for Piano, Orchestra, and Male Chorus, op. 39
  at the home of our member, Conrad Weisert
  8:00 pm


• June 4, 2004. Friday - Gathering
  Post-concert gathering will take place at Vive La Crepe at 1565 Sherman Avenue, Evanston.
  
  Concert
  Mahler: Symphony No. 9
  Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra
  Victor Yampolsky, conductor
  Pick-Staiger Hall
  7:30pm


• May 23, 2004. Sunday - Recital
  Lieder von Gustav und Alma Mahler
  World Premiere of the Critial Edition of Alma Mahler's Vier Lieder
  Kindertotenlieder
  Four Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn Rückert Lieder
  Thomas E. Bauer, baritone
  Uta Hielscher, piano


• March 6, 2004. Saturday - Trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  Mahler: Symphony No. 3
  Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
  Andreas Delfs, conductor
  Susan M. Filler will give the pre-concert lecture.


• February 21, 2004. Saturday - Mahlerthon
  "Mahlerthons" are informal gatherings for the members of The Chicago Mahlerites to listen to and discuss Mahler performances on CDs and videos.
  
  Mahler: Symphony No. 3 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
  Bernard Haitink, conductor - DVD
  San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
  Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor - CD


• December 6, 2003. Saturday - Mahlerthon
  Mahler Symphony No. 5
  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
  Simon Rattle, conductor - DVD
  Junge Deutsche Philharmonie Orchester
  Rudolf Barshai, conductor - CD


• October 4, 2003. Trip to Indianapolis
  Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (completed by Rudolf Barshai)
  Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
  Rudolf Barshai, conductor
  Meeting with Maestro Barshai after the concert


• May 4, 2003. Trip to Elgin, Illinois
  Elgin Symphony Orchestra: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Resurrection
  Robert Hanson, Conductor
  Elgin Choral Union
  Randi von Ellefson, Director
  Elizabeth Norman, Soprano
  Karen Brunssen, Mezzo-soprano


• March 30, 2002. Trip to Milwaukee
  Performance of Mahler's 7th Symphony by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
  Post-concert meeting with the Milwaukee Symphony


• July 7, 2001. Celebration of Gustav Mahler's Birthday
  Seminar Series - "Mahler's Tenth Symphony: the 'Farewell' that wasn't."
  Speaker: Susan Filler, Ph.D.
  Time: 1 pm; Admission: free, but members only.
  
  Synopsis: It is generally known that Gustav Mahler did not complete his Tenth Symphony, which he drafted in the summer of 1910 and probably intended to finish the following summer. Because of his death in the spring of 1911, the work has become known as a precursor of the end (while sharing the aura of death with its two immediate predecessors, Das Lied von der Erde and the Ninth Symphony). This view of the Tenth Symphony is, at best, based on romantic myths about the "dying composer," which have affected not only Mahler but many other composers including Mozart and Bruckner. Likewise, the feeling of a "curse" preventing a composer from going beyond a Ninth Symphony--founded on the idea that Beethoven did not go beyond his Ninth--has supposedly hung over the heads of later composers following in Beethoven's footsteps. A new view of Mahler's Tenth Symphony, not based on myths planted by Mahler's wife and associates in their writings after his death, began with the performance of the "performing versions" of the work by Deryck Cooke, Joseph Wheeler, Clinton Carpenter and Remo Mazzetti, and is now being seriously considered by Mahler specialists. It involves reappraisal of these factors:
  
  • The extent to which Mahler actually advanced in the compositional process, and the effect of his achievement on those who made the performing versions
  • The state of his health in the last four years of his life, which has been misunderstood and misrepresented by his associates, especially his wife
  • The nature of the music itself and the place it bears in Mahler's corpus of compositions in general
  "Mahlerthon" of the Tenth Symphony
  "Mahlerthon" is our regular CD listening session during which we will listen, and discuss the performances in details. This will start immediately after Dr. Filler's Seminar.


• October 6 - 20, 2001. Lectures in China
  Dr. Filler gave the following lectures in China (Beijing and Xian):
  
  1. "Trends in Mahler Research in the West since World War II" (A general survey of books, articles, dissertations and musical editions, with some highlights by major authors and editors)
  2. "Gustav Mahler's 'Scherzo in c minor' and 'Presto in F major'" (An introduction to the two movements, the stage to which Mahler developed them, and the arguments for and against the principle of a performing version, with illustrations from Dr. Filler's own edition)
  3. "Jewish Music: What is it and how is it defined?" (To differentiate between the divergent styles of Ashkenazim, Sephardim and Oriental Jews, to also offer examples of music used for religious and secular purposes, and to put the problem of defining "Jewish" music into historical context)
• April 22, 2001. Joint event with the Malaysian Mahlerites
  Seminar Series - "Das Lied von der Erde: Genesis and Impact"
  Speaker: Teng-Leong Chew
  Time: 5 pm
  Venue: Dama House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  
  Synopsis:
  Mahler is perhaps the only composer after Beethoven whose oeuvres can be categorized into three clearly demarcated periods. Das Lied von der Erde lies at a critical crossroad, bridging the Middle Period of the 5th, 6th, 7th symphonies, as well as the gigantic choral 8th to the strangely ethereal 9th and 10th. Mahler drastically changed his compositional palette in the Late Period works, commonly known as the Symphonies of Life and Death. Closer study reveals that the last symphonies not only differ from all previous works with regards to the orchestration and style, but more profoundly to the very core of Mahler's musical ideology and philosophy. "Das Lied von der Erde" thus provides an invaluable glimpse into the metamorphosis of Mahler's artistic craftsmanship at this pivotal juncture. This aspect of Das Lied von der Erde was examined through his selection of the poems in Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte, his poetic alteration of the text to fit the Symphonic Songs, and more importantly, through the music itself.


• March 31, 2001. "Mahlerthon" of the Second Symphony
  CD-listening session of Mahler's Second Symphony. We compared in their entirety the latest rendition by Seiji Ozawa and the Saito-Kinen Orchestra, and the performance by Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. We also listened to snippets of other recordings as well.


• May 14 - 15, 2000. Joint event with the Chicago Wagner Society
  Special Seminar - "Mahler: Disciple and Champion of Wagner."
  Speaker: Prof. Henry-Louis de La Grange
  Time: 4 pm May 14, 2000
  Venue: Omni Orrington Hotel, Evanston, Illinois
  
  Lunch with Prof. Henry-Louis de La Grange
  Time: Noon, May 15, 2000
  Venue: The Signature Room, 95th floor of John Hancock Tower, Chicago.