The 24th annual Mahler Jihlava Festival, "Music of Thousands," has come to an end. The final concert took place on October 2, 2025, at at Holy Cross´ Elevation Church. The Dresden Children's Philharmonic Choir performed under the direction of Gunter Bergr.

The concert opened with fanfares from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 performed by students and the director of the Music- and Art School of Jihlava. Fanfares "opened" our festival on May 18 and "closed" it on October 2. We greatly appreciate our cooperation with the Musicschool and believe that it will continue in future years.

The church was then filled with the voices of female singers and one male singer from Germany. In addition to works by J. S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Edward Elgar, and Morten Lauridsen, folk songs from the US, Venezuela, and Germany were also performed. The conductor and the audience joined in the latter song, entitled Hab mein Wage, and it worked beautifully! This was followed by Urlicht by Gustav Mahler and the melodic Nella fantasia by Ennio Morricone.

The audience rewarded the choir with long applause. The Dresden Children's Philharmonic Choir from Jihlava continues its tour to Austria, Slovakia, and back to the Czech Republic, where it will perform in Prague at the end.