In 2026, the Mahler Jihlava Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Its core purpose, concept, and vision continue to focus on the figure of Gustav Mahler, his contemporaries and successors, as well as on moments of Czech-Austrian musical and cultural relations and connections. The festival’s main program focuses on the works of Gustav Mahler, who lived in Jihlava (then Iglau) from 1860 to 1875. Another program strand focuses on the music of 18th-century composers. The works will be performed by both renowned and emerging artists.

The opening concert will feature Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and the overture to Richard Wagner’s opera *Tannhäuser*, which Mahler conducted most frequently. The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc will come to Jihlava; this orchestra hails from the city where Mahler served as conductor in 1883. Other participating orchestras include two American symphony orchestras, the Allegro Vivo Academy Orchestra from Austria, the resident orchestra of the Wranitzky Kapelle Festival, and an ensemble from the United Kingdom.

The festival will also feature the premiere of the melodramatic oratorio *Speratus* by the world-renowned composer Sylvie Bodorová. The figure of Pavel Speratus is closely linked to Jihlava, where he served as a preacher in 1522 and where his reformist ideas had a profound influence.

Of course, we will also commemorate the anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s death (May 18) and his birth (July 7). An open-air concert will take place in Gustav Mahler Park in May. In July, a birthday concert featuring Gustav Mahler’s songs will be held at his birthplace in Kaliště near Humpolec.

You can find the complete program in the Programs section – Program 2026.