El Niño (“The Little Boy [The Christ Child]”), A Nativity Oratorio

John Adams

• Born: February 15, 1947 in Worcester, Massachusetts
• Work Composed: 1999-2000 as a in a co-commission from the Châtelet Theater in Paris, San Francisco Symphony, Lincoln Center in New York, Barbican Center in London, and Deutsches Symphonie in Berlin
• Premiere: December 15, 2000 at the Châtelet Theater in Paris, with soloists Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson and Willard White, Theatre of Voices (countertenors: Daniel Bubeck, Brian Cummings and Steven Rickards), London Voices, La Maîtresse de Paris and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, conducted by Kent Nagano
• Instrumentation: soprano, mezzo soprano, baritone, male ensemble (3 countertenors), mixed chorus, children’s choir, 2 flutes (incl. 2 piccolos), 2 oboes (incl. 2 English horns), 2 clarinets (incl. bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), 3 horns, 3 trombones, almglocken, chimes, claves, cowbell, crotale, glockenspiel, gong, guiro maracas, tam tam, temple blocks, temple bowl, triangles, harp, celeste, piano, sampler, 2 guitars, strings
• May Festival Notable Performances: This is the first May Festival performance of the work.
• Duration: approx. 111 minutes

“I love Messiah,” declared John Adams. “I always wanted to write my own Messiah. I loved Handel’s music but not only that, the story itself. I have a somewhat checkered religious background and I wasn’t someone who studied the Bible, but I certainly knew the Nativity and Passion stories. When I was asked to celebrate the millennium [in a co-commission from the Châtelet Theater in Paris, San Francisco Symphony, Lincoln Center in New York, Barbican Center in London, and Deutsches Symphonie in Berlin], the year 2000 seemed like an appropriate date to write a Messiah-type piece. I went to my long-term friend, director Peter Sellars, and said, ‘Let’s put together a libretto about the roughness and the toughness and the difficulty of life,’ and El Niño came into being.”

Though Messiah (especially the Hallelujah Chorus) is inextricably associated with Christmas, its text, drawn, unusually for Handel’s oratorios, entirely from scripture, concerns three fundamental events in the Christian liturgical year—The Advent of the Messiah, The Passion of Christ, and His Resurrection. Adams’ choice to write specifically a “Nativity Oratorio” arose not from just his love of Handel, however, but also from the profound experience of the miracle of own his daughter’s birth in 1984—”There were four people in the room, and then there were five.” So in addition to its biblical associations, El Niño was also motivated by what Adams termed “the story of birth—not just the birth of Jesus, but the archetypical experience of a woman giving birth.” (“El Niño” in the context of this work refers specifically to the Christ Child, but Adams and Sellars were both keenly aware, even in the year 2000, that the phrase “El Niño” also refers to the phenomenon of Pacific Ocean warming that has had increasingly disruptive effects on climate around the world.)

Adams and Sellars created the libretto for El Niño, about a third of it in Spanish or Latin, by complementing traditional Nativity verses from the King James Bible with texts from the New Testament Apocrypha, the Wakefield Mystery Play (from England), and Martin Luther’s Christmas Sermon, as well as poems by Rosario Castellanos (Mexico, 1925-1974, the country’s ambassador to Israel), Gabriela Mistral (Chile, 1889-1957, the first Latin American author awarded a Nobel Prize), Vicente Huidobro (Chile, 1893-1948, an influential avant-gardist), Rubén Darío (Nicaragua, 1867-1916, founder of the Latin American modernismo literary movement), and the Mexican philosopher, composer and nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695, condemned by authorities for advocating education for women); the Latin hymn O quam preciosa (“O how precious”) by the 12th-century abbess, visionary, prophet, poet and composer Hildegard von Bingen closes Part I of the oratorio.

The biblical verses of El Niño, as well as the added poems and texts that comment and reflect upon them, follow episodes of the Nativity story—PART I: Annunciation, Magnificat (“My soul doth magnify the Lord,” Mary’s song of praise), Mary’s Visit with Elizabeth, Joseph’s Dream (assuaging his concern over the pregnancy of his virgin wife), The Journey to Bethlehem, The Birth of Jesus. PART II: The Three Wise Men inquire on the whereabouts of Jesus from Herod, who orders that the Babe to be found; Visit of the Wise Men to the Manger; The Flight into Egypt; Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents; Miracles in the Desert (recounted in the Apocrypha).

The one movement that stands apart from the Christmas story is Memorial for Tlatelolco, set to a poem by Rosario Castellanos, which Adams and Sellars used to draw a modern parallel to Herod’s massacre. Tlatelolco is a neighborhood of Mexico City that was the site of a protest on October 2, 1968 by thousands of Mexican students against repressive policies of the Mexican government. Though the demonstrators were peaceful and unarmed, they were surrounded by armored vehicles, jeeps and 5,000 soldiers. Shots, probably from the government forces, rang out, chaos ensued, and as many as 400 demonstrators were killed; 1,345 were arrested. Castellanos captured the essence of the tragedy not just in the angry, stupefied lines that comprise most of her poem, but, perhaps most poignantly, in its mundane references: Dawn broke on the plaza cleanly swept;/the newspapers spoke of the weather as their main story./And on the television, on the radio,/and in the cinema there was no change of program,/no interrupting news bulletin nor even/a minute of silence…. I remember. We remember.

The orchestra called for in El Niño is not extremely large but the world of sonorities it creates is — from the ethereal whispers as The Christmas Star fades before the dawn at the close of Part I, to the violence of And He Slew All the Children and Memorial to Tlatelolco that make frighteningly real the biblical slaughter of the infants and the murder of hundreds of students in a Mexico City square two millennia later. The three soloists — soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone—generally sing the words of the story’s characters, though they are not locked into them: both female soloists, for example, represent Mary. The chorus takes on a number of roles—voicing the shouts of the mob in And He Slew All the Children (Bach used the chorus for similar scenes in his Passions); proclaiming a communal article of faith in For with God Nothing Shall Be Impossible; murmuring in the background an affirmation of Mary’s words that “all generations shall call me blessed”; representing “all nations” when God will “Shake the Heavens and the earth”; even synchronizing with the orchestra to virtually make the instruments speak, as in the opening I Sing of a Maiden. The three countertenors usually narrate the story, though they also act as commentators, like a Greek chorus, and occasionally take over the words of the characters.

The oratorio as a genre originated in 16th-century Rome when a Dominican priest named Filipo Neri invited a small group of laymen to his quarters to pray and discuss religious matters. Increasing attendance at these gatherings necessitated moving them to the church’s loft, which was subsequently remodeled and re-christened an “oratory”—a “prayer hall.” The highlight of the year for these oratorian groups occurred on the Fridays of Lent, when elaborate ceremonies with much music drew large audiences, and by the 1620s, had come to include the telling of a biblical story appropriate for the Lenten season through the techniques of the revolutionary genre of opera—recitative, solo singing supported by instrumental accompaniment, choruses, vocal ensembles. Thus was born the “oratorio,” a tradition that George Frideric Handel learned during his years in Italy (1706–1710). Like Handel’s oratorios that trace to that tradition of drawing together sacred and secular realms, John Adams’ El Niño renews an endlessly told Bible story by making its timelessness contemporary, its narrative dramatic, and its universality personal.

©2022 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

1. I Sing of A Maiden
countertenors, chorus
text: Anonymous (Early English)

I sing of a maiden,
a matchless maiden,
King of all kings
for her son she’s taken.

He comes there so still,
his mother’s yet a lass.
He’s like the dew in April
that falleth on the grass.

He comes there so still
to his mother’s bower.
He’s like the dew in April
that falleth on the flower.

He comes there so still
to where his mother lay.
He’s like the dew in April
that falleth on the spray.

Mother and maiden
was never none but she—
well may such a lady
God’s mother be.

2. Hail, Mary, Gracious!
soprano, countertenors
text: “The Play of the Annunciation” from Martial Rose’s version of The Wakefield Mystery Plays

Gabriel
Hail, Mary, gracious!
Hail, Maiden, and God’s spouse!
    To thee I bow, devout;
Of all virgins thou art queen,
That ever was, or shall be seen,
    Without a doubt.

Hail, Mary, and well thou be!
My Lord of heaven is with thee,
    Without an end;
Hail, woman, most of grace!
Fear not nor feel disgrace,
    That I command.

For thou hast found, without a doubt,
The grace of God that has gone out
    For Adam’s plight.
This is the grace that gives thee bloom,
Thou shalt conceive within thy womb
    A child of might.

Mary
What is thy name?

Gabriel
Gabriel,
God’s strength and his angel,
    That comes to thee.

Mary
Wondrous words are in thy greeting,
But to bear God’s gentle sweeting,
    How should it be?

I slept never by man’s side,
But in maidhood would abide
    Unshaken.
Therefore, I know not how
This may be, because a vow
    I have taken.
Nonetheless, full well I know
God may work his will below
    Thy words fulfilling.
But I know not the manner,
Therefore, teach me, thou messenger,
God’s way instilling.

Gabriel
Lady, this secret hear of me;
The Holy Ghost shall come to thee.
    And in his virtue
Thee enshroud and so infuse.
Yet thou thy maidenhood shall not lose,
    But ay be new.
No word, lady, that I bring,
Is impossible to heaven’s king,
    Who all has wrought.

Mary
My lord’s love will I not withstand.
I am his maiden at his hand
    And in his fold.
Gabriel, I believe that God will bring
To pass with me each several thing
    As thou hast told.

3. La Anunciación (“The Annunciation”)
mezzo-soprano
text: Rosario Castellanos

Porque desde el principio me estabas destinado.
Antes de las edades del trigo y de la alondra
y aún antes de los peces.
Cuando Dios no tenía más que horizontes
de ilimitado azul y el universe
era una voluntad no pronunciada.
Cuando todo yacía en el regazo
divino, entremezclado y confudido,
yacíamos tú y yo totales, juntos.
Pero vino el castigo de la arcilla.
Me tomó entre sus dedos, desgarrándome
de la absoluta plenitud antigua.
Modeló mis caderas y mis hombros,
me encendió de vigilias sin sosiego
y me negó el olvido.
Yo sabía que estabas dormido entre las cosas
y respiraba el aire para ver si te hallaba
y bebía de las fuentes como para beberte.
Huérfana de tú peso dulce sobre mi pecho,
sin nombre mientras tú no descendieras
languidecía, triste, en el destierro.
Un cántaro vacío semejaba
nostálgico de vinos generosos
y de sonoras e inefables aguas.
Una cítara muda parecía.
No podía siquiera morir como él que cae
aflojando los músculos en una
brusca renunciación. Me flagelaba
la feroz certidumbre de tu ausencia,
adelante, buscando tu huella o tus señales.
No podía morir porque aguardaba.

Porque desde el principio me estabas destinado
era mi soledad un tránsito sombrío
y un ímpetu de fiebre inconsolable.

Porque habías de venir a quebrantar mis huesos
y cuando Dios les daba consistencia pensaba
en hacerlos menores que tu fuerza.
Dócil a tu ademán redondo mi cintura
y a tus orejas vírgines mi voz, disciplinada
en intangibles sílabas de espuma...
Porque habías de venir a quebrantar mis huesos,
mis huesos, a tu anuncio, se quebrantan.

He aquí que te anuncias.
Entre contradictorios ángeles te aproximas,
como una suave música te viertes,
como un vaso de aromas y de bálsamos.

Por humilde me exaltas. Tu mirada,
benévola, transforma
mis llagas en ardientes esplendores.
He aquí que te acercas y me encuentras
rodenda de plegarias como de hogueras altas.

4. For with God No Thing Shall Be Impossible
chorus
text: Luke 1

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

5. The Babe Leaped in Her Womb
countertenors, chorus
text: Luke 1

And Mary said, Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto
me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.

And Mary arose in those days,
and went into the hill country
with haste, into a city of Judah;
And entered the house of Zacharias,
and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass, that,
when Elisabeth heard the salutation
of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb;
and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

And she spoke out with a loud voice,
and said, Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

For, lo, as soon as the voice
of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,
the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she that believed:
for there shall be a performance
of those things which
were told her from the Lord.

6. Magnificat
soprano, countertenors, chorus
text: Luke 1

And Mary said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded the low estate
of his handmaiden; for, behold,
from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them
that fear him from generation to generation.

He hath shown his strength with his arm;
he hath scattered the proud.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy;

As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham,
and to his seed forever.

7. Now She was Sixteen Years Old
soprano, baritone, countertenors
text: Gospel of James (adapted)

Now she was sixteen years old when these strange
events happened to her. It came to be the sixth
month for her, and behold, Joseph came from
his buildings; and he came into his house and
found her pregnant.

He struck his face and threw himself to the ground.
He wept bitterly, saying, “Who is he who has
deceived me? Who did this evil thing in my house
and defiled her? Mary, why did you do this?
Who is he who has deceived me?”

She wept bitterly, saying, “I am pure, and
I do not know a man.”

Joseph said to her, “Whence then is this which
is in your womb?”

She said, “As the Lord my God lives,
I do not know whence it came to me.”

8. Joseph’s Dream
baritone, countertenors
text: Gospel of James Matthew 1; Martin Luther’s Christmas Sermon; Isaiah 14:3

Then Joseph feared greatly and stopped talking with her,
considering what he would do.

Night came upon him: behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying:

Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost.

Journey forth with her and be despised at the inns
and stopping places on the way, even though you are worthy to ride in state in a chariot of gold.

The large houses and costly apartments will remain empty,
but this comfort will remain hidden to you.
Let Mary labor and give birth among animals and beasts of burden on a cold night, in a strange land and in a poor resting place.

And it shall come to pass that He shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage
wherein thou was made to serve.

9. Shake the Heavens
soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, countertenors, chorus
text: Haggai 6-7; 9; Gospel of James

For thus saith the Lord:

Yet once, it is a little while,
and I will shake the heavens,
and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land:
And I will shake all nations,
and the desire of all nations shall come:
and I will fill this house with glory
and in this place I will give peace.

They drew near to Bethlehem —
they were three miles distant —
and Joseph turned and saw Mary weeping,
and he said,
“Probably that which is in her is distressing her.”
Once again Joseph turned and saw her laughing,
and he said, “Mary, how is it that I see your face
at one moment laughing and at another time gloomy?”
She said to Joseph, “It is because I see two peoples
with my eyes, the one weeping and mourning,
the other rejoicing and glad.”

10. Se Habla de Gabriel (“Speaking of Gabriel”)
soprano, mezzo-soprano
text: Rosario Castellanos

Como todos los huéspedes mi hijo me estorbaba
ocupando un lugar que era mi lugar,
existiendo a deshora,
haciéndome partir en dos cada bocado.

Fea, enferma, aburrida
lo sentía crecer a mis expensas,
robarle su color a mi sangre, añadir
un peso y un volumen clandestinos
a mi modo de estar sobre la tierra.

Su cuerpo me pídío nacer, cederle el paso,
darle un sitio en el mundo,
la provisión de tiempo necesaria a su historia.

Consentí. Y por la herida en que partío, por esa
hemorragia de su desprendimiento
se fue también lo último que tuve
de soledad, de yo mirando tras de un vidrio.

Quedé abierta, ofrecida
a las visitaciones, al viento, a la presencia.

Now I, Joseph, was Walking About
(coda of “Se habla de Gabriel”)
baritone
text: Gospel of James, Latin Infancy Gospel

Now I, Joseph, was walking about,
and I looked up and saw the heaven standing still,
and I observed the air in amazement
and the birds of heaven at rest.
I looked down at the earth,
and I saw a vessel lying there,
and workmen reclining,
and their hands were in the vessel.
Those who were chewing did not chew.
Those who were lifting did not lift up,
and those who were carrying to their mouths did not carry,
but all faces were looking up.

I saw sheep standing still,
and the shepherd raised his hand to strike them,
but his arm remained up.

I observed the streaming river,
and I saw the mouths of the kids at the water,
but they were not drinking.

The winds stopped, they made no sound;
there was no motion of tree leaves.
The streams did not flow;
there was no motion of the sea.
The maiden stood looking intently into heaven.

11. The Christmas Star
soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, countertenors, chorus
text: Gabriela Mistral, translated by Maria Jacketti

A little girl
comes running,
she caught and carries a star.
She goes flying, making the plants
and animals she passes
bend with fire.

Her hands already sizzle,
she tires, wavers, stumbles,
and falls headlong,
but she gets right up with it again.

Her hands don’t burn away,
nor does the star break apart,
although her face, arms,
chest and hair are on fire.

She burns down to her waist.
People shout at her
and she won’t let it go;
her hands are covered with burns
but she won’t release the star.

Oh how she sows its seeds
as it hums and flies.
They try to take it away—
but how can she live
without her star?

It didn’t simply fall—it didn’t.
It remained without her,
and now she runs without a body,
changed, transformed into ashes.

The road catches fire
and our braids burn,
and now we all receive her
because the entire Earth is burning.

O Quam Preciosa (“O How Precious,” interpolated in “The Christmas Star”)
text: Hildegard von Bingen

O quam preciosa est virginitas
virginis huius
que clausam portam habet,
et cuius viscera
sancta divinitas calore suo
infudit,
ita quod flos in ea crevit.

Et filius Dei
per secreta ipsius
quasi aurora exivit.

Unde dulce germen,
quod Filius ipsius est,
per clausuram ventris eius
paradisum aperuit.

Et Filius Dei
per secreta ipsius
quasi aurora exivit.

12. Pues mi Dios ha nacido a penar (“Because My Lord was Born to Suffer”)
mezzo-soprano, chorus
text: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

1 — Pues mi Dios ha nacido a penar, déjenle velar.
2 — Pues esta desvelado por mi, déjenle dormir.

1 — Déjenle velar, que no hay pena, en quien ama, como no penar.
2 — Déjenle dormir, que quien duerme, en el sueño se ensaya a morir.

1 — ¡Silencio, que duerme!
2 — ¡Cuidado, que vela!
1 — ¡No le despierten, no!
2 — ¡Si le despierten, si!
1 — ¡Déjenle velar!
2 — ¡Déjenle dormir!

13. When Herod Heard
baritone, countertenors
text: Matthew 2

Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea,
in the days of Herod, the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east
to Jerusalem, saying,

Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
for we have seen his star in the east,
and have come to worship him.

Now when Herod the king had heard these things,
he was troubled, and he privily called his wise men,
inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
Go and search diligently for the young child,
and when you have found him
bring me word again, that I may come
and worship him also.

14. Woe unto Them that Call Evil Good
baritone, chorus
text: Isaiah 5; 29; 66

Woe unto them that call evil good,
and good evil; that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!

Woe unto them that are wise
in their own eyes, and prudent
in their own sight!

Woe unto them that seek deep
to hide their counsel from the Lord,
and their works are in the dark,
and they say, Who seeth us?
and who knoweth us?

I also will choose their delusions,
and will bring their fears upon them

15. And the Star Went Before Them
soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone
text: Matthew 2

When they had heard the king, they departed;
and lo, the star, which they saw in the east,
went before them, till it came and stood over
where the young child was.
And when they were come into the house,
they saw the young child with Mary his mother,
and fell down, and worshipped him,
and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts;
gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

16. The Three Kings
soprano, countertenors
text: Rubén Dario

“I am Gaspar. I have brought frankincense,
and I have come here to say that life is good.
That God exists. That love is good.
I know it is so because of the heavenly star.”

“I am Melchior. I have brought fragrant myrrh.
Yes, God exists. He is the light of day.
The whitest flower is rooted in the mud,
and all delights are tinged with melancholy.”

“I am Balthasar. I have brought gold.
I assure you, God exists. He is great and strong.
I know it is so because of the perfect star
that shines so brightly in Death’s diadem.”

“Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar: be still.
Love has triumphed, and bids you to its feast,
Christ, reborn, turns chaos into light,
and on His brow He wears the Crown of Life.”

17. And When They Were Departed
chorus
text: Matthew 2

And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord
appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother,
and flee into Egypt, and be thou there
until I bring thee word:
for Herod will seek the young child
to destroy him.

18. Dawn Air
baritone
text: Vicente Huidobro, translated by David Guss

My soul’s above the sea and whistling a dream
Tell the shepherds the wind is saddling its horse
And waving as it leaves in the pride of its youth
I love a woman proud and dreamlike
Silent stepping out from her center
Shepherds know that you should watch me
And watch your dreams and watch your songs
And the dance of the waves
Like the joy of their pride and beauty

Ah sky blue for the queen in the wind
Ah herd of goats and white hair
Lips of praise and red hair
Animals lost in her eyes
Speak to the skeleton combing its hair
From the tip of the earth to the end of the ages
Tunic and scepter
Amplification of memories
Sound of insects and highways
Speak to the land as the ocean flows
Ah the wind
The wind stops for the queen who steps out from her sky

19. And He Slew All the Children
chorus
text: Matthew 2:16

Then Herod, when he saw that he was
mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth,
and he sent forth, and he slew all
the children that were in Bethlehem.

20. Memorial de Tlatelolco (“Memorial for Tlatelolco”)
soprano, soprano chorus
text: Rosario Castellanos

La oscuridad engendra la violencia
y la violencia pide oscuridad
para cuajar en crimen.

Por eso el dos de octubre aguardó hasta la noche
para que nadie viera la mano que empuñaba
el arma, sino sólo su efecto de relámpago.

Y a esa luz, breve y lívida, ¿quién?
¿Quién es el que máta?
¿Quiénes los que agonizan, los que mueren?
¿Los que huyen sin zapatos?
¿Los que van a caer al pozo de una cárcel’?
¿Los que se pudren en el hospital?
¿Los que se quedan mudos, para siempre, de espanto?

¿Quién? Quiénes? Nadie. Al día siguiente, nadie.

La plaza amaneció barrida; los periódicos
dieron como noticia principal
el estado del tiempo.
Y en la televisión, en la radio, en el cine
no hubo ningún cambio de programa,
ningún anuncio intercalado ni un
minuto de silencio en el banquete.
(Pues prosiguió el banquete.)

No busques lo que no hay: huellas, cadáveres,
que todo se le ha dado como ofrenda a una diosa:

a la Devoradora de Excrementos.

No hurgues en los archivos pues nada
consta en actas.

Ay, la violencia pide oscuridad
porque la oscuridad engendra el sueño
y podemos dormir soñando que soñamos.

Mas he aquí que toco una llaga: es mi memoria.
Duele, luego es verdad. Sangra con sangre.
Y si la llamo mía traiciono todos.

Recuerdo, recordamos.

Esta es nuestra manera de ayudar que amanezca
sobre tantas conciencias mancilladas,
sobre un texto iracundo, sobre una reja abierta,
sobre el rostro amparado tras la máscara

Recuerdo, recordemos…

21. In the Day of the Great Slaughter
chorus
text: Isaiah 30

And there shall be upon every
high mountain, and upon every
high hill, rivers and streams of
waters in the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall.

The light of the
moon shall be as the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun shall
be sevenfold, as the light of seven days,
in the day that the Lord
bindeth up the breach of his people,
and healeth the stroke of
their wound.

22. Pues esta Tiritando (“Since Love is Shivering”)
mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus
text: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

1 — Pues está tiritando
amor en el hielo,
y la escarcha y la nieve
me lo tienen preso,
¿quién le acude?
2 —¡El agua!
3 — ¡La tierra!
4 — ¡El aire!

1 — ¡No, sino el fuego!
Pues el niño fatigan
sus penas y males,
y a sus ansias no dudo
que alientos le falten,
¿quien le acude?
2 — ¡El fuego!
3 — ¡La tierra!
4 — ¡El agua!

1 — ¡No, sino el aire!
Pues el niño amoroso
tan tierno se abrasa,
que respira en volcanes
diluvios de llamas,
¿quién le acude?
2 — ¡El aire!
3— ¡El fuego!
4 —- ¡La tierra!

1 — ¡No, sino el agua!
Si por la tierra el niño
los cielos hoy deja,
y no halla en qué descanse
su cabeza en ella,
¿quién le acude?
2 — ¡El agua!
3 — ¡El fuego!
4 — ¡El aire!
1 — ¡No, mas la tierra!

23. Jesus and the Dragons
soprano, countertenors
text: Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

They came to a certain cave and wanted to rest in it. Mary held Jesus in her lap. There were three boys traveling with Joseph and a girl with Mary. And behold, suddenly, many dragons came out of the cave. When the boys saw them in front of them they shouted with great fear.

Then Jesus got down from his mother’s lap, and stood on his feet before the dragons. They, however, worshipped him, and while they worshipped they backed away.

Then the infant Jesus walked before them and ordered them not to harm any man. But Mary and Joseph were very afraid lest the child should be harmed by the dragons.

Jesus said to them: “Do not be afraid, nor consider me a child; I always have been a perfect man and am so now.”

24. A Palm Tree
mezzo-soprano, baritone, countertenors, children’s chorus
text: Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

And so it happened, that on the third day after their departure, Mary was fatigued by the heat of the sun in the desert and, seeing a palm tree, said to Joseph, “I want to rest a bit under its shadow.” Joseph quickly led her to the palm and let her get down from the animal. While Mary sat, she looked up at the top of the palm and saw it full of fruit. She said to Joseph, “I wish I might have some fruit from this tree.” Joseph said, “I am astonished that you say this when you see how high this palm tree is. You think to eat from the fruit of the palm, but it is not possible. I think more of the lack of water, which already fails us. We now have nothing by which we can refresh ourselves and the animals.”

Then the infant Jesus, who was resting with smiling face on his mother’s lap, said to the palm tree, “Bend down, tree, and refresh my mother with your fruit.”

And, at this voice, the palm tree bent down its head to the feet of Mary, and they gathered its fruit, and all were refreshed.

Then Jesus said to it, “Raise up, palm, and be strong, and be a companion of my trees which are in my Father’s Paradise. Open a water course beneath your roots which is hidden in the earth, and from it let flow waters to satisfy us.”

And the palm raised itself at once, and fountains of water, very clear and cold and wet, began to pour out through the roots.

Una Palmera (Interpolated in “A Palm Tree”)

text: Rosario Castellanos

Señora de los vientos,
garza de la llanura,
cuando te meces canta
tu cintura.

Gesto de la oración
o preludio del vuelo,
en tu copa se vierten uno a uno
los cielos.

Desde el país oscuro de los hombres
he venido, a mirarte, de rodillas.
Alta, desnuda, unica.
Poesía.

John Adams, conductor

Composer, conductor, and creative thinker, John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of music. His works stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes; his stage compositions, many in collaboration with director Peter Sellars, have transformed the genre of contemporary music theatre. Spanning more than three decades, works such as Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops, El Niño and Nixon in China are among the most performed of all contemporary classical music.

As a conductor Adams has led the world’s major orchestras, programming his own works with a wide variety of repertoire ranging from Beethoven, Mozart and Debussy to Sibelius, Ives, Carter and Ellington. Among his honorary doctorates are those from Yale, Harvard, Northwestern and Cambridge universities and from The Juilliard School. A provocative writer, he is the author of the highly acclaimed autobiography Hallelujah Junction and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review. Since 2009 Adams has been Creative Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Born and raised in New England, Adams learned the clarinet from his father and played in marching bands and community orchestras during his formative years. He began composing at age 10 and his first orchestral pieces were performed while he was still a teenager. In 2017 Adams celebrated his 70th birthday with festivals of his music in Europe and the U.S., including special retrospectives at London’s Barbican, Cité de la Musique in Paris, and in Amsterdam, New York and Geneva, among other cities. In 2019 he was the recipient of both Spain’s BBVA “Frontiers of Knowledge” award and Holland’s Erasmus Prize “for notable contributions to European culture, society and social science,” and in 2021 he was appointed “Honorary Academician” by the prestigious General Assembly of the Academicians of Santa Cecilia, also receiving the “Glashütte Original Music Festival Award” from the Dresden Music Festival in recognition of his lifetime of achievement. Adams is currently at work on his fifth opera.

Conducting engagements in 2021–22 include return visits to The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Seattle and St. Louis symphony orchestras. In Europe, Adams will appear with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra—reuniting with Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson for performances of Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?—as well as the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival in 2021, its 75^th anniversary year, he also takes part in the 2022 Colorado Music and Cincinnati May festivals.

Recent conducting highlights include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (world premiere of Philip Glass’ Symphony No.12, Lodger), The Philadelphia Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. With the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Adams gave the European premiere of Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? together with Ólafsson in February 2020, and in 2018 he conducted the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for the first time in performances of The Gospel According to the Other Mary.

Recent recordings include Grammy-nominated albums Doctor Atomic (featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers conducted by Adams, with Gerald Finley and Julia Bullock) and Scheherazade.2, a dramatic symphony for violin and orchestra written for Leila Josefowicz, as well as Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (written for and performed by Yuja Wang, together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel), and the Berliner Philharmoniker’s “John Adams Edition,” a box set comprising seven of his works, conducted by Rattle, Dudamel, Petrenko, Gilbert and Adams.

The official John Adams website is www.earbox.com.

Lauren Snouffer, soprano

Recognized for her unique artistic curiosity in world-class performances spanning the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Johann Adolph Hasse to Missy Mazzoli and George Benjamin, American soprano Lauren Snouffer is celebrated as one of the most versatile and respected sopranos on the international stage.

During the 2021–22 season, Lauren Snouffer makes her debut at the Opéra national du Rhin in the lead role of The Snow Queen by Hans Abrahamsen, in a new production directed by James Bonas and Grégoire Pont under the baton of Robert Houssart. She returns to Houston Grand Opera for a production by Francesca Zambello of Dialogues des Carmélites conducted by Patrick Summers, and she bows in two new productions with Opernhaus Zürich: she is the title role in the world premiere of Girl with a Pearl Earring by composer Stefan Wirth, and she performs Argene in Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade in a new production conducted by Ottavio Dantone. The soprano joins Dallas Opera for Opera Galas and concertizes with Patrick Dupré Quigley and Seraphic Fire in tour performances of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. She returns to Mercury Chamber Orchestra for a program of Vivaldi and Handel and appears with Ars Lyrica Houston in fully staged performances of Purcell’s Dido and Æneas.

Operatic performances on leading international stages have fortified the soprano’s place as one of the eminent interpreters of contemporary music; she assayed the title role of Berg’s Lulu in a new production at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago conducted by Pedro-Pablo Prudencio and directed by Mariame Clément, and returned to Houston Grand Opera for the world premieres of The Phoenix by composer Tarik O’Regan and librettist John Caird and The House Without a Christmas Tree by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek. Other past appearances include Handel’s Serse for the Internationale Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe directed by Max Emanuel Cenčić and conducted by Georg Petrou, and the role of Magnolia Hawks in Francesca Zambello’s production of Show Boat for The Glimmerglass Festival.

Lauren Snouffer’s concert schedule has yielded collaborations with many of the world’s most distinguished conductors and orchestras, including numerous performances with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Krzysztof Urbański and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Labadie and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Markus Stenz and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with Patrick Dupré Quigley and the San Francisco Symphony, Harry Christophers of the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, and with Marin Alsop and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.

Past seasons include Houston Grand Opera performances of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Harry Bicket in a production by Michael Grandage, as well as presentations of Carousel, Show Boat, The Rape of Lucretia and L’italiana in Algeri; Lyric Opera of Chicago performances of Rusalka, La clemenza di Tito, and a new production of Orphée et Eurydice directed and choreographed by John Neumeier under the baton of Harry Bicket; a Seattle Opera debut as La Comtesse Adèle in Rossini’s Le comte Ory conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti; Die Zauberflöte at Seattle Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City; a new Christopher Alden production of Handel’s Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Nicholas McGegan; and Max Emanuel Cenčić’s new production of Hasse’s Siroe at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, with additional performances in Budapest and Vienna.

Closely associated with George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Lauren Snouffer has sung under the composer’s baton at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music and with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and Opera Philadelphia. She has performed Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, presented the world premiere of Andrew Norman’s A Trip to the Moon with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and joined Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic in the title role of HK Gruber’s Gloria—A Pig Tale in a production staged by Doug Fitch.

A Grammy Award-nominated artist, Lauren Snouffer’s impactful discography includes Hasse’s Siroe and Handel’s Ottone with George Petrou for Decca, Gottschalk’s Requiem for the Living with Vladimir Lande on Novona Records, Grantham’s La cancíon desesperada conducted by Craig Hella Johnson on Harmonia Mundi, and Feldman’s The Rothko Chapel with Steven Schick for ECM.

An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Lauren Snouffer was graduated from Rice University and The Juilliard School.

Josefina Maldonado, mezzo-soprano

Emerging Dallas-born artist Josefina Maldonado has been critically acclaimed by The Texas Classical Review and Theater Jones as “vocally superb” with a “remarkably rich timbre.” She is a young artist with The Dallas Opera Outreach Program, where she appeared as Véronique in Dr. Miracle and Dorabella in The Bremen Town Musicians. In her recent European debut, Maldonado was a principal artist in two modern world premieres of serenatas by Johannes Schmelzer, performing Schmelzer’s Le veglie ossequiose and Die sieben Alter stimmen zusammen for the Olomouc Baroque Festival held in the Czech Republic. Maldonado holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas, where she was a frequently featured soloist alongside the UNT Symphony Orchestra. Her major roles with UNT Opera included Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Ruggiero in Alcina, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Siébel in Faust and Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites.

Ethan Vincent, baritone

Hailed as “a rising star” (Philadelphia Inquirer), American baritone Ethan Vincent is rapidly gaining recognition as a versatile artist with a “robust baritone voice and compelling stage presence” (Chicago Tribune). 

The 2021–22 season is filled with role and house debuts for Vincent, including Riolobo in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Jordan de Souza; singing Don Fernando in Fidelio with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel with direction by Alberto Arvelo and Joaquín Solano; and taking on Schaunard in La bohème with Cincinnati Opera to round out the season. 

During the 2020–21 season, he sang the role of Captain and covered the title role of Eugene Onegin in a house debut at the Santa Fe Opera conducted by Nicholas Carter and directed by Alessandro Talevi; made his company debut as Marcello in La bohème at the National Performing Arts Center, Taiwan; and covered the title role in Rigoletto with Tulsa Opera. He was also scheduled to cover the role of Ezio in Attila at Lyric Opera of Chicago with new music director Enrique Mazzola and sing the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly with Opera Philadelphia conducted by Corrado Rovaris before the pandemic forced both to be cancelled. 

Highlights of previous seasons include role debuts as Juano in West Side Story with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Joseph De Rocher in the Chicago premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and Belcore in L’elisir d’amore at Indianapolis Opera; he also joined Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover the role of Count Tomsky in The Queen of Spades, sang the role of Behike in the North American premiere of Hatuey, as well as A Memory of Fire in collaboration with the Peak Performance series, and he made his debut as Germont in La traviata with Martha Cardona Opera at Merkin Hall in New York. As a Resident Artist at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, Vincent performed numerous title roles, including Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Rubenstein’s The Demon and Gianni Schicchi, as well as Count di Luna in Il trovatore, Albert in Werther, Guglielmo Wulf in Le Villi, Alberich in Das Rheingold, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. In addition to his operatic credits, Vincent can be seen in the featured role of César in the acclaimed film Bel Canto alongside Academy Award winner Julianne Moore and Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe.

Vincent has garnered numerous awards from around the globe, including first place prize winner and Sergio Franchi Music Foundation Award recipient of the Rising Stars Vocal Competition at Vero Beach Opera; first place winner of the Young Patroness of the Opera Competition; second prize winner of the Cooper-Bing Competition in Columbus, Ohio, and the 2019 Nicola Martinucci Competition in Lucca, Italy; and third prize and audience favorite award winner at Paris Opera’s Mozart Awards Competition. He was a 2018 national semi-finalist in The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. 

Ethan Vincent hails from Kansas City, Missouri. He holds both B.A. and M.A. degrees in Voice Performance from Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, Vincent was awarded the coveted Bienen School of Music Eckstein Full Scholarship Fellowship and was the dean’s choice to sing for President Barack Obama.

Daniel Bubeck, countertenor

Daniel Bubeck, countertenor 1, has earned an international reputation on both opera and concert stages in repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to John Adams. He has performed in major halls throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Konzerthaus-Berlin, Théâtre Musical de Paris-Châtelet, English National Opera, Avery Fischer Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and festivals in Lucerne, Adelaide and Beijing. He has sung with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Moscow National Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, Estonian National Philharmonic, Concerto Köln, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Bach Soloists, Carmel Bach Festival and Haymarket Baroque, under such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Kent Nagano, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Christopher Hogwood and Nicholas McGegan. Career highlights include the premieres, recordings and more than 40 performances of John Adams’ El Niño and The Gospel According to the Other Mary; the American premiere of Lost Objects by David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon; Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hawaii Opera Theater); Vivaldi cantatas recorded for Sony Classical; Frammenti di un’opera barocca perduta by Robert Moran; the premiere of Infinite Movement, a multi-media oratorio by Shara Nova and Matthew Ritchie; and the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers thriller, I am Legend. Daniel Bubeck is on the vocal faculty of the University of North Texas, Denton.

Brian Cummings, countertenor

Brian Cummings, countertenor 2, made his professional debut in the premiere of John Adams’ El Niño in Paris and sang the premiere of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary in 2012 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. He has appeared in subsequent performances of these pieces throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, English National Opera, the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Estonian National Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Orchestra (in Amsterdam, Strasbourg and Cologne), Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, the Adelaide Festival, the Tokyo Symphony and the Spoleto Festival USA. He has worked under such conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, David Robertson, John Adams, Tõnu Kaljuste and Kent Nagano. He sang the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Opera Fuoco under David Stern and has collaborated with director Timothy Nelson in the roles of David in Charpentier’s David et Jonathas, Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha, and Iarbo/Corebo in Cavalli’s Didone. He has appeared as a soloist at the Washington and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. He has sung with Paul Hillier in Theatre of Voices and the Pro Arte Singers and can be heard on their recordings for Harmonia Mundi, as well as the recording and DVD of El Niño and two recordings of The Gospel According to the Other Mary. He sings regularly with ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Opera Fuoco, Ensemble Entheos and Les Muses Galantes. Cummings studied Early Music Vocal Performance at Indiana University with Paul Elliott, Paul Hillier and Nigel North. Forthcoming engagements include John Adams’ El Niño with the Cincinnati May Festival and the Houston Symphony, and The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the BBC Proms.

Nathan Medley, countertenor

Nathan Medley, countertenor 3, has emerged as one of the leading new-generation countertenors, with notable success internationally. He has sung at English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Kölner Philharmonie, La Salle Pleyel, Palais de Musique Strasbourg, the Concertgebouw, the Lucerne Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Recent performances have brought him to the Boston Early Music Festival, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Opera Omaha, Pacific MusicWorks, Mercury Baroque, Seraphic Fire, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Collegium Cincinnati, Miami Bach Society, Dayton Bach Society and Dallas Bach Society. He made his professional debut in 2012 in John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and recorded again by the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. He returned to Los Angeles for Peter Sellars’ staging of this work, which toured to Switzerland and Lincoln Center, and again in 2015 for the U.S. premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Hommage á Klaus Nomi, conducted by John Adams. He made his English National Opera debut in Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, staged by Peter Sellars. In 2016 he premiered a song cycle, The Cross of Snow by John Harbison, for countertenor and gamba consort with Chicago’s Second City Musick. He is a founding member the ensemble, Echoing Air. Forthcoming engagements include John Adams’ El Niño with the Cincinnati May Festival and the Houston Symphony, and The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the BBC Proms.

MAY FESTIVAL CHORUS

ROBERT PORCO, Director of Choruses
Matthew Swanson, Associate Director
of Choruses
Heather MacPhail, Accompanist
Matthew Swope, Conducting Fellow
Kathryn Zajac Albertson,
Chorus Manager
Bryce Newcomer, Chorus Librarian

The May Festival Chorus has earned acclaim locally, nationally and internationally for its musicality, vast range of repertoire and sheer power of sound. The Chorus of 125 professionally trained singers is the core artistic element of the Cincinnati May Festival as well as the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. Throughout a typical season the chorus members collectively devote more than 40,000 hours in rehearsals and performances.
Founded in 1873, the annual May Festival is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious, choral festivals in the Western Hemisphere. The annual Festival, now under the artistic leadership of Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena, boasts the May Festival Chorus—with choral preparation by Robert Porco—and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as anchors, hosts an international array of guest artists and presents two spectacular weekends of dynamic programming. James Conlon, who in 2016 brought to a close an unprecedented 37-year tenure as May Festival Music Director, was named Music Director Laureate upon his retirement. Many important choral works have received their World and American premieres at the May Festival, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana, Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi and Robert Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses.

May Festival Youth Chorus

MATTHEW SWANSON, Director
David Kirkendall, Accompanist and Assistant Director
Dr. Eva Floyd, Musicianship Instructor
Kathryn Zajac Albertson, Chorus Manager
Bryce Newcomer, Chorus Librarian

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.

More on May Festival Youth Chorus

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louis Langrée Music Director

With a legacy dating back 127 years, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is considered one of America’s finest and most versatile ensembles. Led by Louis Langrée since 2013, the CSO’s distinguished roster of past music directors includes Leopold Stokowski, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Reiner, Max Rudolf, Jesús López Cobos and Paavo Järvi. Matthias Pintscher is the Orchestra’s Creative Partner, and previous artistic partners have included Lang Lang, Philip Glass, Branford Marsalis and Jennifer Higdon. The Orchestra also performs as the Cincinnati Pops, founded by Erich Kunzel in 1977 and currently led by John Morris Russell with Damon Gupton serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The CSO further elevates the city’s vibrant arts scene by serving as the official orchestra for the Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati Ballet.

The CSO has long championed the composers and music of its time and has given historic American premieres by Claude Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók, William Grant Still and other prominent composers. It has also commissioned many works that ultimately became mainstays of the classical repertoire, including Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. The Orchestra continues to actively commission new work, amplifying new voices from a diverse array of backgrounds, most recently with the Fanfare Project, a series of solo instrument works written for CSO musicians to mark a moment in time during the Covid pandemic.
Deeply committed to inclusion, relevance, and enhancing and expanding opportunities for the children of Greater Cincinnati, the Orchestra works to bring music education, in its many different forms, to as broad a public as possible. In 2020, the CSO was one of the first American orchestras to create a Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer position to ensure the absorption of best DE&I practices into every facet of the organization. The CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship, a nationally recognized program in partnership with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, provides a graduate degree-level education with performance and professional development opportunities for extraordinary young string players from populations historically underrepresented in American orchestras. The CSO is also an incubator for and partner to NIMAN, a consortium of American orchestras, professional musicians and educators established to address the lack of racial equity in the classical music field by aligning resources and collaborating to strengthen the trajectory of classical instrumentalists of color at all stages of their pre-careers.

The May Festival Chorus is endowed by the Betsy & Alex C. Young Chair

Soprano

Natalie Badinghaus, 1
Tracy Bailey, 21
Karen Bastress, 23
A. Maris Bernard, 18
Laurel Boisclair Ellsworth, 17
Dawn Bruestle, 17
Renee Cifuentes, 5
Ally Clifton, 1
Kathy Dietrich, 8
Jennifer Dobson, 5
Rachel Dummermuth, 3
Sarah Evans, 7
Anita Marie Greer, 33
Melissa Haas, 4
Gaynelle Hardwick, 6
Dana Harms, 14
Mary Wynn Haupt, 20
Lauren Steiger Hess, 26
Carolyn Hill, 11
Sara Hook, 1
Hyejung Jun, 4
Alexandra Kesman, 7
Lisa Koressel, 22
Judith C. LaChance, 44
Hilary Landwehr, 33
Julia Lawrence, 2
Julia Marchese, 1
Audrey Markovich, 1
Alison Peeno, 3
Zohar Perla, 3
Lauren Peter, 18
Kristi C. Reed, 11
Beth Roberts, 16
Justine Samuel, 4
Julia H. Schieve, 27
Yvon F. Shore, 10
Sam Walker, 1
Patricia Wilkens, 1
Rosie Wilkinson, 1
Samantha Zeiger, 1

Alto

Alaina Diane Arwood, 3
Robin Bierschenk, 11
Erika Emody, 15
Kathy Falcon, 18
Sarah Fall, 1
Amanda Gast, 1
Jean Graves, 12
Sally Vickery Harper, 51
Beth Huntley, 3
Spence B. Ingerson, 32
Karolyn L. Johnsen, 50
Jenifer Klostermeier, 3
Sue Kozlowski, 1
Julie Laskey, 18
Megan Lawson, 7
Tiffany Lin, 1
Katherine Loomis, 2
Elaine P. Lustig, 12
Kathy Mank, 17
Teri McKibben, 14
Ashlinn Meechan, 1
Jennifer Moak, 8
Amy M. Perry, 10
Amanda Schwarz
Rosenzweig, 1
Karen Scott-Vosseberg, 5
Sarah Stoutamire, 5
Megan Weaver, 9

Tenor

Lawrence Adams, 1
Avery Bargasse, 4
David Bower, 1
Douglas Easterling, 7
David Gillespie, 1
Robert Henderson, 3
Tyler Johnson, 4
Fansheng Kong, 1
Kevin Leahy, 4
Robert Lomax, 4
Andrew Miller, 1
Jason Ramler, 20
Larry Reiring, 13
Adam Shoaff, 9
Jeffrey Stivers, 12
Matthew Swanson, 10
Matthew Swope, 1
Stephen West, 1
Barry Zaslow, 38

Bass

Mark Barnes, 5
Jim Baxter, 31
Nathan Bettenhausen, 1
Andrew L. Bowers, 6
Scott Brody, 7
Douglas J. Bruestle, 13
Darren Bryant, 1
Christopher Canarie, 28
Lawrence Coleman, 20
Steven L. Dauterman, 40
Steve France, 17
Mark Hockenberry, 1
Takuya Konishi, 1
Jim Laskey, 12
DeRon McDaniel, 1
John McKibben, 4
Daniel Parsley, 5
Justin Peter, 18
James V. Racster, 40
Mitch Radakovich, 1
Brian Reilly, 1
Joseph Taff, 3
Joshua Wallace, 15
Mark Weaver, 16
Paul Wessendarp, 2
Tommy Wessendarp, 1

Numbers behind chorus members’ names signify their years of service. Those celebrating anniversaries of five-year increments are honored with lapel pins they proudly wear with their May Festival uniforms.

The May Festival Chorus is endowed by the Betsy & Alex C. Young Chair

Ava Altenau
Calia Burdette
Angelina Bush
Maya Chavez
Ella Clark
Julia Devadason
Gabrielle Dodd
Lucas Dodd
Oscar Dreith
Rachael Dronsfield
Gwyneth Gaunt
Abigail Guinigundo
Isabella Harris
Ellie Haynes
Natalie Hoover
Katie Kear
Julia Lankisch
Claire Long
Cecelia McDaniel
Daniel McDowell Julia McManus
Lydia Naberhaus
Kennedy Ranford
Jen Siler
Anya Sperber
Trent Stricker
Sarah Turner
Rhea Umrani
Ellison Van Scoy
Anna Varisco
Ansley Varisco
Olivia Wetzel
Andrea Wolins

Schools Represented by MFYC Members

Highlands Middle School
The School for Creative
and Performing Arts
Princeton High School
Clark Montessori
Walnut Hills High School
The Summit Country
Day School
Saint Antoninus School
Scott High School
Finneytown High School
Dixie Heights High School
Covington Latin School
Williamstown Senior
High School
Archbishop McNicholas
Lakota East
Notre Dame Academy
Mason High School
Homeschool
Bally Shannon
Middle School
St. Ursula Academy
Mariemont High School
Xavier University

LOUIS LANGRÉE, CSO Music Director
- Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, Pops Conductor
- Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

Matthias Pintscher, CSO Creative Partner

Damon Gupton, Pops Principal Guest Conductor

François López-Ferrer, CSO Associate Conductor
- Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair for Associate Conductor

Wilbur Lin, Pops Assistant Conductor
- Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair for Assistant Conductor

FIRST VIOLINS

Stefani Matsuo
Concertmaster
—Anna Sinton Taft Chair

Charles Morey
Acting Associate Concertmaster
—Tom & Dee Stegman Chair

Philip Marten
First Assistant Concertmaster
—James M. Ewell Chair++

Eric Bates
Second Assistant Concertmaster
—Serge Shababian Chair

Kathryn Woolley
—Nicholas Tsimaras–Peter G. Courlas Chair++

Anna Reider
—Dianne & J. David Rosenberg Chair

Mauricio Aguiar§

Minyoung Baik

James Braid
—Marc Bohlke Chair given by Katrin & Manfred Bohlke

Michelle Edgar Dugan

Rebecca Kruger Fryxell
Clifford J. Goosmann and Andrea M. Wilson Chair

Gerald Itzkoff
—Jean Ten Have Chair

Lois Reid Johnson
—Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair++

Sylvia Mitchell
—Jo Ann & Paul Ward Chair

Luo-Jia Wu

SECOND VIOLINS

Gabriel Pegis
Principal
—Al Levinson Chair

Yang Liu*
—Harold B. & Betty Justice Chair

Scott Mozlin**
—Henry Meyer Chair

Kun Dong

Cheryl Benedict

Evin Blomberg§

Rachel Charbel
—Ida Ringling North Chair

Elizabeth Furuta†

Chika Kinderman

Hyesun Park

Paul Patterson
—Charles Gausmann Chair++

Stacey Woolley
—Brenda & Ralph Taylor Chair++

VIOLAS

Christian Colberg
Principal
—Louise D. & Louis Nippert Chair

Paul Frankenfeld*
—Grace M. Allen Chair

Julian Wilkison**

Rebecca Barnes§

Christopher Fischer

Stephen Fryxell
—Melinda & Irwin Simon Chair

Caterina Longhi

Denisse Rodriguez-Rivera

Joanne Wojtowicz

CELLOS

Ilya Finkelshteyn
Principal
—Irene & John J. Emery Chair

Daniel Culnan*
—Ona Hixson Dater Chair

Norman Johns**
—Karl & Roberta Schlachter Family Chair

Matthew Lad§
—Marvin Kolodzik Chair

Susan Marshall-Petersen
—Laura Kimble McLellan Chair++

Hiro Matsuo

Theodore Nelson
—Peter G. Courlas–Nicholas Tsimaras Chair++

Alan Rafferty
—Ruth F. Rosevear Chair

BASSES

Owen Lee
Principal
—Mary Alice Heekin Burke Chair++

James Lambert*
—Thomas Vanden Eynden Chair

Matthew Zory, Jr.**+
—Trish & Rick Bryan Chair

Boris Astafiev§

Ronald Bozicevich
—Donald & Margaret Robinson Chair

Rick Vizachero

HARP

Gillian Benet Sella
Principal
—Cynthia & Frank Stewart Chair

FLUTES

Randolph Bowman
Principal
—Charles Frederic Goss Chair

Henrik Heide*†

Haley Bangs
—Jane & David Ellis Chair

PICCOLO

[OPEN]
—Patricia Gross Linnemann Chair

OBOES

Dwight Parry
Principal
—Josephine I. & David J. Joseph, Jr. Chair

Lon Bussell*
—Stephen P. McKean Chair

Emily Beare

ENGLISH HORN

Christopher Philpotts
Principal
—Alberta & Dr. Maurice Marsh Chair+

CLARINETS

Christopher Pell
Principal
—Emma Margaret & Irving D. Goldman Chair

Joseph Morris*
Associate Principal and Eb Clarinet
—Robert E. & Fay Boeh Chair++

Ixi Chen
Vicky & Rick Reynolds Chair in Honor of William A. Friedlander

BASS CLARINET

Ronald Aufmann

BASSOONS

Christopher Sales
Principal
—Emalee Schavel Chair++

Martin Garcia*

Hugh Michie

CONTRABASSOON

Jennifer Monroe

FRENCH HORNS

Elizabeth Freimuth
Principal
—Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair

[OPEN]*
—Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer Chair

Molly Norcross**
Acting Associate Principal
—Sweeney Family Chair in memory of Donald C. Sweeney

Lisa Conway
—Susanne & Philip O. Geier, Jr. Chair

Duane Dugger
—Mary & Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Chair

Charles Bell

TRUMPETS

Robert Sullivan
Principal
—Rawson Chair

Douglas Lindsay*
—Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair

Steven Pride
—Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Chair++

Christopher Kiradjieff

TROMBONES

Cristian Ganicenco
Principal
—Dorothy & John Hermanies Chair

Joseph Rodriguez**
Second/Assistant Principal Trombone

BASS TROMBONE

Peter Norton

TUBA

Christopher Olka
Principal
—Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair

TIMPANI

Patrick Schleker
Principal
—Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair

Michael Culligan
Acting Associate Principal

[OPEN]*
—Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

PERCUSSION

David Fishlock
Principal
—Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair

Michael Culligan*

[OPEN]*
—Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

Marc Wolfley+

KEYBOARDS

Michael Chertock
—James P. Thornton Chair

Julie Spangler+
—James P. Thornton Chair

CSO/CCM DIVERSITY FELLOWS

Maalik Glover, violin

Mwakudua waNgure, violin

Tyler McKisson, viola

Javier Otalora, viola

Max Oppeltz-Carroz, cello

Luis Parra, cello

Samantha Powell, cello

Luis Celis Avila, bass

Amy Nickler, bass

LIBRARIANS

Christina Eaton
Acting Principal Librarian
—Lois Klein Jolson Chair

Elizabeth Dunning
Acting Associate Principal Librarian

Adam Paxson
Interim Assistant Librarian

STAGE MANAGERS

Brian P. Schott

Phillip T. Sheridan

Daniel Schultz

Andrew Sheridan

§ Begins the alphabetical listing of players who participate in a system of rotated seating within the string section.

*  Associate Principal

**  Assistant Principal

† One-year appointment

‡ Leave of absence

+ Cincinnati Pops rhythm section

++ CSO endowment only

~ Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation