The Cincinnati May Festival has announced acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop as its 2027 Festival Director. Alsop will bring her extensive experience on the international stage, advocacy for gender and education equity, and a dynamic approach to both conducting and repertoire to the year-long directorship.
CINCINNATI, OH (May 5, 2026) — The Cincinnati May Festival and Vocal Arts Ensemble announced an evolution to their longstanding partnership, establishing a shared governance structure with a single unified board of directors that aligns strategic priorities and artistic planning while preserving each organization’s independent corporate nonprofit status.
CINCINNATI, OH (March 17, 2026)—The Cincinnati May Festival has announced a free community event in celebration of this year’s May Festival curated by Festival Director Julia Bullock with Director of Choruses Matthew Swanson. To kick off the Festival’s opening night on May 15, 2026, The May Festival will host Dîner en Fleur in Washington Park, a public picnic for community members to come together and share a meal before attending the concert at Music Hall.
CINCINNATI, OH (February 3, 2026)—The Cincinnati May Festival has announced three additional events in celebration of this year’s May Festival featuring Festival Director Julia Bullock. The events include Porgy and Bess – Remixed, A Dream Deferred: Langston Hughes in Song and Vocal Arts Ensemble: Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. Tickets for all events and concerts are now on sale.
CINCINNATI, OH (October 16, 2025)—The Cincinnati May Festival has announced programming for the 2026 May Festival under this year’s Festival Director, Julia Bullock. The 2026 May Festival revisits works from the history of the Festival in combination with new works never performed by the May Festival Chorus before, as well as new visual elements and collaborations with local performing arts groups, including the Cincinnati Ballet and the Classical Roots Community Choir.
CINCINNATI, OH (August 18, 2025)— The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Max Trombley as the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow for the 2025-26 season. Trombley is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Choral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Grammy-winning classical singer and curator Julia Bullock as its 2026 Festival Director, bringing to the role a distinguished international career marked by acclaimed performances, innovative curatorial projects and recognized leadership in social advocacy within the arts.
The Cincinnati May Festival announced that Festival Director Renée
Fleming will host two additional events next month, as part of the 2025 May Festival.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Board of Directors announced today that Robert McGrath has been appointed as the new President and CEO of the CSO, effective February 17, 2025. McGrath succeeds Jonathan Martin, who announced his retirement at the end of November 2024.
The Cincinnati May Festival, Vocal Arts Ensemble (VAE) and Cincinnati Boychoir have announced the appointment of Julianne Akins Smith as their new Executive Director following a national search. With an extensive background in performing arts management and a passion for youth education, attracting new audiences and community engagement, Smith is set to lead the organizations into an exciting new era of choral music.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced five-time Grammy Award winner and celebrated soprano Renée Fleming as its 2025 Festival Director, the second ever in the May Festival’s innovative artistic leadership model launched in 2024.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Andrew Miller as the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow for the 2024-25 season.
The Cincinnati Boychoir and Cincinnati May Festival have announced a strategic alliance of their two organizations. Effective July 1, 2024, the organizations will begin operating under the May Festival organizational structure while preserving the Boychoir identity, brand, programming, and independent non-profit status.
The May Festival has announced plans to livestream the concert, “Anthems,” on May 18, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Jason Alexander Holmes as its new Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the Youth Chorus. Holmes will begin his new position in the 2024-25 season.
Cincinnati May Festival has announced that Steven R. Sunderman will conclude his 28-year tenure as May Festival Executive Director and 10-year tenure with the Vocal Arts Ensemble after the upcoming May Festival on July 2, 2024. Sunderman is the longest-serving Executive Director in the May Festival’s 151-year history.
Following a monumental 150th anniversary celebration and as part of its vision to become the most exciting force in the choral world, the Cincinnati May Festival has announced Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe as the May Festival’s inaugural Festival Director.
Following an extensive national search, the Cincinnati May Festival has announced Matthew Swanson as its next Director of Choruses. Swanson will begin his term on June 1, 2024 and lead the storied May Festival Chorus, one of America’s most active symphonic choruses.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Sergey Tkachenko as the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow for the 2023-24 season.
The Cincinnati May Festival Chorus will premiere a new adaptation of Julia Adolphe’s Crown of Hummingbirds for organ and chorus alongside Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, at two performances on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral under the direction of May Festival Director of Choruses Robert Porco.
The City That Sings: Cincinnati’s May Festival to Highlight the
May Festival Chorus, May Festival Youth Chorus, and Cincinnati Choral Academy
CET and the May Festival announced the premiere of a new special called The City That Sings: Cincinnati’s May Festival, in honor of the May Festival’s 150th anniversary this year. The new documentary, produced by CET’s own Emmy Award-winning producer Richard Wonderling, who also produced Cincinnati Music Hall: The Next Movement in 2017, will illuminate the engaging personalities and experiences of people who comprise today’s May Festival, May Festival Chorus, and educational programs.
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced that Director of Choruses Robert Porco will conclude his remarkable 35-season tenure with the May Festival in the 2023-24 season, after which he will be named Director of Choruses Emeritus.
The Cincinnati May Festival has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grant for Arts Projects award of $20,000 to support its 25 for 25: A New Time for Choral Music Commissioning Project. The project is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awarded by the NEA.
Announcing complete details for our 150th anniversary in 2023, including programs and featured soloists for performances in April and May 2023 and local artist and ensemble participants for its 25 for 25: A New Time for Choral Music commissioning project.
Cincinnati Boychoir, Cincinnati Youth Choir, and the May Festival Youth Chorus are proud to announce Youth Voices United, a collaborative choral event taking place on Saturday, November 12, at Memorial Hall.
Eight Full-Length Concerts will be Livestreamed from Music Hall for Free Beginning in October
The Cincinnati May Festival has announced Christin Sears as the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow for the 2022-2023 season, also the May Festival’s 150th anniversary season.
The Cincinnati May Festival will celebrate its 150th anniversary season with an expanded schedule of events inspired by its legacy of performing mainstays of the choral repertoire, commissioning and premiering new music, and collaborative work with community organizations.