Mahler called his Eighth Symphony, “the biggest thing that I have ever done…in which the most beautiful instrument in the world is given its true place.” Music Director Laureate James Conlon concludes the 150th May Festival with a work of gigantic proportions—music of triumph and transcendence that celebrates the power of the human voice, featuring the sounds of the Chorus and the CSO in the breathtaking space of Music Hall.

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Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand

Cincinnati Music Hall

Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena opens the 150th Festival with world premieres by American composer James Lee III and former May Festival Creative Partner James MacMillan. Given its American premiere at the 1875 May Festival, Bach's celebratory Magnificat was described then as we would now— as "the highest form of human expression."

Bach's Magnificat

Can't wait until May? Hundreds of singers take the stage at Music Hall in February to celebrate a new alliance between the May Festival and the Cincinnati Boychoir! Featured performances by the Cincinnati Boychoir, May Festival Youth Chorus and May Festival Chorus culminate in the world premiere of a new work by Cincinnati's own Howard Helvey, commissioned for the occasion.

All Together Now

The Geraldine V. Chavez Center for the Choral Arts

Follow the unbroken path of light from sunset to sunrise as the May Festival Chorus, Chamber Choir, Youth Chorus and Cincinnati Boychoir Ambassadors illuminate Springer Auditorium through song, staging and dynamic lighting in a choral music event like never before.

May Festival Youth Chorus

Feb 16, 2025

All Together Now

May 18, 2025

CHASING THE DAWN: A Choral Journey

May 27, 2023

Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand

May 19, 2023

Bach's Magnificat

May Festival Youth Chorus