The Mahler Players, a chamber orchestra based in the Highlands of Scotland, was founded by conductor Tomas Leakey in 2013. Our members predominantly live in the Highlands, though we invite musicians from all across Scotland and further afield. Some of our players perform full time, many teach and several have other jobs alongside music; all are united in their commitment to the orchestra and to playing the music we love in this glorious part of the world, from great masterworks of the past to cutting-edge contemporary music.
As part of our Mahler in Miniature project we performed chamber orchestra versions of Mahler’s First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Symphonies, Das Lied von der Erde, and most of Mahler’s other song cycles. The accompanying programming featured Highland premieres of a number of demanding classics from the 20th century canon, including Schoenberg‘s Five Orchestral Pieces Op.16, Webern‘s Symphony Op.21 and Boulez‘s Mémoriale (…explosante-fixe… Originel). We have commissioned many new works, including by Matthew King and leading Scottish composer Stuart MacRae. Educational projects showcasing Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale, Walton’s Façade and the BBC Ten Pieces were presented to hundreds of school-children across the Highlands. The late Michael Tumelty (the Herald Scotland) described The Mahler Players as “outstanding …Scotland’s best-kept musical secret”. We have played consistently ambitious programmes to audiences across Scotland – from urban city dwellers to those living in remote rural communities. Since 2017 we have had a particular focus on the music of Wagner. This has included the complete Act 1 from Die Walküre, Act 2 from Tristan und Isolde, Act 3 from Siegfried and substantial sections from Tannhäuser, Götterdämmerung and Parsifal. We have been fortunate to work with some of the greatest Wagnerian singers of our time, including Sir John Tomlinson, Magdalena Anna Hofmann, Peter Wedd and Lee Bisset. Prior to our performance of Die Walküre in 2019, a complete act from a Wagner opera had never been performed in the Highlands.
Outstanding…Scotland’s best-kept musical secret.
Michael Tumelty, Herald Scotland
I must have seen a complete Ring Cycle at least five times in my life and can honestly say that I have never been as excited by a performance as I was by yours last night.
Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, audience member
In 2021 we released our first album, featuring the world premiere recording of Matthew King’s Richard Wagner in Venice: A Symphony. This piece brings to life for the first time many of Wagner’s late unfinished symphonic sketches and fragments, most of which were entirely unknown outside specialist circles. The album was critically acclaimed, with four-star reviews in the Telegraph and the Times. We also gave the world premiere live performance of the work in September 2021.
