May Festival 150 Anniversary Season Brochure

150 T H ANNIVERSARY SEASON mayfestival.com

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A SEASON 150 YEARS IN THE MAKING THE FUTURE OF CHORAL MUSIC IS NOW.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF MUSIC MAKERS.

A CHORUS OF EVERYDAY PEOPLE.

Ahead of its time in many ways, the May Festival created the first composer prize competition in the United States in 1880.

The Festival has since commissioned and premiered numerous choral works.

Continuing the tradition, this season the May Festival will premiere three commissions by eminent composers of our time, adding to the canon of choral music that others will enjoy for years to come.

Providing choral music opportunities for youth has been an important part of the May Festival since 1906. Many former Youth Chorus members can be found singing in today's May Festival Chorus, with hundreds of others populating choruses around the country. Heading into the 150th season, the May Festival has expanded its opportunities for young people to make music.

Talented volunteer singers from all walks of life come together each year for more than 45,000 combined rehearsal hours to focus solely on creating the powerful music we enjoy each Festival. This dedicated group of individuals also hones skills like teamwork, cooperation and leadership—skills they bring home to their own neighborhoods, fostering better places to live, work and play.

Juanjo Mena Principal Conductor

WELCOME TO THE 2023 MAY FESTIVAL!

THE CITY THAT SINGS. Just as it was in the 1800s, the Cincinnati region is one of America's choral epicenters, with hundreds of choirs and tens of thousands of singers. The May Festival is celebrating this regional tradition with its 25 for 25 project— commissioning 25 composers to create original works for 25 local choirs, each incorporating the unique elements that make choral music such a dynamic and diverse cultural expression.

A CINCINNATI TREASURE. The May Festival and its Chorus have received local, national and international recognition for their concerts, tours, recordings and broadcasts. BBC Music Magazine named the May Festival one of the best classical music festivals in the USA and Canada in 2021 and 2022.

As we celebrate this major milestone, our 150th Anniversary, I cannot tell you how excited I am about our plans for this year. You, our wonderful May Festival audience, will be treated to performances of Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem, excerpts from Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses, and Mahler’s mighty Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand, all performed by our very own May Festival Chorus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and a stellar line-up of soloists. You will also hear three new commissions, works that will enjoy their first public performance on stage at Music Hall, by James MacMillan, James Lee III and Julia Adolphe.

I sincerely hope you’re able to join me for what promises to be a memorable Festival for us all!

Juanjo Mena Principal Conductor

GREETINGS, FRIENDS! The upcoming May Festival showcases some of the best and most significant choral music from across the ages, spanning the 17th to the 21st centuries. It promises compelling musical experiences for the May Festival Chorus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and for you, our May Festival extended family! You’ll enjoy works by two of my favorite composers—Bach and Mozart—and not to be missed is music by Nathaniel Dett. I could go on about the music, because there is always a fascinating story to be told. But I’ll stop for now—we can discuss the music more when I see you next May! The 2023 May Festival promises to be a brilliant spectrum of musical experiences, and the Chorus and I do hope to see you!

Best wishes, Robert Porco Director of Choruses

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

The May Festival brings the immersive experience of soaring vocal music in a sacred space to a new venue! 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 to the Music Makers of Tomorrow Fund is welcomed and encouraged.

PROGRAM TO INCLUDE:

George Frideric HANDEL Olivia BENNETT

Dettingen Te Deum New Work*

*May Festival Commission; World Premiere

Robert Porco Director of Choruses

Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church

Matthew Swanson Associate Director of Choruses

Olivia Bennett

BACH’S MAGNIFICAT FRI MAY 19 7:30 PM

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Juanjo Mena, conductor Berit Norbakken, soprano Robin Johannsen, soprano Marianne Beate Kielland, mezzo-soprano Toby Spence, tenor Christian Immler, bass May Festival Chorus May Festival Youth Chorus Cincinnati Boychoir Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

MUSIC HALL

Music Director Juanjo Mena opens the 150th Festival with world premieres by American composer James Lee III and former May Festival Creative Partner James MacMillan.

Given its American premiere at the 1875 May Festival, Bach’s celebratory Magnificat was described then as we would now—as “the highest form of human expression.”

James MacMILLAN James LEE III Johann Sebastian BACH

Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia* Breaths of Universal Longings* Magnificat

*May Festival Commission; World Premiere

Juanjo Mena

Marianne Beate Kielland

James MacMillan

James Lee III

Berit Norbakken

Robin Johannsen

Toby Spence

Christian Immler

MARIN ALSOP: AMERICAN VOICES SAT MAY 20 7:30 PM

Marin Alsop, conductor Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano Laquita Mitchell, soprano Briana Hunter, mezzo-soprano

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MUSIC HALL

Rodrick Dixon, tenor Nicholas Newton, bass May Festival Chorus Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Celebrated maestra Marin Alsop makes her May Festival debut with a showcase of composers who crafted the American musical identity. Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is a lyrical dream of the Tennessee summer, while Aaron Copland's "The Promise of Living" rings with the hope of prosperity. The "uncanny radiance" (The New Yorker) of Robert Nathaniel Dett's The Ordering of Moses— a work the Festival premiered in 1937—returns to Music Hall.

Marin Alsop

Samuel BARBER Samuel BARBER Robert Nathaniel DETT Aaron COPLAND

Symphony No. 1 in One Movement Knoxville: Summer of 1915 Excerpts from The Ordering of Moses “The Promise of Living” from The Tender Land

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha

Subscribe today and save 15% mayfestival.com Laquita Mitchell

Briana Hunter

Rodrick Dixon

Nicholas Newton

MOZART’S REQUIEM THU MAY 25 7:30 PM James Conlon, conductor Erica Petrocelli, soprano Kate Lindsey, mezzo-soprano Joshua Blue, tenor Michael Sumuel, bass May Festival Chorus Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

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MUSIC HALL

Conductor James Conlon, May Festival Music Director Laureate, returns to lead a new work by American composer Julia Adolphe and Mozart’s famous music for a Requiem Mass. First performed by the May Festival in 1882, the Requiem radiates fearless brilliance—sacred music that touches on the sublime.

Julia ADOLPHE Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART

New Work* Requiem

*May Festival co-commission; world premiere

Julia Adolphe

Erica Petrocelli

James Conlon

Kate Lindsey

Joshua Blue

Michael Sumuel

MAHLER’S SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND SAT MAY 27 7:30 PM Juanjo Mena, conductor Sarah Wegener, soprano Camilla Tilling, soprano Lauren Snouffer, soprano Kate Lindsey, alto Briana Hunter, alto Barry Banks, tenor José Antonio López, baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., baritone

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MUSIC HALL

May Festival Chorus Cleveland Orchestra Chorus May Festival Youth Chorus Cincinnati Boychoir Cincinnati Youth Choir Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Mahler called his Eighth Symphony “the biggest thing that I have ever done…in which the most beautiful instrument in the world is given its true place.” Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena concludes the 150th May Festival with a work of gigantic proportions—music of triumph and transcendence featuring the combined forces of five choruses, eight soloists, and the CSO in the acoustic expanse of Music Hall.

Gustav MAHLER

Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand

Kate Lindsey

Briana Hunter

Sarah Wegener

Camilla Tilling

Lauren Snouffer

Barry Banks

José Antonio López

Reginald Smith, Jr.

25 FOR 25 PROJECT PARTICIPATING CHORUSES

In celebration of Cincinnati's vibrant choral community, the Festival is commissioning 25 new works for 25 local choral ensembles—all written by composers from New York's Luna Composition Lab, a mentorship and education program for young female, non-binary, and gender non-conforming composers. Look for performances by these exciting local ensembles throughout the spring, or attend our free Community Choral Showcase on Sunday, March 19 at Christ Church Cathedral to hear several of these new works premiered in a single afternoon! Schedule and performers to be announced at

MAYFESTIVAL.COM/25.

• Cincinnati Boychoir • Cincinnati Camerata • Cincinnati Choral Academy • Cincinnati Men’s Chorus • Cincinnati Youth Choir • CinKoa: Cincinnati Korean Choir • Classical Roots Community Choir • Hear Us, Hear Them • Heri et Hodie • 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 • The School for Creative and Performing Arts Chorale and Concert Choir

• Saint Ursula Academy Vocal Ensemble • Thomas More University Choir • Tron • UC College-Conservatory of Music Chorale • Ursuline Academy Choir • Voices of Indiana • World House Choir • Xavier University Choir • Young Professionals Choral Collective

Northern Kentucky Community Chorus

Classical Roots Community Choir

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CINCINNATI MUSICAL FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION The Geraldine V. Chavez Center for Choral Arts 1241 ELM STREET CINCINNATI OH 45202

“One of the best classical music festivals of the USA and Canada” —BBC Music Magazine

Juanjo Mena, Principal Conductor Robert Porco, Director of Choruses

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