Program: Activities
In addition to playing chamber music, you will wrap yourself in the cultural and historical traditions that surround you in and around the Lesach Valley. Your day will be taken up learning German and music history as well as time for socializing with fellow musicians and members of the Camerata, whether by hiking on nearby mountain trails, playing games or taking in a glass of wine or Almdudler with Apfelstrudel at a local café.
The following is a list of activities that will take place during the 10 day festival:
- Concerts: The festival's resident ensemble, Camerata Pangaea, will perform an evening concert of chamber works that will be announced a few months prior to the beginning of the festival.
- Local Trips: A trip will be made to the beautiful neighboring town of Maria Luggau, the site of a 16th century monastery and where Pope Benedict visited this last September. Trips will also be made to restaurants high up in the hills of Lesachtal, which command stunning views of the surrounding area.
- Lectures in music history: Composer and musicologist Suzanne Farrin will teach about the music you will be hearing and performing throughout the festival. She will also lead our Composers Tour to Wörtersee, where we will visit the Brahms and Mahler museums.
- Nature walks: Liesing is situated in the spectacular Lesach Valley, with incredible views of the Austrian Alps and peaks the line the border between Austria and Italy. This provides perfect terrain for day hikes in and around the valley.
- Composers tour: You will spend part of one day visiting Wörtersee, the beautiful lake where composers such as Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Anton von Webern, Alben Berg and Hugo Wolf spent time composing some of their most memorable works. On this tour, you will visit the house where Brahms spent several of his summers composing such works as his first violin sonata, the violin concerto and his second symphony. After taking a boat across the lake, we will visit the house at Maiernigg where Gustav Mahler lived from 1899 to 1907. In his specially built composers hut by the lake side, he composed his 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th symphonies as well as his "Kindertotenlieder" and other songs.
