Community Choral Showcase

Community Choral Showcase SUN MAR 19 2 PM

Christ Church Cathedral

A SEASON 150 YEARS IN THE MAKING

May 19-27 • Music Hall Featuring: Dett’s The Ordering of Moses Mozart’s Requiem Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand Bach’s Magnificat And the following world premieres: James Lee III’s Breaths of Universal Longings James MacMillan’s Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia Julia Adolphe: Crown of Hummingbirds

+ More

150th Anniversary Season

Tickets on sale now— join a Cincinnati tradition 150 years in the making! mayfestival.com • 513.381.3300

SUN MAR 19, 2–7 pm | Christ Church Cathedral | Cincinnati, OH

Schedule of Events NAVE

CENTENNIAL CHAPEL

2:00 pm

Cincinnati Men’s Chorus

Heri et Hodie

2:20 pm

Cincinnati Choral Academy

Thomas More University Women’s Chorus

2:40 pm

Northern Kentucky Community Chorus

Saint Ursula Academy Vocal Ensemble

3:00 pm

Little Miami Chorale

Ursuline Academy A Cappella Ensemble

3:20 pm

Cincinnati Camerata

CINKOA: Cincinnati Korean Choir

3:40 pm

NKU Chamber Choir

Cincinnati Boychoir

4:00 pm

MUSE

4:20 pm

Composer photograph

5:00 pm

World House Choir + Tron

5:40 pm

May Festival Youth Chorus

6:00 pm

Xavier University Choir

6:20 pm

Young Professionals Choral Collective

Hear Us, Hear Them No Promises Vocal Band

Choruses, Program Details, and 25 for 25 Commissions 2:00 pm | Nave CINCINNATI MEN’S CHORUS Spencer Zembrodt, Artistic Director Joshua Goines, Principal Accompanist

The Cincinnati Men’s Chorus is the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ+ arts organization in Cincinnati. The CMC is a voluntary community chorus composed of individuals identifying as male, whether gay, bisexual, transgender or straight allies. They have performed throughout the *25 for 25 Commission

United States and in Canada.

Their mission statement is: Through our music we strive for excellence; support and nurture our members; entertain our audiences; and work for justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and harmony between the gay community and the community at large.

CMC is honored to be a part of 25 for 25 celebrating the sesquicentennial of the May Festival. cincinnatimenschorus.org May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 1

PROGRAM • J. Rosamond Johnson: Lift Every Voice and Sing • Caleb Palka: The Space Between* • Walter Murphy & Seth MacFarlane: Everybody Needs a Best Friend • Joseph Gregorio: Dona nobis pacem The Space Between

“The Space Between” is inspired by the cycle of life and death often portrayed in lullabies. The rhythmic repetition evokes the gentle motion of a cradle and the ebb and flow of tides. e. e. cummings’ words reminded me of the significance of lullabies in my life.

When I was a child, my dad sang lullabies to me. When my dad was dying, the last thing I sang to him was a lullaby. “The Space Between” is a lullaby in memory of those we love who are no longer with us, in hope their voices might reach us, “over time and tide and death,” through the space between.

“The Space Between” is a setting of an excerpt from “Amores (I)” by e. e. cummings, which is in the public domain and can be read in full at poets.org/poem/amores-i.

—Caleb Palka Text: how i cried when i heard

and tide and death leaping Sweetly your voice

over time

2:00 pm | Centennial Chapel HERI ET HODIE Krista Cornish Scott, director

Heri et Hodie is an intimate treble voice ensemble that focuses on ancient and early music, as well as promoting the works of living composers. facebook.com/ heriethodie PROGRAM • Carlotta Ferrari: O Orzchis • Ellen Harrison: O virga ac diadema • Azalea Twining: O Ecclesia* O Ecclesia

Krista Cornish-Scott, the director of Heri et Hodie, and I instantly connected over a love of Hildegard. Visceral and transcendental, Hildegard’s art inspires me as I strive to capture a similar essence in my own work. First exposed to a setting of “O Ecclesia” recorded by my voice teacher, Eileen Clark, and cellist, Matt Haimovitz, I felt transported. When searching for a piece of Hildegard’s to reimagine, I instantly gravitated towards this text and its vivid descriptions of Saint Ursula. In this piece, I hope to honor and imbue elements of Hildegard’s work while exploring new avenues of my own compositional voice.

—Azalea Twining Text O Ecclesia, oculi tui similes saphiro sunt, et aures tue monti Bethel, et nasus tuus est sicut mons mirre et thuris, et os tuum quasi sonus aquarum multarum.

Et in solem aspexit atque pulcherrimum iuvenem vocavit, dicens: In multo desiderio desideravi ad te venire velut nubes que in purissimo aere currit similis saphiro.

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Et postquam Ursula sic dixerat, rumor iste per omnes populos exiit.

Et dixerunt: O Ecclesia, oculi tui similes saphiro sunt, et aures tue monti Bethel, suavissimum odorem mirre et thuris, quoniam contemptus mundi super omnia ascendit.

Translation O Ecclesia, your eyes are like sapphire: your ears the mount of Bethel, your nose like a mountain of myrrh and incense, and your mouth is like the sound of many waters.

She gazed at the sun and implored the most beautiful youth, saying: With a great desire I have desired to come to you as the clouds course in the purest air like sapphire.

And after Ursula had said this rumour spread amongst the people.

And they said: O Ecclesia, your eyes are like sapphire: your ears the mount of Bethel, the sweetest odour of myrrh and incense, for scorn of the world rises over all things.

2:20 pm | Nave CINCINNATI CHORAL ACADEMY Keri McGuire, director Pengcheng He, accompanist

Established in 2016, the Cincinnati Choral Academy is a collaboration between the May Festival, Cincinnati Youth Choir, and Vocal Arts Ensemble in partnership with the Cincinnati Public Schools. CCA’s mission is to enrich and educate the community by building outstanding young leaders in an encouraging environment.

In 2018, CCA was recognized by Chorus America with their Education and Com*25 for 25 Commission

munity Engagement Award. This program currently operates in six CPS schools, reaching 3rd–6th grade students at Carson Elementary, Dr. Rebecca Mullins, director; Frederick Douglass Elementary, Dobin Park, director; John P. Parker School, Julie Brumback, director; Roll Hill Academy, Anna Calhoun, director, William Howard Taft Elementary, Keri McGuire, director; and Woodford Paideia Academy, Melinda Wallace, director. cincinnatichoir.org PROGRAM • Violet Barnum: “Who,” Movement I from Invisible Winds* Invisible Winds

Invisible Winds explores the idea that many of the most prominent forces in our life are invisible to us. In her poem “Who Has Seen the Wind,” Christina Rossetti makes the deceptively profound point that wind is not something we can see, but we can see its effects, in rustling trees, or falling leaves, for example. The quick, fluttery piano passages and the whoosh-ing noises from the singers in the first movement [performed today by Cincinnati Choral Academy] both serve the purpose of emulating this haunting quality of wind. For the second movement [performed today

by Ursuline Academy], I wrote my own text with the goal of exploring a figurative interpretation of this idea. In my own life, especially since coming to college, I have been constantly fascinated by the idea that I’ve met incredible new people and had memorable experiences, all because of random events and tiny forces of which I am unaware. I spun this somewhat creepy idea of an invisible force into a positive thing—invisible forces guide our paths and lead us to the people we love.

—Violet Barnum May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 3

Text: Movement 1: “Who”

by Christina Rossetti (1830–94) Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you.

But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I. But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by.

2:20 pm | Centennial Chapel THOMAS MORE UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S CHORUS Dr. Daniel Parsley, Director of Choral Activities Sara Cahall, collaborative pianist Jason Holmes, percussion

The Thomas More University Women’s Chorus is one of three choral ensembles housed in the Thomas More University department of music. The Women’s Chorus’ repertoire is intentionally eclectic, covering a wide range of musical idioms in a variety of languages, spanning from the renaissance to contemporary music as well as music traditions of diverse cultures and popular music. The TMU Women’s Chorus maintains a busy concert and touring schedule, which includes four annual music department concerts, unique community collaborations with other arts organizations, and an annual spring music department tour to destinations such as Nashville, Chicago and New York City. thomasmore.edu/program/music PROGRAM • Moira Smiley: Bring Me Little Water, Silvy • Matthew Culloton: Down in the River to Pray • Devon Lee: What I Know About Living* • Andrea Ramsey: Truth • B.E. Boykin: Stardust

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What I Know About Living

This piece was written to a poem by Andrea Gibson called “The Nutritionist” [the piece includes excerpts of the poem, which is printed in its entirety below]. I wrote this work to describe the difficulties of mental illness and to give hope for anyone struggling.

—Devon Lee Text: The Nutritionist by Andrea Gibson The nutritionist said I should eat root vegetables, said if I could get down thirteen turnips each day I would be grounded, rooted.

Said my head would not keep flying away to where the darkness lives.

The psychic told me my heart carries too much weight, said for twenty dollars she’d tell me what to do.

I handed her the twenty and she said, “Stop worrying, darling, you will find a good man soon.”

The first psycho-therapist said I should spend three hours a day sitting in a dark closet with my eyes closed and my ears plugged.

I tried it once but couldn’t stop thinking about how gay it was to be sitting in the closet.

The yogi told me to stretch everything but the truth, said focus on the out breath, said everyone finds happiness if they can care more about what they can give than what they get.

The pharmacist said Klonopin, Lamictal, Lithium, Xanax.

The doctor said an antipsychotic might help me forget what the trauma said.

The trauma said, “Don’t write this poem.

Nobody wants to hear you cry about the grief inside your bones.”

But my bones said, “Tyler Clementi dove into the Hudson River convinced he was entirely alone.”

My bones said, “Write the poem.”

To the lamplight considering the river bed, to the chandelier of your faith hanging by a thread, to everyday you cannot get out of bed, to the bullseye of your wrist, to anyone who has ever wanted to die: I have been told sometimes the most healing thing we can do is remind ourselves over and over and over other people feel this too.

I have never trusted anyone with the pulled back bow of my spine the way I trusted ones who come undone at the throat screaming for their pulses to find the fight to pound.

Four nights before Tyler Clementi jumped from the George Washington bridge I was sitting in a hotel room in my own town calculating exactly what I had to swallow to keep a bottle of sleeping pills down.

When you are half finished writing that letter to your mother that says “I swear to God I tried, but when I thought I’d hit bottom, it started hitting back.”

What I know about living is the pain is never just ours.

Every time I hurt I know the wound is an echo, so I keep listening for the moment the grief becomes a window, when I can see what I couldn’t see before through the glass of my most battered dream I watched a dandelion lose its mind in the wind and when it did, it scattered a thousand seeds.

There is no bruise like the bruise loneliness kicks into your spine so let me tell you I know there are days it looks like the whole world is dancing in the streets while you break down like the doors of their looted buildings.

You are not alone in wondering who will be convicted of the crime of insisting you keep loading your grief into the chamber of your shame.

So the next time I tell you how easily I come out of my skin don’t try to put me back in.

Just say, “Here we are” together at the window aching for it to all get better but knowing there is a chance our hearts may have only just skinned their knees, knowing there is a chance the worst day might still be coming

You are not weak just because your heart feels so heavy.

I have never met a heavy heart that wasn’t a phone booth with a red cape inside.

let me say right now for the record, I’m still gonna be here asking this world to dance, even if it keeps stepping on my holy feet.

The tomorrow that has come and gone and it has not gotten better.

Some people will never understand the kind of superpower it takes for some people to just walk outside some days.

I know my smile can look like the gutter of a falling house but my hands are always holding tight to the rip cord of believing a life can be rich like the soil, can make food of decay, turn wound into highway.

Pick me up in a truck with that bumper sticker that says, “It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society.”

*25 for 25 Commission

You, you stay here with me, okay?

You stay here with me.

Raising your bite against the bitter dark, your bright longing, your brilliant fists of loss.

Friend, if the only thing we have to gain in staying is each other, my god that is plenty my god that is enough my god that is so so much for the light to give each of us at each other’s backs whispering over and over and over, “Live. Live. Live.”

May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 5

2:40 pm | Nave NORTHERN KENTUCKY COMMUNITY CHORUS Stephanie Nash, Artistic Director Janet Houston, piano

Text: A fresh coat of paint can’t start a broken car, a few little stitches can’t mend a broken heart.

Spring is my complicity.

The Northern Kentucky Community Chorus was founded in 1980 by Dr. John Westlund as an outreach program from Northern Kentucky University.

He conducted this ensemble until 2013 when Stephanie Nash assumed the role of Artistic Director. Singing together is a vital part of the arts in our community.

These members come from the greater Cincinnati area with varying backgrounds of education and profession yet join their voices to produce quality choral music.

Singing 2–3 concerts per season, NKCC also collaborates with other ensembles.

Their spring concert will be presented on April 29 at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Lakeside Park, KY. nkychorus.org

I am sweeping and cleaning and wiping your sins, I am beaten and weakened and burning thin, I’m giving and giving, giving again, but you take, and you kill.

PROGRAM • Sage Shurman: Spring is My Complicity: Mother Earth’s Remorse* • Philip W.J. Stopford: Do Not Be Afraid • Dan Forrest: Shalom Spring is My Complicity

“Spring is My Complicity” is a meditation on climate change from the perspective of Mother Earth. The original text is a raw and emotional soliloquy, where Mother Earth blames herself for the decaying planet. Her children are killing her slowly, but she is the one that made and spoiled her kids. By giving them spring every year, she has taught them that no matter what damage is done, there will always be rebirth—Mama will always come and fix it for you. But what happens when Mama’s gone too?

—Sage Shurman 6 | mayfestival.com

Killers don’t make themselves.

Mothers make killers, then they get killed.

On her death bed, she’s asking how she could tilt the tides different?

Maybe don’t spoil your kids, show them hardship and struggle and they’ll show some grit.

Spring trees glisten poison of false sanctity, when beauty ain’t broken it don’t need fixing, I’m broken but pretty I’ll never be free!

Spring is my complicity.

I’m driving the knife deeper, but I’d die a thousand times to lift weight off your fingers.

I love you.

2:40 pm | Centennial Chapel SAINT URSULA ACADEMY VOCAL ENSEMBLE Katherine Jennings, Music Director

The Saint Ursula Academy Vocal Ensemble is a 12-member high school select ensemble. This group performs in multiple concerts throughout the year, leads the congregational singing at school masses, and competes as a Jazz Ensemble throughout the Tri-state area. In these competitions, the ensemble has merited numerous First Place Trophies with ratings of “Superior.” The Vocal Ensemble also earned numerous awards for Overall

Choral, Outstanding Sections, Outstanding Soloists, Outstanding Accompanists, and Esprit de Corps. They are honored to be a part of this amazing and historic event. It has been a highlight for them this year. Thank you. saintursula.org/ FineArtsPerformancesandEvents.aspx PROGRAM • arr. Ron Jeffers: Amazing Grace • Jack Gjaja: Ah! Sun-Flower* • Traditional, arr. Matthew Culloton: Down in the River to Pray Ah! Sun-flower

Ah! Sun-flower is a tribute to William Blake, to sunflowers in open fields, and to the strange wonder of unaccompanied voices.

—Jack Gjaja Text: Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun: Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveller’s journey is done; Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: Arise from their graves and aspire, Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

—William Blake

3:00 pm | Nave LITTLE MIAMI CHORALE Sarah J. Baker, Artistic Director Joyce Lawson, piano

The Little Miami Chorale, established in 2003, became the premier performance ensemble at Little Miami High School, earning consistent Superior ratings in Ohio Music Education Association events, while maintaining a demanding schedule throughout the region.

Honors include appearances at the Ohio State Capitol, conferences of OMEA and

*25 for 25 Commission

American Choral Directors Association, World Choir Games Champions Divisions in Cincinnati and Riga, Latvia, and Music for All National Choir Festival. Included with the Tour Chorale, they have earned Gold rankings and championships in Female Choir and Spiritual categories, making Grand Prix appearances in Musica Mundi International Choir Festivals in Rome and Berlin. littlemiamiselectchoirs.com PROGRAM • Herman Hollanders: Exultate, Justi, in Domino • Elaine Hagenberg: Song of Miriam • Mark A. Miller: I Believe • Kim Baryluk: Warrior • Dominick DiOrio: Broken • Paul John Rudoi: Yonder Come Day 3:00 pm | Centennial Chapel URSULINE ACADEMY A CAPPELLA ENSEMBLE

Ursuline Academy’s a cappella ensemble is made up of auditioned sophomores, juniors and seniors who enjoy deep-diving into a wide variety of both accompanied and a cappella repertoire and perform often at Ursuline Academy and around the community. They will be opening with the world premiere of the second movement of Violet Barnum’s new composition, “Invisible Winds,” called “You,” followed by a beautiful piece about the bloom of hope after death, a Cajun French folk tune, a saucy madrigal-esque piece by a Gen Z composer, a beautiful lullaby, and a hymn to St. Angela, whose values inspire the Ursuline mission. ursulineacademy.org/ student-life/performing-arts

May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 7

PROGRAM • Violet Barnum: “You,” Movement II from Invisible Winds* • Eleanor Daley: In Remembrance • arr. Susan Brumfield: Fais do do (Cajun French Folk tune) • Kara Stacy Bedwell: The Bouquet • Jacob Narverud: Lakeside Lullaby (text from the Last Counsel of St. Angela, Music by Kathy Backherms, “Hymn of St. Angela”) Invisible Winds

Invisible Winds explores the idea that many of the most prominent forces in our life are invisible to us. In her poem “Who Has Seen the Wind,” Christina Rossetti makes the deceptively profound point that wind is not something we can see, but we can see its effects, in rustling trees, or falling leaves, for example. The quick, fluttery piano passages and the whoosh-ing noises from the singers in the first movement [performed today by Cincinnati Choral Academy] both serve the purpose of emulating this haunting quality of wind. For the second movement [performed today

by Ursuline Academy], I wrote my own text with the goal of exploring a figurative interpretation of this idea. In my own life, especially since coming to college, I have been constantly fascinated by the idea that I’ve met incredible new people and had memorable experiences, all because of random events and tiny forces of which I am unaware. I spun this somewhat creepy idea of an invisible force into a positive thing—invisible forces guide our paths and lead us to the people we love.

—Violet Barnum

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Movement II: “You” (inspired by Rossetti’s poem) Invisible winds: They steer my course, They guide me to you, What a beautiful force.

Invisible winds: They lead me astray, But I’m still on my path– They can’t blow me away.

—Violet Barnum

3:20 pm | Nave CINCINNATI CAMERATA Ben Owen, Artistic Director

Cincinnati Camerata is a mixed-voice choral ensemble of accomplished volunteer singers that performs chamber choral music from medieval chant through premieres by living composers. Led by Artistic Director Ben Owen, the Camerata strives to bring high-level community choral music to life in Cincinnati through innovative, diverse and inspiring concert programs. cincinnaticamerata.com PROGRAM • R. Nathaniel Dett, ed. Marques L.A. Garrett: O Holy Lord • Madeline Clara Cheng: Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds* • F. Melius Christiansen: O Day Full of Grace Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds

At a time when education was not equally accessible for women, a marquise learns about the heavens in secret through her affair with a philosopher. As night falls, the two walk into the garden, a lovely and natural haven free from the proprietary of society, and contemplate the existence of other worlds like their own. The marquise wonders what it would be like in another world if their roles were reversed, where she was the one to teach him about the

groundbreaking heliocentric discovery that fundamentally challenged how people understood the universe.

—Madeline Clara Cheng Text: “Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds” (Excerpt) The philosopher, impatient for the black to finish smothering the sunset, wants to tell the Marquise his story of Galileo’s sky and Copernicus’ heaven and their dark confessions— how other worlds could be this one.

Their walk leads them away from the others at the party into the groomed yard where it’s not so Fragonard white or rose rose, but where green webs mesh with blue adjectives from petal clusters.

She thinks when he makes each proclamation about the faraway air, it’s as though he has finished a stanza in a poem, and his breath lowers with the contentment of the final word. But sometimes he doesn’t finish, and with anticipation or near-anxiety, she provides the sound, a last rhyme to relax their breaths.

—Molly Bendall

3:20 pm | Centennial Chapel CINKOA: CINCINNATI KOREAN AMERICAN CHOIR Sarah Yein Kim, Music Director

Cincinnati’s premier Korean American Choir, CinKoa, was founded in 2017 by Sarah Yein Kim, music director and conductor. The choir offers audiences a wide variety of music ranging from major choral works to anthems, traditional Korean folk songs and K-pop arrangements. CinKoa’s unique programming allows audiences to experience Korean music, but not limited to the choral works from all historical periods. Our mission is to enhance the cultural experience and promote diversity through music to the Greater Cincinnati area as well as sharing the beauty and joy of music. facebook.com/cinkoa *25 for 25 Commission

PROGRAM • Yuri Lee: The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon* • Hye Jung Yoon: Pung Nyeon Ga (Song of a Good Harvest) The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon

Is the fierce and ferocious tiger scared of anyone in this world? Who could it be?

Inspired by Pansori, a traditional Korean genre of musical storytelling, this piece seeks to tell the story of the Korean folk tale about a tiger that mistakes a dried persimmon for a terrifying, unearthly beast. The word “dried persimmon” is left in Korean (곶감 / “gojgam”) to bring out the foreign nature of the character.

A brief note on the text: It is an original text, and the word “곶감” (pronounced “gojgam”) means “dried persimmon” in Korean; this word is left in Korean to bring out the foreign nature of the character, as mentioned in the description of the piece above. The first line of the text will be spoken in Korean, which translates to “Once upon a time, when tigers used to smoke...” (a typical first line of Korean folktales).

—Yuri Lee Text: 옛날 옛날, 아주 먼 옛날, 호랑이가 담배 피던 시절에…

Deep in the mountains, there lived one enormous, terrible tiger.

One snowy winter evening, the tiger was hungry and crept down into a village in search of food.

The tiger paused outside a house where a baby was crying inside. “Aaang! Aaang!

Aaang!”

The mother tried to scare the child: “Look, a wolf! Stop crying or he’ll hear you and come eat you up!” The baby kept crying loudly. The mother tried again, “Look, a tiger! Stop crying or he’ll hear you and come eat you up!”

May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 9

Of course, the mother didn’t know the tiger was right outside her window. The eavesdropping tiger wondered how a child did not fear a wolf or a tiger. But the baby wasn’t frightened at all. The baby kept right on crying and crying. Soon, the mother gave up—“Fine, here’s 곶감.”—and the baby stopped in mid-cry, just like that.

In the sudden silence, a terrible idea occurred to the tiger. “곶감! More fearsome than I! What a terrible monster it must be!” Just then, a cow thief landed on the tiger, mistaking him for a cow. The tiger thought 곶감 was attacking him and scrambled away from the house.

No matter how fast he ran, 곶감 didn’t let go.

Then, the cow thief realized his mistake. “This is no cow; I am mounted on a tiger! Oh save me!” He frantically reached for a tree branch and swung himself up while the tiger ran on.

The tiger, suddenly free, was relieved to have escaped 곶감, and neither the tiger nor the cow thief ever came back to the village.

3:40 pm | Nave NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY CHAMBER CHOIR Katie Barton, director

The Northern Kentucky University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Katie Barton, is an auditioned, mixed choir involving students from various disciplines across campus. This ensemble performs challenging choral repertoire, primarily a cappella, from a variety of musical genres and diverse styles and maintains a rigorous concert schedule in addition to the other departmental concerts. The Chamber Choir frequently collaborates with Greater Cincinnati ensembles, most recently Queen City Opera and the Northern Kentucky Community Chorus, as well as area high schools. In June 2022, the choir traveled to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall. nku.edu/academics/sota/ music/current/ensembles/choral.html

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PROGRAM • Volckmar Leisring, O Filii et Filiae • Gunnar Eriksson: Norwegian Lullaby • Charles Villers Stanford: Beati Quorum Via • Chloe Elise Villamayor: Are* • Jack Halloran: Witness Are

“Are” features a collage of measurementrelated texts. Measurement is an essential tool for navigating the physical world. But it dangerously seeps into the crevices of the metaphysical, covertly ruling the perception of self. These texts contain almost every conjugation of the verb “to be.” It’s a humble verb, glossed over, hidden within contractions. Yet, the verb measures itself and draws no comparisons. I wanted to fill the absence of the one missing conjugation, “are.” This piece reminds us that our grids, containers, and binaries of 1s and 0s that code the world today don’t define us. We are immeasurable.

—Chloe Elise Villamayor Text: Found texts from my daily life: “The recommended daily fluid intake is about 64…”

“The 71st floor of the expensive building…”

“The association says to move your car every 3 days.”

“The work shall be approximately 5 minutes.”

“In 2016, 4% programmed were living women of color.” …increases interference by 50% per barrier…”

“In America, the Filipino population makes up 1.2%...” “…interest rate average is 7.32%.”

“At 25 I want to be there.”

“At 2:00 the water is off until 4:00.”

“At her height she was the most beautiful.”

“At best I am half as much as…”

Luke 6:38 (In Latin): “Date et dabitur vobis. Mensuram bonam confersam et coagitatam et supereffluentem dabunt in sinum. Vestrum eadem quippe mensura qua mensi fueritis remetietur vobis”

Luke 6:38 English Translation: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

To anyone: “I don’t measure you.”

3:40 pm | Centennial Chapel CINCINNATI BOYCHOIR Jason Alexander Holmes, Artistic Director Sara Cahall, piano

Founded in 1965, the Cincinnati Boychoir is a choral organization for male-identifying youth that values artistry, personal growth, community engagement and cultural awareness.

Boys in grades 3–12 attend weekly rehearsals. Boys spend most of their time learning with singers of similar age and experience, but each week includes a combined rehearsal that includes mentorship between older and younger singers.

The Cincinnati Boychoir presents self-produced performances in addition to regular collaborations with other outstanding artistic organizations locally, nationally and internationally.

The Cincinnati Boychoir is welcoming to boys of all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, because we believe that all boys should have the opportunity to experience the life-changing impact of immersive arts participation. cincinnatiboychoir.org PROGRAM • Mbuso Ndlovu: Ngothando • Gabriella Carrido: Love Thee Better After Death* • Melanie DeMore: Lead With Love

*25 for 25 Commission

Love Thee Better After Death

“Love Thee Better After Death” is a work composed for SATB choir; the text is Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The piece follows the story of a girl confessing her feelings to a man she can’t be with. She expresses her emotions by listing the various ways in which she loves him: “I love thee freely, as men strive for right. / I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.” The piece is passionate, full of lush harmonies and allusions to the jazz tune “All the Things You Are.” However, underlying this passion is an undeniable sense of doom, reminding the girl—and the audience—of their forbidden romance, and only after death—when the confines of life will no longer prevent their relationship—will she be able to love him freely.

Text: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

4:00 pm | Nave MUSE, CINCINNATI’S WOMEN’S CHOIR Jillian Harrison-Jones, director Eunhwa Lee, accompanist

MUSE is an inclusive and feminist choral community advocating for peace and social justice.

We advocate for the rights of all people on the grounds of political, social and economic equality. We commission and seek May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 11

out music composed by women and pieces written to enhance the sound of women’s voices. We educate and empower ourselves and our audiences by celebrating women’s strengths and elevating our struggles.

This year we are celebrating our 40th anniversary at our “Hope is an Action!” concert in June. musechoir.org PROGRAM • Anya Lagman: I Am Mother* • Carol Lynn Maillard & Jordan Maillard Ware: Grace • Rising Appalachian: Resilient I Am Mother

“I Am Mother” is dedicated to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), particularly Filipina working women who live away from their families. As a child visiting Hong Kong with my family, I noticed Filipina women gathering on the streets every Sunday—but never questioned why this happened. In exploring the Filipino diaspora, especially in relation to the Filipino identity, I decided to explore this phenomenon further. Filipina migrant domestic workers have gathered every Sunday and holiday in Hong Kong’s public areas since the 1980s. (Moss, 2017) “I Am Mother” honors these women’s resilience, strength and unity.

—Anya Lagman Text: I am mother [whisper: ah-mah, mama, madre, inåy, nanay] When you speak to me of sorrow I am mother When you tell your stories of joy I am mother When happy laughter fills my ears I am mother [whisper: ah-mah, mama, madre, inåy, nanay] of the thousand miles between us and the thousand miles between us make me cry 12 | mayfestival.com

I smile as this child holds my hand [whisper: baby, niño, niña, bebe, totoy, jing] I dry her tears, I watch him sleep I feed her lunch, I bathe his feet They fill my heart but not my soul And on Sunday, my one day free The day I get to spend on me I sit down with Filipinas Who mother other children like me We are mothers [whisper: ah-mah, mama, madre, inåy, nanay] with a thousand miles between us

5:00 pm | Nave WORLD HOUSE CHOIR + TRON Catherine Roma, Artistic Director Barbara Leeds, accompanist Tronee Threat, co-composer and Hip Hop Artist Michelle David, co-composer and vocalist Luke Dennis, bass Phillip O’Rourke, vocalist

Mission Statement: To perform music that motivates and inspires our communities toward justice, diversity, inclusion and equity as we strive for peace and build our web of mutuality.

The World House Choir is a diverse, mixed-voice, unauditioned, community choir, whose repertoire is drawn from the music of peace and justice struggles worldwide, including global folk music, spirituals, gospel and classical musics.

The World House is located in Yellow Springs, OH but draws singers locally as well as from Cincinnati, Dayton, Middletown, Xenia and Urbana. Of particular note is their performances in six Ohio prisons, singing with choirs Roma conducts inside. worldhousechoir.org TRONEE THREAT is a musician, song writer, fitness instructor, educational speaker, actor and founder of All In Youth Fitness. After serving 11 years in prison, he

is on a mission to entertain, educate and encourage. Always expect the unexpected from Tronee whenever you are in his audience.

PROGRAM • Michelle David & Tronee Threat: We Are Stronger* • Joshuah Campbell, arr. Steve Milloy: Sing Out/March On • James Oppenheim words, Mimi Farina music, arr. J. David Moore: Bread and Roses We Are Stronger

This song’s about holding on to hope, despite how hard life can be. It can also be seen as someone questioning their life or faith, because of the bad things happening in the world (war, greed, hunger, homelessness, discrimination, etc.). The message of this song is about coming together as one and creating a more peaceful, understanding and altruistic world. Tron and I put our heart into this song, hoping it’ll inspire older generations and future generations to come. This song is our message for humanity to not lose faith, to not give up on life, and to have hope for better days.

—Michelle David Text: Tron’s Lyrics: Excuse the error of my arrogance, the audacity to question thee as I’m perishing just a finite being, I was a bean still sprouting, low life in my bloodstream, and I’m pouting for more power as a child cries from Hunger Pains I’m from the vein of killmongers brain competing the whole grain real Hunger Games eat or get ate where I slaved from, saved crumbs where I came from always dim outside *25 for 25 Commission

different day same sun them outside they come with flashing lights whoop whoop Park the ride hop out genocide Jesus Christ was from the hood they falsified that nothing good comes from the peasants no Kings from my residence sorry Lord my faith is kind of shaky I need evidence I believe but help my unbelief send something heavy sent a wave of Good Fortune cure for these vital poisons that plague us we playing the game of life but who’s playing us the same stuff we using to destroy we can use to build the same hurt we pass to girls and boys we can use to heal save us we making all this noise hoping you can help I don’t want to fall so I kneel Choir’s Lyrics: Hear our prayers Give us hope We need love Chasing the wind like east chase west Live everyday like it’s the last Givin’ up faith We’re falling away Let us make some better days!

Chasing the wind like east chase west (On God) Live everyday like it’s the last (On God) Givin’ up faith We’re falling away Let us make some better days! (Ooo) When will there be no more greed?

Will there be food left to eat?

Will the bloodshed come to an end?

Will there ever be some…

Peace! Peace will prevail, but (peace will prevail) We must have some unity We need love…

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5:00 pm | Centennial Chapel HEAR US, HEAR THEM Harry Mathurin-Cecil, Artistic Director

Hear Us, Hear Them is a Black-led ensemble dedicated to performing, engaging with, and inspiring all identities of artistry in order to enrich and progress the choral community. Founded in 2020, the group shares an intentional effort of celebrating incredible compositions by historically underrepresented communities in the classical music space, not only through singing, but by commissioning new works and connecting with composers to explore the deeper meaning of their work. As a practice of equity, Hear Us, Hear Them is determined to promote this music, while responsibly selecting repertoire that confronts and challenges structural exclusion. hearushearthem.org PROGRAM • Carlos Cordero: ¡Ayudame!

• Rachel Mugemancuro: a visitor, come from far away to witness an ending* • Ken Burton: Rest a visitor, come from far away to witness an ending

“a visitor, come from far away to witness an ending” is meant to follow a journey of grief. Comprising only vocalizations, the piece starts hesitant and confused, exemplified by a lilting, questioning motif passed between the upper voices, before expanding—growing into realization, horror and awe. Growth in harmony and volume is achieved by inexact pitch changes, alluding to the discomfort and unsettlement that accompanies loss. The journey resolves in a mourning chorus, haunting and achingly beautiful. An accompanying visual shows an AI generation of an otherworldly

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creature, observing the destruction of a planet from afar—unsettling, existential and celestial.

—Rachel Mugemancuro 5:40 pm | Nave MAY FESTIVAL YOUTH CHORUS Matthew Swanson, Director David Kirkendall, Accompanist and Assistant Director Dr. Eva Floyd, Musicianship Instructor

The May Festival Youth Chorus connects, inspires and educates young people through the study and performance of choral music. Since its founding in 1987, the Youth Chorus has appeared annually at the May Festival to perform choral-orchestral works with the May Festival Chorus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and internationally renowned conductors and soloists. In addition, the Youth Chorus presents its own concert series and collaborates with cultural institutions and organizations throughout greater Cincinnati.

Highlights of the Youth Chorus experience include a broad range of repertoire; annual commissions and world premieres; free professional voice instruction; access to free and discounted tickets to the May Festival, CSO and Pops concerts; frequent concert appearances with the CSO and Pops at Music Hall and Riverbend Music Center; and a community of enthusiastic and skilled peer musicians from across the Tri-State. Notably, the Youth Chorus is tuition-free; acceptance is based solely on ability.

PROGRAM • Olivia Bennett: Ethereal Fields* • Melanie DeMore: Standing Stone • Howard Helvey: My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Ethereal Fields

“Ethereal Fields” was commissioned by the Cincinnati May Festival for the May Festival Youth Chorus on the occasion of the Festival’s 150th anniversary. The work uses text from the first stanza of Emily Dickinson’s “We never know how high we are.” “Ethereal Fields” is slow-moving and reflects the unconscious feeling of passing time. I would like to thank Matthew Swanson and my professor, Richard Lavenda, for their time and efforts in helping make this possible.

—Olivia Bennett Text: We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies— The Heroism we recite Would be a daily thing, Did not ourselves the Cubits warp For fear to be a King—

6:00 pm | Nave XAVIER UNIVERSITY CHOIR Matthew Swanson, Director Megan Battles, piano The Xavier Choir, the primary choral ensemble in Xavier University’s Department of Music and Theatre, comprises students from a broad range of academic programs.

The choir, under the direction of Matthew Swanson, performs frequently on campus, around Cincinnati, and across the country.

A highlight of the previous academic year was a performance at the installation of Xavier’s 35th president, Dr. Colleen Hanycz.

Ensembles in Xavier’s Department of Music and Theatre combine to reach approximately 10,000 people each year, and their activities are rooted in the University’s fervent tradition of service to others. Xavier University

*25 for 25 Commission

is a Jesuit Catholic University in Cincinnati, annually ranked among the nation’s best universities. Founded in 1831, Xavier is the oldest Catholic College in Ohio. Its four colleges offer 90+ undergraduate majors, 60+ minors and 40+ graduate programs to approximately 7,000 total students, including 5,000 undergraduates. xavier.edu PROGRAM • Maya Miro Johnson: Strange Father!* • arr. Adam Podd: The Times They Are A-Changin’ • arr. Mark Hayes: Over The Rainbow Strange Father!

In Patience, an in-development chamber opera, an unnamed female Patient is haunted by a Greek Chorus of alternate outcomes as her illness progresses mistreated. Anguished and alienated, she seeks intimate solace from the art of four women who transcended suffering while being defined by society’s abnegation of it (Frida Kahlo, Yayoi Kusama, Edith Södergran, Audre Lorde); they grieve together as ghosts and foreigners.

“Strange Father!” depicts the Greek Chorus examining a paradoxical Södergran poem. A leitmotif of dissociated selfhood contrasts with sudden brilliant moments of certainty and the discomfort of visceral extraneous noises brought to the forefront of sonic consciousness.

Text: At Nietszche’s Grave [Vid Nietzche’s Grav] from The September Lyre [Septemberlyran] (1918) Strange father!

Your children will not betray, they will come over the earth with godlike steps, rubbing their eyes: where am I? —Edith Södergran, translated from Swedish

by Christina Herresthal, 2022

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6:00 pm | Centennial Chapel NO PROMISES VOCAL BAND

No Promises is a professional a cappella ensemble bringing exhilarating vocals and breathtaking harmonizations to jazz and popular music favorites from 1940s classics to today’s jams. Two-time “Best of Cincinnati” winners, the group has entertained at festivals, concert series and performing arts centers throughout the country. Its members have graced the stages of Broadway, fronted major symphony orchestras and backed the likes of Jim Messina, Steve Winwood, Kenny Loggins and POCO. In their day-to-day lives, the men of No Promises are clinical psychologists, concert promoters, social workers, real estate moguls and hairdressers with a passion for fine a cappella singing. nopromisesvocalband.com PROGRAM • Music by Cecilia Olszewski, lyrics by Iman Pekdemir: Aubade* • Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, arr. Gene Puerling: All the Things You Are • Dan Fogelberg, arr. Joshua Steele: Longer • Traditional, arr. Bill Gaither: Low Down the Chariot Aubade

An aubade is a song or poem dating back to the High Middle Ages about two lovers parting at dawn. “Aubade” explores the transitional space between two distinct points in time: night becoming day, motion becoming stillness, closed eyes opening, a question becoming an answer.

—Cecilia Olszewski

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Text: I hold your heart Close against mine Is there an axis to the world?

Some say it all started in clamor I say it all started in you Is there an axis to the world?

Your breath, the soft forest wind Your fluttering eyelashes, birds in flight Your opening eyes, the awakening sun If there is an axis to the world, I hold it still I hold it still —by Iman Pekdemir (@dissolvve)

6:20 pm | Nave YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHORAL COLLECTIVE Danielle Cozart Steele, Artistic Director Krista Cornish Scott, Assistant Director Arriana Bedgood, Deaf Interpretive Artist Shiloh Roby, piano

The Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC) of Cincinnati is an innovative choral ensemble that combines Cincinnati’s love of singing, socializing and culture for young professionals ages 21–45. YPCC comprises more than 1,200 singers who create and share high-quality music in an accessible, fun and social way. YPCC creates strong connections to local businesses and arts organizations through post-rehearsal dinners, unique concert collaborations and shared resources with stellar Cincinnati arts organizations. ypccsing.org PROGRAM • Bill Cutter: I Celebrate Myself • Andre J. Thomas: I Dream a World • Joanna McDonald: Untamed*

Untamed

The inspiration for “Untamed” is based on the poem “The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken,” by Vachel Lindsay. A broncho refers to an unbroken mustang, and the term, “breaking a broncho” is an expression referred to in this poem that originally meant breaking the spirit of a horse to allow riders to mount it. This poem uses the broncho to portray what staying “untamed” and resilient might mean in the face of taming, silencing forces. In my piece, I assign the role of the broncho to an ASL interpreter/dancer, who acts out and translates the text for a non-hearing audience. My goal was to create an inclusive, meaningful concert experience for both a hearing and nonhearing audience.

—Joanna McDonald Text: Narrator You were born with the pride of the lords great and olden, who danced through the ages in corridors golden.

In all the wide farm place the person most human.

O broncho that would not be broken of dancing!

The grasshoppers cheered, “Keep whirling”!

Chorus Beware! Caw! Beware! Caw! *Pause* Get her! Grab her! Go, get her! Etc. Narrator You dodged your pursuers, looking askance!

You cantered away your last chance!

Oh, horse killers came with snake whips!

Chorus Yet you danced, you danced!

Narrator Oh, the drunk drivers bled you!

Chorus Yet you danced, you danced!

Narrator They scourged you with hell!

They scourged you with hell in their faces!

Chorus You danced, you danced!

Keep whirling! Keep whirling!

Whirling, whirling!

Narrator Your boyish heart broke.

O broncho that would not be broken of dancing.

Note: All text derived from Vachel Lindsay’s, “The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken.”

Chorus Keep whirling! Keep whirling!

Whirling, whirling, whirling!

Narrator You were just a little colt sold to the farm, To be broken in time without fury or harm.

Yet black crows flew past you calling, “Beware!”

*25 for 25 Commission

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25 for 25: Commissioned Composers Violet Barnum (b. 2003) Violet Barnum is a composer, pianist and songwriter from New York City. Her pieces have been performed by Face the Music, by the New York-based contemporary music ensemble Contemporaneous, by musicians at the Curtis Institute and by members of Imani Winds. She is a proud alumna of the inaugural year of Luna Composition Lab, as well as of the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program and the NYU Summer Songwriters Workshop. Violet is indebted to her composition mentors, who have included Reena Esmail, Alex Weiser, Kathryn Alexander and Jack Frerer. Violet is currently a sophomore at Yale University, where she is studying music as well as pursuing choral singing and musical theater composition. soundcloud.com/user-848428961 Olivia Bennett (b. 2002) Olivia Bennett is an undergraduate American composer currently studying with Richard Lavenda at Rice University. She has had the opportunity to attend programs such as the Lucerne Festival of Music Composition Seminar, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States Apprentice Composer program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Interlochen Arts Camp, American Composers Forum’s NextNotes program and Luna Composition Lab. Olivia’s works have been performed at events such as the Bergen International Festival in Norway, Musaics of the Bay, Metropolis Ensemble House Music and the Lucerne Festival of Music, and performed by mem18 | mayfestival.com

bers of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO), the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO).

KiMani Bridges (b. 2002) KiMani Bridges is a composer and flutist from Louisville, Kentucky.

She has been playing the flute since she was 11 and started composing in the 11th grade.

Since then, she has been commissioned, performed and premiered by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic and many others. KiMani has performed at venues including Auer Hall at Indiana University, Bird Hall at the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Center for the Arts. In addition, KiMani has participated in bespoken, the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival and the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival, and she was named a NextNotes High School Creator Award Winner of 2020 by the American Composers Forum. KiMani currently attends the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and is pursuing a B.M. in composition and in flute under P.Q. Phan, Don Freund and Thomas Robertello.

Gabriella Cariddo (b. 2004) Gabriella Cariddo is a harpsichordist and composer from New York City interested in exploring historical performance practice and composing tonal music in the 21st century.

She is a high school senior at the Special Music School, New York City’s only

COMMISSIONED COMPOSERS

school that teaches music as a core subject.

Gabriella also studies harpsichord and historical improvisation under the tutelage of Nicola Canzano, and composition under Max Grafe. As a composer, Gabriella aims to incorporate her knowledge of early music techniques into her original works and bring new light to ideas that have been lost to history.

Madeline Clara Cheng (b. 2004) Madeline Clara Cheng is a composer, saxophonist and pianist from the San Francisco Bay Area.

She is a 2023 YoungArts Award Winner, a 2019– 20 Luna Composition Lab Fellow and a recipient of the ICEBERG New Music Young Composer Scholarship.

Madeline’s compositions have been performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Bergen International Festival, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. She is an alumna of the Tanglewood Institute, for which she received a full scholarship, as well as the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program. Madeline is currently studying composition at the University of Southern California as a Presidential Scholar. madelineclaracheng. wixsite.com/music Tiffany Cuaresma (b. 2001) Tiffany Cuaresma is a composer and vocalist captivated by music’s powerful ability to resonate with others.

Her music has received awards from the National YoungArts Foundation, National Young Composers Challenge, Austin Symphony Orchestra’s Texas Young Composers Competition and the

Emerging Young Composers Competition.

Tiffany is also a Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Composition Program alumna and the Luna Composition Lab James Rosenfield Fellowship recipient. Her music has received international recognition from the Guitar Salon International and performances from internationally acclaimed artists such as the International Contemporary Ensemble, Thue Le, Bo Bokyung, Steve Cowan and Jon Nakamatsu. In addition to concert music, Cuaresma enjoys film scoring, multidisciplinary projects, music production and sound design. She has scored several films, including a film that was nominated for an award at the Burbank International Film Festival. Currently, Tiffany is pursuing a B.M. in Music Composition and studying business at Rice University. tiffanycuaresma.wixsite.com/music Michelle David (b. 1999) Michelle David is a composer, music producer, singer and pianist. She’s performed and had her pieces performed at the Firehouse Space, Merkin Hall, Roulette Intermedium, DiMenna Center, Queens Museum, Livingston County, Rochester, WQXR Radio Station and more.

She started composing her own music when she was 7 years old. She loves to create a variety of music, especially music that embraces her Haitian-Peruvian roots.

She’s a Luna Composition Lab alumna who was mentored by Ellen Reid. She plans on becoming a piano teacher, pursuing a master’s degree in music composition, and making music for movies. linktr.ee/ michelledavidmusic

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Alicia Erlandson (b. 2004) Alicia Erlandson is a flautist and composer based in Bronx, New York. She has studied flute since 2014 and composition since 2020. Alicia was a fellow for the MATA Jr. Festival, Wildflower Composers Program, the Great Plains Composers Workshop and Luna Composition Lab, working with Gabrielle Herbst, Flannery Cunningham, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Dawn Norfleet, respectively. She is currently an undergraduate student at The New School’s Mannes School of Music, pursuing a B.M. in Music Composition and studying with Missy Mazzoli. soundcloud.com/ alicia-relandson-731394062 Jack Gjaja (b. 2005)

Jack Gjaja is a composer and pianist from New York City. Their work is foggy, confused, spiky or clear. They draw inspiration from Scriabin, Nervus, Ionesco, Rautavaara, the Housemartins, honking cars and 5-hour energy. Jack has participated in Metropolis Ensemble’s Flamekeepers project, Luna Composition Lab, BUTI’s Electro-acoustic Workshop, International Music Academy at Cremona and Summer Sonatina in Bennington, VT. They’ve studied with the following wonderful people: (composition) Mary Kouyoumdjian, David Bird, Tamar Muskal; (piano) Elena Leonova, Adrienne Kim. In addition to composition, they’ve performed in Montreal, Rovinj, Cremona, Bennington (VT), Williamstown (MA), Montclair (NJ) and New York.

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Abby Harris (b. 2005) Abby Harris is 17 and a New York City-based composer and pianist.

She is a high school senior and studies composition with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Her works have earned recognition from MATA, Luna Composition Lab, NFMC and others. Chlorophyllament, a chamber work, was featured at the American Composers Orchestra fall gala in October.

Elisa Kain Johnson (b. 2004) Elisa Kain Johnson is a composer with a passion for writing in a variety of styles, including contemporary classical, choral and pop. She also studies classical and jazz piano, musical theater voice and has studied the Chinese instrument erhu ( 二胡). Her music often explores subjects such as social justice and identity by telling stories through creative instrumentation and theme development. Elisa has been honored to receive awards from The American Prize, the Washington State Music Teachers Association, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York.

Anya Lagman (b. 2001) Anya Lagman is a Filipina composer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Manila, Philippines and based in Los Angeles.

Her works have been performed in the United States, Europe and Asia.

She was selected as one of three fellows for the 2019–20 season of Luna Lab Meets

COMMISSIONED COMPOSERS

LACO. Her string quartet, Unravel, was premiered in a virtual concert by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Anya is currently completing her bachelor’s degree in Composition at the USC Thornton School of Music. She studied under Don Crockett, Andrew Norman, Ted Hearne, Nina Young and Veronika Krausas. anyalagman.com Devon Lee (b. 2007) Devon Lee is a young composer living in New York City. He is 15 years old and has been composing for four years.

In his music, he loves to explore and communicate his experiences as an Asian, trans person. He studied composition with Daniel Felsenfeld and is a 2021–22 Luna Composition Lab fellow.

Yuri Lee (b. 2004) Yuri Lee is a KoreanJapanese composer and violinist who studies composition with Manuel Sosa at the Juilliard Pre-College and aspires to become a film composer. She is a storyteller through the unique themes and extramusical ideas of her compositions, which have been awarded by YoungArts, ASCAP, NYO-USA, the American Prize, National Young Composers Challenge, Tribeca New Music, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and NYSSMA. She founded “Music Around Us Project” to bring music to the community and to achieve her life goal of making people happy with music. In her spare time, she enjoys chess, puzzles, movies, books, soccer and crafts. composeryuri.com

Maya Miro Johnson (b. 2001) Maya Miro Johnson—a composer, conductor, instrumentalist and interdisciplinary artist— combines sound, media, language, technology and movement into purposeful meditations on radical empathy, feelings of alienation and viscerality in the body, cyborgization and exorcism of hereditary ghosts. She has created works for The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble intercontemporain, Johnny Gandelsman, loadbang, Zeitgeist, Sarasota Festival, HOCKET and the Barnes Foundation. Maya was awarded the BMI Foundation’s Schuman/Surinach Prizes in 2021.

She has served as a cover conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra/BIS Records and was a fellow at Aspen Music Festival and School’s 2021 American Conducting Academy—its youngest-ever female fellow.

Maya is a traumatic brain injury and vascular compression syndromes survivor, and she currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. mayamirojohnson.com Joanna McDonald (b. 2001) Joanna McDonald is a junior at Rice University, majoring in music composition. She wrote her first award-winning solo guitar piece at age 15 and has written numerous chamber and solo works performed by ensembles such as International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).

Throughout high school she presented her music at The University of Oklahoma’s Collegiate Composer’s Workshop, attended Curtis Summerfest and is an alumna of Luna Composition Lab’s 2019–20 season.

She is committed to investing in local May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 21

COMMISSIONED COMPOSERS

music communities wherever she goes, such as volunteering for music education projects at The bART Center for Music in Tulsa or collaborating with House of Tiny Treasures in Houston to bring musical opportunities to underprivileged children.

Most recently, Joanna has just finished a project commissioned by the Virtual Guitar Orchestra, premiered by soloist Bokyung Byun and high school guitar students around the U.S. Jordan Millar (b. 2006) Jordan Millar, 16, is a composer from Brooklyn, NY. She began composing at age 9 in the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Program. Her piece “Boogie Down Uptown” was performed by the Philharmonic, profiled in The New York Times and awarded the 2019 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award. In 2020 she arranged “We Shall Overcome” for the Philharmonic. As a 2020–21 Luna Composition Lab Fellow, her piece “Masquerade” was recorded by the International Contemporary Ensemble and awarded a 2022 ASCAP. Her fellowships include MATA Jr., Bespoken Fellow and New Music Initiative for Black Voices. Her work has been featured by New World Symphony, Opera Italiana, Intersection Music, Little Orchestra Society, WQXR Radio and numerous ensembles and orchestras. jordanmillarofficial.com

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Rachel Mugemancuro (b. 2004) Rachel Mugemancuro is an 18-year-old freshman at Duke Kunshan University. An avid musician from a young age, she played the violin and piano for over 13 years.

Through her pursuit of instrumental music, she experienced and fell in love with all forms of music-creation, from solo performances to larger collaborations with orchestras and chamber ensembles. Her love of artistic expression through sound extended to composition, and she was honored to participate in the LA Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program as well as the Luna Composition Lab, having works performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, Hub New Music and the musicians of the LA Philharmonic.

Ebun Oguntola (b. 2005) Described by NPR as a “curious and enterprising young artist,” New York native Ebun has delved into composition, conducting, songwriting, production and multi-instrumentalism. Commissioned to write a piece for Grammy-award winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman, her piece “Reflections” was described by The New York Times as “somber yet mysterious…spurs Gandelsman towards contrasts of bow pressure, suggesting unpredictable twists of an individual’s mind.” The full album, This is America, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart.

In 2021, Ebun was featured on NPR’s From the Top, where she was interviewed

by Kevin Olusola from Pentatonix. ebunoguntola.com

COMMISSIONED COMPOSERS

Cecelia Olszewski (b. 2003) Cecelia Olszewski is a composer, violinist and pianist from Wallingford, Pennsylvania. She is an alumnus of Luna Composition Lab (2021) and Wildflower Composers (2020, 2021). Her works have been performed by members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Cecelia is a director of global operations for the Back to Bach Project, a nonprofit organization making arts education accessible for young children. She is currently studying composition with Jay Alan Yim at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music.

Caleb Palka (b. 2001) Caleb Palka is known as “an eloquent thinker and creator” (Portland State University Vanguard) whose work is “inquisitive and creative in an unapologetic way” (Oregon ArtsWatch). He has been performed/ commissioned by Fear No Music, Luna Composition Lab, International Contemporary Ensemble, Opera Omaha, the Britt Festival Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Mivos Quartet, Portland Piano International and others. He received a BMI Honorable Mention and Tribeca Emerging Composer honor. He studied with Ryan Francis, Kenji Bunch and Ellen Reid, and attends the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Camae Dennis, Ted Hearne, Andrew Norman and Veronika Krausas. YouTube: @palkamusic

Zola Saadi-Klein (b. 2003) Z/Zola Saadi-Klein (he/they), is a 20-yearold Iranian-American, transmasculine and non-binary composer, vocalist and violinist from Los Angeles. In 2020, they received the ASCAP Foundation Irving Berlin Scholarship Award. From 2019 to 2021, they were a Fellow in the LA Phil Composer Fellowship Program under the mentorship of Andrew Norman, Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff. He also studied with Dr. Ian Krouse of UCLA, who was their composition teacher for two years before they began studying under the tutelage of the composition faculty at Oberlin Conservatory in 2021. Currently, he studies composition with Professor Michael Frazier at Oberlin Conservatory. For much of their work, he draws inspiration from his Persian and European heritage, exploring the cross-cultural bonds of music from the West and of the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. As a member of the Oberlin Buddhist Fellowship, he is interested in the concepts of how one perceives themselves in time and space at each moment, and how the breath connects the soul to the universe. The practice of mindfulness and concentration meditation has also deeply influenced their musical life. zolasaadiklein.com Sage Shurman (b. 2005) Sage Shurman is a composer and pianist based in Los Angeles.

Among other accolades, she is a 2022 winner of the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and National YoungArts Awards. Sage studies privately May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 23

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with Ian Krouse at UCLA and is a third year fellow in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Nancy and Barry Sanders Composer Fellowship Program. Sage has had her work performed by ensembles including the LA Phil, members of the LA Chamber Orchestra, Sandbox Percussion, ICE and Triple Helix. Recently, she has been commissioned by Hub New Music, the Taos Chamber Music Group and the Cincinnati May Festival.

Azalea Twining (b. 2005) Azalea Twining (she/ her) is a 17-year-old composer, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter.

As a 2020–21 fellow of Luna Composition Lab, Azalea studied composition with Ellen Reid and composed “Under Her Voices” for piano trio, which was the winner of the 2021 G. Schirmer for Luna Composition Lab Prize. Azalea’s most recent and current projects include “Echo” for solo flute commissioned by Intersection, a song cycle set to the poetry of the Brontë sisters; “The Red House,” a saxophone quartet commissioned by Second Stage and Composers Now; and Evelyn/Evelyn, a dance opera created and performed by her family, Ensemble InterTwining. She also composes and performs original work

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for voice, string quartet, prepared piano and more through her school’s Fine Arts Academy. Azalea has been studying voice with Eileen Clark since 2014. An alumna of the WNO Opera Institute, Eastman Summer Classical Studies programs and NYU MPAP Summer Classical Voice Intensive, Azalea has a passion for art song and arias. More recently, she has fostered a love for performing small vocal ensemble music—both early and experimental. She hopes to one day compose and sing in her own experimental operas.

Chloe Elise Villamayor (b. 2002) Composer Chloe Villamayor believes that music isn’t only a reflection of the world but a tool to heal it. Her music, ever-expanding in varying genres, has been described as “sharp and explorative, yet sensitive and empathetic.”

She participated in the Curtis Youth Arts Summer Program, the Nancy and Barry Sanders composer fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Salastina “Sounds Promising” young composers apprenticeship. Chloe is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in music composition at the University of Southern California, where she is working on her debut electro-acoustic pop album and deepening her love for classical music.

by Wajeeh Khan

2023 marks the 150th anniversary of the May Festival, which has an extensive legacy of commissions and premieres. To honor this history, the May Festival embarked on a new endeavor: 25 for 25: A New Time for Choral Music, a choral commissioning project in collaboration with Luna Composition Lab, whose composers will be writing 25 new choral works for 25 choral ensembles throughout Greater Cincinnati.

Founded in 2016 by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Composition Lab provides mentorship and a plethora of educational and professional resources for female, nonbinary and gender non-conforming composers ages 13–18. Mazzoli says: Ellen and I came together in early 2016. As women who have been in the field for a very long time, we’ve noticed very specific barriers to gender equality in the field [of music composition]. We’ve both been in the position of being the first woman whose music was performed by several orchestral and opera organizations. The field has a long way to go in including non-male compositional voices. A lack of role models and representation at the highest levels in academia and in concert halls throughout the world is one of the barriers to gender equality.

From top: Luna Composition Lab founders Missy Mazzoli (Credit: Caroline Tompkins) and Ellen Reid (Credit: James Matthew Daniel) May Festival 2023: 25 for 25 | 25

25 for 25 FEATURE

Above, from top: May Festival Youth Chorus led by Matthew Swanson, April 2022 (Credit: JP Leong); Northern Kentucky Community Chorus (Credit: AJ Waltz); and Classical Roots Community Choir, March 2019 (Credit: Mark Lyons).

Luna Composition Lab was founded to address some of these barriers. The only initiative of its kind in the U.S., Luna Lab’s goal is to celebrate underrepresented voices and shape the future of music through a support system focused on continuing success. Luna Composition Lab provides for its fellows eight months of mentorship with acclaimed female and non-binary composers, opportunities to have original work workshopped, premiered and professionally recorded, and a culminating 26 | mayfestival.com

weeklong festival in New York City filled with masterclasses from world-renowned composers. Fellows also gain access to a strong and supportive network of professional performers, composers and other aspiring musicians.

The May Festival’s 25 for 25 Project aligns perfectly with the educational and professional goals of Luna Composition Lab. “We were thrilled to hear about the May Festival’s interest in us and were honored that they commissioned new choral works from 25 of our alumni composers,” said Executive Director Alyssa KayserHirsh. “It was a no-brainer for us. It’s the largest commissioning initiative that Luna Lab has ever done,” said Reid. Mazzoli echoed this sentiment, stating, “A single commission like this can elevate a composer’s career. For most of our composers, this is their first professional commission.

To say that their first commission is from the May Festival will be so huge for them.”

The new works written by composers of Luna Composition Lab will be premiered by Greater Cincinnati choral ensembles in a community showcase March 19, 2023, and at several other local performances throughout the spring. The collaborative magnitude and the uniqueness of this event is particularly noteworthy: 25 composers and 25 choral ensembles, which range from after-school choirs of elementary students to university choirs and community choruses, performing 25 new works. The May Festival funded the compositions in their entirety and, for each Luna Lab fellow, the Festival is also funding composition lessons with mentor composers, travel to Cincinnati to allow composers and ensembles to engage with one another, and professional recordings. Participating ensembles and

25 for 25 FEATURE

artists are also receiving a stipend to support their performances.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this commissioning project has been the mentorship, guidance and encouragement that Luna Composition Lab fellows have received from professional composers. As Ellen Reid stated, “Every composition, no matter what level it’s at, is always a learning experience. This will be a great professional learning experience for our fellows that will set them on a track to have long, meaningful and fruitful careers.”

One of the mentors who has been fostering these learning experiences is Julia Adolphe, a critically-acclaimed composer known for works such as her comic opera A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears and

25 for 25 Composers Violet Barnum Olivia Bennett KiMani Bridges Gabriella Cariddo Madeline Clara Cheng Tiffany Cuaresma Michelle David Alicia Erlandson Jack Gjaja Abby Harris Elisa Kain Johnson Anya Lagman Devon Lee Yuri Lee Maya Miro Johnson Joanna McDonald Jordan Millar Rachel Mugemancuro Ebun Oguntola Cecilia Olszewski Caleb Palka Zola Saadi-Klein Sage Shurman Azalea Twining Chloe Villamayor

for her three pieces commissioned and premiered in Cincinnati: Sea Dream Elegies for Chorus, Oboe and Cello in May 2016 and Equinox (heard at the 2023 ACDA conference performances) in November 2017, both by the May Festival Chorus, and Paper Leaves on Fields of Clay in May 2022 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Adolphe, who has faced barriers and inequities as both a student and as a professional, relished the opportunity to connect with students who are at such a critical point in their young careers. “The whole process is very remarkable. The fact that the May Festival is giving these students the opportunity to have a professional commission at such a young age, along with providing them with a support network, is a huge deal,” said Adolphe. “If it’s your first time writing for an ensemble, there can be a fear of crashing and burning. So, it’s really wonderful to have that support network and to have a chance to get feedback from professionals and be set up for success.”

One of the biggest aspects that attracted Adolphe to this commissioning initiative was the ability to provide students with opportunities and connections that she did not have.

“Reflecting back on my late teens and early 20s, one thing that stuck out to me was that I didn’t have any female or non-binary composer role models. There were a couple of these composers who I admired, but I did not have access to them.

They were never a part of the faculty at the schools I went to. This project gives others an opportunity that I never had. In a way, as a mentor, I get to remember what it was like to be at the very beginning of my own career, with my eyes toward being a professional. I keep trying to remind my students that they’re very ahead of the game!”

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25 for 25 FEATURE

Commissions and premieres have always been a feature of the May Festival, and they will remain so as the Festival continues to grow and innovate. “The May Festival was formed to unite locals in sharing their unique talents in choral music with the greater community,” said Steven Sunderman, Executive Director of the May Festival. “The May Festival is incredibly proud to celebrate its first 150 years in this outstanding community. We look forward

to these diverse, exciting and inventive new works, written by exemplary composers and performed by our local choral and vocal artists. Through these amazing performances that connect and inspire all of us, Cincinnati will continue to remain The City That Sings.”

For more information on the 25 for 25: A New Time for Choral Music project, please visit mayfestival.com/25. n

Thank you to 25 for 25 Project participating ensembles and artists!

A NEW

TIME

for CHORAL MUSIC

• Cincinnati Boychoir • Cincinnati Camerata • Cincinnati Choral Academy • Cincinnati Men’s Chorus • Cincinnati Youth Choir • CinKoa: Cincinnati Korean Choir • Classical Roots Community Chorus • Hear Us, Hear Them • Heri et Hodie • Jeremy Winston Chorale •

• Little Miami Chorale • May Festival Youth Chorus • MUSE: Cincinnati Women’s Choir • No Promises Vocal Band • Northern Kentucky Community Chorus • Northern Kentucky University Chamber Choir • School for the Creative and Performing Arts Chorale • St Ursula Academy Vocal Ensemble •

Learn more at mayfestival.com/25

• Thomas More University Choir • Tron • University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Chorale • Ursuline Academy Choir • Voices of Indiana • World House Choir • Xavier University Choir • Young Professionals Choral Collective •

“My soul needed this.”

Tickets on sale now!

VAE Attendee

SANCTUARY ROAD*

Music Director Craig Hella Johnson

by Paul Moravec & Mark Campbell APR 29 7:30PM | Jarson-Kaplan Theater Featured Artists: Dashon Burton, Malcom Merriweather, Laquita Mitchell, Taylor Rave and Noah Stewart

vaecinci.com 513 . 3 81. 330 0 *World premiere of the chamber orchestration.

VAULTED VOICES

SAT APR 1 7:30 pm Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church Robert Porco, conductor Matthew Swanson, conductor May Festival Chamber Choir May Festival Youth Chorus

Director of Choruses Robert Porco conducts Handel’s celebratory Dettingen Te Deum, the first work ever performed at the May Festival. Matthew Swanson leads the Youth Chorus in a varied program, including a 25 for 25 commission from composer Olivia Bennett. Tickets for this performance are free, but a suggested donation of $25 per ticket is welcomed and encouraged.

mayfestival.com • 513.381.3300 The Vaulted Voices concert is supported in part by Chris and Beth Canarie.

Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church

Matthew Swanson Associate Director of Choruses

Olivia Bennett

Robert Porco Director of Choruses

mayfestival.com