Each May, Cincinnati is surrounded with song as the May Festival Chorus presents the oldest, and one of the most prestigious, choral festivals in the Western Hemisphere.
Broadcast: October 4, 8PM
Eclectic Opening Night
Performance Date: May 15, 2026
Program
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 Rain
ECLECTIC 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”
Artists
Cristian Măcelaru conductor
Julia Bullock soprano
Sankara Harouna baritone
Norman Garrett baritone
Carlos Simon hammond organ
Jason Alexander Holmes preacher
Matthew Swanson director
Broadcast: October 11, 8PM
The Water’s Journey
Concert Date: May 16, 2026
Program
Duke Ellington The River
Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 1, A Sea Symphony
Artists
Cristian Măcelaru conductor
Nicole Cabell soprano
Norman Garrett baritone
Matthew Swanson director
Broadcast: October 18, 8PM
On Love and Lust
Concert Date: May 21, 2026
Program
Igor Stravinsky Les noces (“The Wedding”)
Carl Orff Catulli Carmina (“Songs of Catullus”)
Artists
Matthew Swanson conductor
Victoria Okafor soprano
Sara Couden contralto
Nicholas Phan tenor
David Soar bass
Matthew Swanson director
Members of the Cincinnati Symphony
Cincinnati Ballet 2
Yoshihisa Arai choreographer
Check back soon for future May Festival broadcasts!
Broadcast: October 25, 8PM
Porgy and Bess: Festival Finale
Concert Date: May 23, 2026
Program
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
- In Beauty It Walks
- Eternity
Leonard Bernstein “Make our Garden Grow” from Candide
George Frideric Handel “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah
Artists
Anthony Parnther conductor
Julia Bullock soprano
Alfred Walker bass-baritone
Victoria Okafor soprano
Robert Lomax tenor
Matthew Swanson director
Jason Alexander Holmes director
Classical Roots Community Choir
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
