In the beginning

In 2001 Gina Brown (now Grazyna Walek) met Jim Pritchard at a meeting of the Wagner Society. They got to talking about the music of Gustav Mahler, and Gina remarked on the need for a society to enable his work to be discussed among likeminded friends. Jim’s response was “Why don’t you start one, then?” and that’s exactly what she did, with the help of Jim, who had considerable experience of working with various music societies.

Friends in high places

One of the first things that Gina did was to approach some eminent people in the Mahler firmament - Sir Colin Davis, Henri Louis de La Grange and Bernard Haitink among others - and all were delighted to be associated with the new Society as Honorary Patrons. Soon a group of founder members was brought together to form a committee and to move things forward.

2001

In September 2001, Donald Mitchell and a number of our early members met in London and drafted an Events programme, under the Chairmanship of Jim Pritchard. The first Study Day was 'the Resurrection Symphony.' Study Days remain an intrinsic part of our annual programme. Our initial venue was the Austrian Cultural Forum in London, but in 2016 the Northern and Midlands Group was formed, holding its first public event in 2017 in Birmingham.

2002

Our inaugural concert took place at the Wigmore Hall, celebrating the centenary of Gustav and Alma's marriage in 1902. The concert included Mahler's Ruckert Lieder and it was an undoubted success. Jim Pritchard remained our Chairman until after Mahler's anniversary years of 2010 and 2011.