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PRAGUE (JTA) — The Czech town of Jihlava resounded with the music of Jewish composer Gustav Mahler during a three-day festival to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the birth of its most famous son.

The festival, which included performances of Mahler's works and an international conference, was the biggest cultural event ever held in the industrial town.

Mahler's early career as a conductor was spent at a serious of regional opera houses, including Prague and Budapest, before he was offered the prestigious job of head of the Vienna Opera in 1897.

It came at a price, however. His Jewish origins were an obstacle in an era of rampant anti-Semitism, so he converted to Catholicism in February 1897 to keep the Vienna position. He remained connected to Judaism, however.

Mahler famously expressed his sense of heritage: "I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed."

He died of heart trouble at 50. after just taking a post with the New York Philharmonic.

The cultural attaché to the Israeli Embassy was among the festival's distinguished guests..