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NEW YORK (JULY 7, 2025) — The award-winning, chart-topping podcast series Embrace Everything, which celebrates the life and music of Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) through a detailed look at his symphonies, launches its fourth season today on Mahler’s birthday, Monday, July 7, 2025. Created and hosted by radio producer Aaron Cohen, each season of the Embrace Everything podcast guides listeners through one of Mahler’s landmark symphonies, incorporating commentary from leading Mahler interpreters and scholars, readings from the letters of Mahler and his contemporaries, and music from the symphonies themselves.
Titled “The Heavenly Life,” the fourth season of Embrace Everything explores Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major over five episodes—one episode dedicated to each of the four movements and a fifth dedicated solely to the premiere of the work in 1901. This season, listeners will embark on a journey through Mahler’s life and compositional process while creating Symphony No. 4, unraveling the symphony's childlike themes, youthful perceptions of good and evil, life and death, and tapestries of Bavarian folk poetry. Mahler’s fourth symphony marks the last symphony written during his "Wunderhorn period" – a time when he composed numerous works inspired by a book of German folk poetry entitled “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (The Youth's Magic Horn) – a stage characterized by Mahler’s fascination with the book's themes of love, soldiers, wandering, and children's songs.
Additionally, two bonus episodes will be released—one that explores seven themes in the first movement and another looking ahead to Season 5 of the podcast.
Cohen states: “It's ironic that Mahler 4 is his shortest symphony, but our biggest season! This is a symphony filled with laughter, delight, and joy. All our regular cast members are back, plus some new ones that I'm sure listeners will enjoy. We continue our format of one episode per movement, and we've also added some exciting new elements. This season, we'll have a history episode about the premiere of Mahler's Fourth Symphony and a music lesson episode featuring a piano demonstration of the seven main themes of the first movement. We'll wrap it up with a look ahead to Season 5. This new season has been a journey more than two years in the making, and I can't wait for listeners to hear it!”
The Embrace Everything series features dramatic readings of letters from Mahler and his contemporaries, performed by actors throughout, as well as commentary from various conductors, orchestral musicians, and scholars in music and literature, who are among today’s leading interpreters and authorities on Mahler’s music. All guests have extensive first-hand experience with the music being discussed, offering a wealth of knowledge about the world of Mahler’s music.
Cohen was selected for a 2025 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency on Lake Como in Italy, where he spent four weeks in February developing Season 4. During the residency, Cohen worked alongside an international cohort of scholars, artists, and practitioners, benefiting from focused work time and collaborative feedback. The Bellagio Center supports leaders working on projects with social impact, and Cohen joins a distinguished network of alumni that includes over 85 Nobel Laureates.
Cohen said, “The projects selected are meant to benefit humanity and I am so honored that our project about Mahler’s music was selected. Mahler was known for his small composing huts built in the woods, where he wrote his symphonies, and I couldn’t help but feel a wonderful parallel. As I set up my microphone and recorded my voice during my time in Bellagio, I did it while looking out at the forest, the lake, and the mountains across the water, the same elements that inspired Mahler to compose his music in the first place.”
Season 4 of Embrace Everything features an impressive cast and a distinguished roster of guest commentators, including:
Dramatic Cast
- James Lurie as the voice of Gustav Mahler
- Laura Gragtmans as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
- Dominic Comperatore as the voice of Bruno Walter
- Jack Berenholtz as the voice of Paul Bekker
- Dan Barnett as the voice of Jean Paul Richter
- Shanade Hernandez as the voice of Mahler’s Angel
- Jeff Spurgeon as the voice of “The Critic”
- Robert Fass as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
- Billy Lyons as the voice of Arthur Schopenhauer
- Paul Hecht as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
- David Rapkin as the voice of E.T.A. Hoffmann
- P.J. Ochlan as the voice of Alfred Roller
Special Guest
- Marina Mahler, Mahler’s granddaughter and President & Founder of The Mahler Foundation
Conductors
- William Henry Curry, Music Director of the Durham Symphony Orchestra
- Kent Nagano, General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera, and Chief Conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
- Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Musicians
- David Bilger, Former Principal Trumpet, Philadelphia Orchestra
- Carter Brey, Principal Cello, New York Philharmonic
- Miriam Pastor Burgos, Solo English Horn, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam
- Stefan Dohr, Principal Horn, Berlin Philharmonic
- Thomas Hampson, Foremost Baritone & Opera Star
- D.D. Jackson, Jazz and Classical pianist, and Emmy-winning composer
- Juliette Kang, First Associate Concertmaster, Philadelphia Orchestra
- Christopher Martin, Principal Trumpet, New York Philharmonic
- Albrecht Mayer, Principal Oboe, Berlin Philharmonic
- Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet, New York Philharmonic
- Paul Merkelo, Principal Trumpet, Montreal Symphony Orchestra
- Emmanuel Pahud, Principal Flute, Berlin Philharmonic
- Michael Sachs, Principal Trumpet, Cleveland Orchestra
- Richard Woodhams, Former Principal Oboe, Philadelphia Orchestra
- Cynthia Yeh, Principal Percussion, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Music Scholars
- Caroline Kita, Washington University in St. Louis
- Marilyn McCoy, Columbia University
- Fred Plotkin, Author, and lecturer based in New York
Literature Scholars
- Paul Fleming, Cornell University
- Ioannis Konstantakos, University of Athens
- Joanna Neilly, Oxford University
Embrace Everything launched in July 2020 with a four-episode first season exploring Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, which Limelight magazine described as “addictive listening.” Since its release, the series has received widespread acclaim, earning numerous awards and nominations while topping Apple Podcast listening charts globally and ranking number one in 25 countries. Awards and nominations are as follows:
Season 2
- Gold Award at the 2022 New York Festivals Radio Awards
- 2022 Bronze Signal Award in Limited Series & Specials - Music
Season 3
- 2023 Communicator Award of Excellence
- 2023 for Best Use of Music in a Podcast (Episode 1)
- 2023 Gold Davey Award for Best Use of Music in a Podcast
- 2023 Silver Davey Award for Best Documentary & Historical Podcast
- Gold Award at the 2024 New York Festivals Radio Awards
- 2024 Communicator Award of Distinction (Episode 3)
- Note: Season 3’s achievements also included crossover recognition for Mahler & the Maestro (see below).
Special Episode: Mahler & the Maestro
- Silver Award at the 2024 New York Festivals Radio Awards
- 2024 Communicator Award of Excellence
- 2024 Gold Davey Award in Individual Episodes – Documentary & Historical
- 2024 Gold Signal Award in Individual Episodes – General Music
- 2025 Webby Award Nomination in Podcasts – Arts & Culture – Individual Episodes
Cohen conceived of the series in 2010, and after five years of preparation—which included extensive reading on Mahler, a research trip to Vienna, and a radio feature on Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 for WQXR’s Carnegie Hall Live. He began the process of interviewing guests and producing episodes in 2015. To date, he has conducted more than 100 interviews for the series.
Embrace Everything is available for free on-demand listening via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, among other streaming platforms.
Season 4 of Embrace Everything: The World of Gustav Mahler would not be possible without the exceptional talent and dedication of our outstanding production team.
Deepest thanks to:
- Jenny Lawton, Senior Editor
- Marilyn McCoy, Musical and Historical Advisor
- Rick Kwan, Audio Engineer
- Dylan Marcheschi, Graphic Design
- D.D. Jackson, Piano Scoring and Embellishments
- Merrin Lazyan, Will Berger, Jamie Katz, and Marilyn McCoy for Additional Editing
Their expertise, passion, and invaluable contributions have helped bring Mahler’s world to life in vivid detail.
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