In 2001, the May Festival dedicates the Sunday,
May 20, performance of The Emperor of Atlantis in honor of the 125 Anniversary of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the successor of the great centers of higher Jewish learning in Europe destroyed during the Holocaust.

Thanks to The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation, the May Festival presents a master class for the first time to members of the Chorus given by distinguished American soprano Benita Valente.

In October of 2001 - one month following the horrific terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, James Conlon leads the May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a stirring performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem at New York City's legendary Carnegie Hall.

With the generous support of The Corbett Foundation, the May Festival releases the celebrated compact disc, Christmas with the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus, in November of 2001.