Greetings from the Board Chair and Executive Director

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the May Festival, the May Festival Choruses, the Cincinnati Boychoir and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, welcome to the 2025 May Festival!

We are thrilled that internationally renowned American soprano Renée Fleming has brought her passions and artistry to the 2025 May Festival as the Festival Director. The Brightness of Light and Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene are unique artistic projects for Fleming, and both will make their debut on the stage of Music Hall this Festival. In addition to being an opera superstar, Fleming is a devoted advocate for the positive impact the arts can have on our health. Her most recent book, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, is a collection of essays, curated by Fleming, from leading experts about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience. As part of the Festival, Fleming will host a panel discussion with local experts, neuroscientists and organizations to bring attention to the intersection of music, health and neuroscience in our everyday lives.

For this second Festival under our new artistic model, Fleming’s programming demonstrates the richness and diversity of thought that are central to this model. Each Festival, we, as audience, as well as chorus and orchestra members, will get to experience the artistic world and viewpoint of a new Festival Director — the prospects and opportunities are exciting!

As former board chair Christy Horan wrote in last year’s welcome letter, the May Festival has been in a period of “transformation,” which has since culminated in the appointment of three new members of the May Festival team. The 2025 May Festival is Matthew Swanson’s first as Director of Choruses. Swanson started his May Festival journey in 2012 as a tenor within the May Festival Chorus. In 2015, he was appointed Conducting Fellow, which led to his appointment as Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the May Festival Youth Chorus. Read more about Matthew’s journey at mayfestival.com/MeetMatthew. In this article, David Lyman introduces us to Jason Alexander Holmes, who was appointed Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the May Festival Youth Chorus in July 2024. And, in November 2024, we welcomed our new Executive Director, Julianne Akins Smith, to the May Festival. Smith brings more than a decade of experience in organizational growth and community engagement, along with a passion for welcoming new audiences.

As leading ambassadors and advocates for the vocal community, the May Festival recently welcomed the Cincinnati Boychoir into its fold through an historic alliance between the two organizations. In this article, writer Hannah Edgar explores how the alliance came to be and its ongoing success.

From the Board of Directors, Choruses, Orchestra, artistic leadership, crew, staff and soloists, we express our deep gratitude for every single audience member, donor and sponsor. All of you help make this world-class event possible — Enjoy the 2025 May Festival!

Dr. Michael Curran, Chair, Board of Directors

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2025 May Festival!

I am honored to serve as the May Festival’s Executive Director. I am continually impressed by the rich history, dedication, and passion that exudes from the May Festival community, and I am eager to meet and connect with you — the Festival’s donors, audience, singers and community.

I would like to echo Dr. Curran’s words of welcome to 2025 Festival Director Renée Fleming and give a special thank you to her for enriching the new Festival Director model by sharing her unique artistic vision with the May Festival. Within the pages of the program book, readers will discover articles and letters that shed light on the stories behind Fleming’s artistic programming. Composer Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light explores the intriguing relationship between two artists: Georgia O’Keeffe (Renée Fleming) and Alfred Stieglitz (Rod Gilfry). Writer Vittoria Benzine dives deep into this long and complicated relationship in this article. In this article, writer Gabriela Godinez Feregrino brings the ideals of “The Anthropocene” to Cincinnati and our connection to the Ohio River. In short, there are many ways to enrich your Festival experience by diving into the stories behind the scenes.

I want to extend a special thank you to the members of the May Festival Chorus, May Festival Youth Chorus and Cincinnati Boychoir for your hard work and dedication to the art of choral singing. Without our volunteer chorus members and the countless hours they spend in rehearsal and preparation, the May Festival would not exist.

If this is your first May Festival experience, welcome — it is mine, too! While honoring the rich history of the past, it is my deepest hope to create a Festival experience that draws in ever-new audiences each spring to experience the journey curated by each new Festival Director. From start to finish, this Festival is a place to give yourself space to explore themes of death and life, health and humanity, beauty and nature — all on a grand scale connected by the one universal thread that unites us all: the human voice.

After recently moving to Cincinnati with my husband, four-year-old boy and newborn son, we are overwhelmed by the welcoming atmosphere and impressed by the vibrant artistic community. Thank you for the opportunity to steward the founding organization of Music Hall and the musical community of Cincinnati forward into an inspiring new era. This is very clearly a special community of music lovers and the perfect place for diehard May Festival fans, newcomers, families just like mine, and the generations yet to come. I look forward to enjoying the 2025 May Festival together with you!

Julianne Akins Smith, Executive Director