May Fest Broadcasts

One of the many unfortunate casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic is Cincinnati’s treasured May Festival, the oldest classical choral festival in North America. Since 1873, the May Festival has presented some of the most elegant, challenging, emotional, and inspirational music performed by a volunteer choir and a myriad of special guests.

90.9 WGUC has been a longtime collaborator with May Festival, recording and airing their concerts each year. Since that’s not possible in 2020, we don’t want you to miss out on the glorious sounds of the hundreds of voices ringing out from the stage of historic Music Hall.

Join us the final two Sundays of May, during the traditional May Festival weekends, for encore broadcasts from two of the exceptional 2019 concerts recorded by Stephen Baum for Cincinnati Public Radio.

On Sunday, May 24 at 8 p.m., it’s last year’s memorable performance of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion. Juanjo Mena conducts the May Festival chorus and youth chorus with guests Berit Norbakken Solset, soprano; Carlos Mena, countertenor; Werner Güra, tenor; Ben Bliss, tenor; James Newby, baritone; and Hanno Müller-Brachmann, bass-baritone. The concert took place on May 25, 2019.

Then on Sunday, May 31 at 8 p.m., it is a rebroadcast of Juanjo Mena's May Festival premiere and features John Holiday, countertenor as well as the May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director and May Festival Youth Chorus, James Bagwell, Director. They perform Gabrieli's Magnificat a 33, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Ravel's Daphnis ét Chloé. The concert took place on May 25, 2018.

We hope you’ll enjoy these concerts as a placeholder until the May Festival, and all our arts organizations, are performing again. In October of this year, WGUC will rebroadcast all four of the 2019 May Festival concerts on Sunday evenings, so please plan on joining us then as well.

The cultural treasures of our area are important to the quality of life we enjoy, and WGUC is proud to be a part of the music community and to bring you these performances. We are grateful to you for listening and supporting us, and the artists who create these memorable performances.

Enjoy!