AN ECLECTIC OPENING NIGHT
Fri May 15, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Cristian Măcelaru conductor
Julia Bullock soprano
Jason Alexander Holmes preacher
Carlos Simon hammond organ
Matthew Swanson director
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Program
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Anton Bruckner Psalm 150
Alexander von Zemlinsky Selections from Symphonische Gesänge
Margaret Bonds Selected Songs & Songs from Songs of the Season
To a Brown Girl Dead
Negro Speak of Rivers
Poème d’Automne from Songs of the Season
Winter Moon from Songs of the Season
April RainECLECTIC MASS:
Selections from:
Carlos Simon Good News Mass and Sanctus
Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina Missa Assumpta est Maria
Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata No. 191
Margaret Bonds Credo
George Frideric Handel arr. Mounsey “Soulful Hallelujah”
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Program
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Duke Ellington The River
Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 1, A Sea Symphony
ON LOVE AND LUST
Thu May 21, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Matthew Swanson conductor
Victoria Okafor soprano
Sara Couden contralto
Nicholas Phan tenor
Yannis François bass-baritone
Matthew Swanson director
Members of the Cincinnati Symphony
Cincinnati Ballet 2
Yoshihisa Arai choreographer
Raw, rhythmic and electrifying — featuring dancers from Cincinnati Ballet 2, this once-in-a-lifetime concert experience fuses music and movement in a visceral exploration of lust, ritual and desire.
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Program
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Igor Stravinsky Les noces (“The Wedding”)
Carl Orff Catulli Carmina (“Songs of Catullus”)
PORGY AND BESS: FESTIVAL FINALE
Sat May 23, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Anthony Parnther conductor
Julia Bullock soprano
Alfred Walker bass-baritone
Matthew Swanson director
Jason Alexander Holmes director
Classical Roots Community Choir
In a finale that reimagines and uplifts iconic American music, 2026 Festival Director Julia Bullock takes center stage as Bess in her own deeply personal and poignant curation of Gershwin's legendary opera, Porgy and Bess. William Grant Still’s Plain-Chant for America issues a stirring call for unity and resilience, while Stephen Paulus’s Prayers & Remembrances seeks to impart hope and healing, before a celebratory finale of Bernstein’s radiant “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide. Finally, we close the 2026 Festival with what has become a beloved May Festival tradition, singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” together as one.
Porgy and Bess is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com
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Program
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The Gershwins®’ Selections from Porgy and Bess® by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin
William Grant Still Plain-Chant for America
Stephen Paulus Prayers & Remembrances
V. In Beauty It Walks
VI. Eternity
Leonard Bernstein “Make our Garden Grow” from Candide
George Frideric Handel “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah
