May Festival News
Over Eighty Children Sing in Mahler Symphony

Members of the award winning Cincinnati Children's Choir joined the May Festival Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, renowned soloists, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the 2009 May Festival Season grand finale performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major, Symphony of a Thousand, on Saturday, May 30 at 8 pm at Cincinnati Music Hall. The concert was conducted by May Festival Music Director James Conlon. Monumental in scale and unparalleled in scope, the Symphony No. 8 premiered in Vienna in 1910, marking the crowning achievement of Mahler’s career and astonishing the concertgoing public. It has been performed on the Cincinnati May Festival stage no less than seven times in the Festival’s 136 year history.

Founded and managed by Robyn Reeves Lana, Artistic Director, the Cincinnati Children’s Choir is an educationally based choir program in residence at the Music Preparatory Department of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Using the philosophies and techniques of Carl Orff, Zoltan Kodaly, Jacques Dalcroze, and Jerome Brunner, participants learn healthy vocal technique, sight-reading, music history, and music theory while experiencing performance excellence. CCC members have toured England, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Canada, and the United States. Now in its 16th year, CCC has blossomed into a special gem in the Queen City's artistic crown. Read about this and more on the chorus’s website, www.cincinnatichoir.org.

For many, hearing a live performance Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and even many seasoned choirs have not had the opportunity to sing this entire work. Imagine the impression this experience is making on the children of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir – participating in a production of such scale and magnitude, in an expansive space like Music Hall. This could be intimidating even to an adult. Performing from the right balcony of the Hall, the young choristers rose to the occasion successfully.

With the combined voices of two cities (Cincinnati and Cleveland), an expanded orchestra and eight soloists, the performance of the Symphony of a Thousand marked the grand finale to the celebratory 2009 season which has observed Conlon’s 30th year with the Festival. Seldom has a concert of such magnitude been presented in Music Hall. May Festival is the oldest continuous choral festival in the Western Hemisphere. Established in 1873, May Festival is directly responsible for the development of Cincinnati’s modern musical life. 

Duke Energy Foundation is the 2009 Season Sponsor of the May Festival. Macy’s Foundation is underwriting the May 30 Mahler concert. Support also comes from the Fine Arts Fund, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, and City of Cincinnati.

Media Contact: Guy LaJeunesse, Manager of Marketing and Communications 513.744.3250 or glajeunesse@mayfestival.com.