ACCLAIMED CONDUCTOR MARIN ALSOP APPOINTED AS 2027 FESTIVAL DIRECTOR OF THE CINCINNATI MAY FESTIVAL
2027 May Festival Highlights Include
U.S. Premiere of a New Work by Anna Clyne and Works by Julia Wolfe, Roxanna Panufnik, Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov
CINCINNATI, OH (May 24, 2026)—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. The 2027 May Festival will take place May 17-30, 2027, and will feature the U.S. premiere of a new work by Anna Clyne, 2024 Festival Director Julia Wolfe’s Fire in My Mouth, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with text by former Poet Laureate of the U.S. Tracy K. Smith and Roxanna Panufnik’s Across the Line of Dreams. Alsop and May Festival Director of Choruses Matthew Swanson are set to curate a series of concerts and activities that, through music, showcase the power of women’s voices and celebrates the contribution of women throughout history.
A familiar face to the Cincinnati May Festival, Alsop conducted R. Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses for the Festival’s 150th anniversary, which the May Festival premiered in 1937. She also conducted Samuel Barber’s First Symphony and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Most recently, Alsop conducted the May Festival Chorus in Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms as part of a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra subscription concert.
“The May Festival Chorus shared an instant bond with Marin when she conducted the Chorus as part of the 150th anniversary Festival,” remarks Director of Choruses Matthew Swanson. “The Choruses and I are excited to work more in depth with Marin in 2027. Marin’s unique amalgamation of innate creativity, advocacy for equity and enthusiasm for music and choral singing will create a once-in-a-lifetime May Festival.”
Alsop currently serves as the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Chief Conductor of Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, heading Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s yearly summer residencies. Alsop was Music Director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music for 25 years, leading 174 premieres. She is Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where she made history by becoming the first woman to serve as Music Director of a top U.S. orchestra.
A continuous voice advocating for education and gender equality, Alsop created the Taki Alsop Conducting fellowship in 2002 to promote and nurture the careers of fellow women conductors through coaching, mentorship and financial support. Also, Alsop is the Director of the Graduate Conducting Program at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and holds honorary doctorates from Yale University, Johns Hopkins University and the Juilliard School.
Alsop brings projects and works she is passionate about and has advocated for to the 2027 May Festival. The Global Ode to Joy project was conceived by Alsop in partnership with New York’s Carnegie Hall. This project included the commissioning of former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith to write her own version of the “Ode to Joy” text sung in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In 2024, Alsop conducted the U.K. premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Fire in My Mouth, a commanding multimedia elegy based on the garment industry in New York City at the turn of the century, with a focus on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Roxanna Panufnik’s Across the Line of Dreams celebrates the stories of Harriet Tubman and Rani Lakshmibai. Alsop led the world premiere of this work in 2019. Her relationship with Anna Clyne spans more than two decades and most recently culminated in the 2025 release of the album Abstractions with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
"It’s a tremendous honor to serve as Festival Director of the 2027 Cincinnati May Festival,” said Marin Alsop. “This festival has such a rich and meaningful history, and I’m excited to collaborate with Matthew Swanson and the extraordinary May Festival Chorus on programs celebrating the power, resilience and artistry of so many remarkable women composers with whom I’ve shared meaningful artistic partnerships and collaborations across many years."
Cincinnati May Festival Executive Director Julianne Akins Smith looks forward to Alsop’s tenure as 2027 Festival Director. “Marin Alsop's directorship of the May Festival brings one of the world's foremost conductors to Cincinnati to celebrate the voices of women through music,” said Akins Smith. “Alsop's artistic curation brings together pieces we love and cherish alongside new works, inviting audiences to experience the magic of classical music through the lens of the human voice — the one instrument that connects us all.”
PAST FESTIVAL DIRECTORS
The May Festival’s artistic leadership model aims to invigorate all aspects of artistic planning and preparation through the close collaboration between two artistic leads: an annual Festival Director and the May Festival Director of Choruses. A new Festival Director, drawn from a variety of artistic disciplines, will be engaged each year to offer fresh perspectives and experiences that infuse the Festival with artistic innovation and exciting new collaborations. Since the adoption of this model in 2024, the following individuals have held the position of Festival Director:
2024 Julia Wolfe, composer
2025 Renée Fleming, soprano
2026 Julia Bullock, classical singer
BIOGRAPHIES
Marin Alsop, Matthew Swanson, May Festival
