A very American May Festival heralds pandemic recovery

By Ray Cooklis

Strong emotions, powerful texts mark return of annual celebration of Cincinnati’s musical roots

The Cincinnati May Festival has always been a special time for our community, helping us each spring to reconnect and celebrate our cultural and musical roots as “A City That Sings.”

But this year’s festival, set for May 21-30 in Music Hall, will be especially meaningful, marking a return after a pandemic-scarred year and all it has taken from us – including the sound of voices raised together.

Singing was found to be a particularly easy way to spread the coronavirus. The first widely reported mass infection in the United States, in fact, was after a choir practice in Washington state in early March 2020.

We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but the fact that a festival is even feasible this year serves as a very hopeful sign.

“It is an emotional time as we take our first steps coming together again,” said May Festival Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena when the three-program, five-performance lineup was announced in late March.

“My heart has never been more full of hope and optimism,” said Mena. “I can think of no better way to connect and express the complex emotions we all feel … through voices raised together in song.”

By the festival’s historical standards, this year’s program is unconventional, reflecting – very creatively and effectively – the demands of the moment. Distancing. Masks. Ventilation. Smaller audiences. Shorter programs. No intermission.

And yes – less chorus. Choral singers appear in just a few pieces on two of the three programs, and then only as 24-member ensembles. Instead, most of the music is for vocal soloists with orchestra.

But what music! This festival features a rich lineup of works that we might never see in a more conventional May Festival. Benjamin Britten’s “Les Illuminations” for soprano (or tenor) with strings. John Adams’ “The Wound-Dresser” for baritone and chamber orchestra. Gustav Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer.” Gustav Holst’s “Rig Veda” choral hymns. Lieder by Franz Schubert. And on and on. Indeed, nearly every work in the lineup is getting its first May Festival performance.

Complex emotions

Overall, it is a chance to reflect upon those “complex emotions” that Mena talked about.

“It’s a different look for the May Festival,” said Nate Bachhuber, vice president of artistic planning for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival. “We wanted to honor the power of vocal music and use it to tell the kind of stories that are relevant now – to be a balm for this period. Juanjo has been remaining hopeful and has been challenging us to find a way forward. It’s not possible to overestimate the incredible support we’ve seen across the community to bring back and support the May Festival.”

This year’s festival highlights “direct, powerful texts that are really important,” Bachhuber said. For example, the May 28 program – Aaron Copland’s “Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson,” Maria Schneider’s “Winter Morning Walks” and Adams’ “The Wound-Dresser” – is meant to reflect some of the emotions brought on by the pandemic, “moving works that are a testament to the human spirit.” Likewise, Kentucky-born African-American composer Julia Perry’s “Stabat Mater” on the May 21-22 program is a fitting reflection on grief and healing.

Davone Tines, baritone

Very American

Note that all those composers, and the writers/poets on whose work most of the music is based, are Americans. That was a conscious choice for this festival, along with an all-American lineup of soloists.

“We are lucky to have world-class American soloists,” Bachhuber said, such as renowned soprano Joélle Harvey, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Part of that is sheer practicality. With international travel still difficult or downright impossible, the festival focused on American singers.

“That allowed us to take advantage of these artists’ availability,” Bachhuber said. “And for some of them, this is their first time back on stage since the pandemic. This is a moving moment for these artists, being able to perform again.”

Joelle Harvey, soprano

A limited chorus

Still, it would not be the May Festival without the chorus, whose participation this year “is in a sense symbolic, but very meaningful,” Bachhuber said.

“It was important for Juanjo and all of us to find ways to involve the chorus,” he said. “After all, the festival was created to highlight the chorus. It’s a large part of what makes the festival such a unique cultural offering in North America.”

Such choral appearances are brief, with 24 singers distanced on stage and, yes, wearing masks while performing. “These are masks that were created for this purpose, more conical, with space around the mouth, designed with singers in mind,” Bachhuber said.

One group of 24 tenors and basses will perform Holst hymns May 21-22, as will a group of 24 sopranos and altos May 29-30. Another group of 24 sopranos and altos will sing Reena Esmail’s “I Rise: Women in Song” on that latter program. (The third program, the May 28 all-American concert, is for soloists and orchestra only.)

“This was a way we could fulfill the desire of the chorus to get back together in a way that is achievable and safe,” he said.

Safety first

Bachhuber and his colleagues in CSO administration have become proficient in figuring out the COVID-19 safety angles, as the CSO and Pops returned to live but modified performances in Music Hall a few months ago.

With help from the University of Cincinnati and TriHealth, they did aerosol studies. They analyzed air movement and exchange patterns in Music Hall.

They tested the best ways to distance and ventilate. Working with the state of Ohio, they crafted a complete plan.

Festival forces are rehearsing in small groups using the May Festival rehearsal room and Music Hall Ballroom.

Orchestra members and soloists will be distanced on stage, wearing masks whenever possible. Full-orchestra works may have reduced string sections to help make distancing possible. The audience for each program will be limited to 453 people or fewer – somewhat under 15 percent of Music Hall’s capacity, Bachhuber said.

Concerts will be 60-90 minutes long with no intermission.

“I’ve never heard someone complain that a concert was too short,” Bachhuber said. “Coming back to the concert hall, it’s all about having a meaningful experience.”

The bottom line: “Keep everyone safe.”

“Our procedures have been based on an assumption that someone in the hall may be contagious. We have many safeguards in place,” Bachhuber said. “We’re being cautious in a way that has allowed audiences to feel safer, and we have seen (CSO and Pops) audiences increase through the spring.”

Free live streaming

While most of these precautions hopefully will not be necessary in the long term, one pandemic-induced innovation likely will become permanent: free livestreaming of May Festival concerts.

Two of the three programs – May 22 and May 30 – will be streamed live and available for 24 hours afterward on www. mayfestival.com. This will help bring the music to those who cannot attend, and give the festival exposure to a wider, potentially worldwide audience.

“We’re going to continue streaming,” Bachhuber said. “We’ve invested in the technology and skills for it because we’re seeing a lot of enthusiasm for it.”

Such enthusiasm is not hard to imagine. For the past year, the performing arts have been mostly missing from our lives.

Voices have been silenced, and it’s time to sing again.

As Mena put it: “This May we will discover the voice in everything: From challenge and sadness to hope, joy and triumph – this will truly be a festival of music that speaks to our time.” �

513-381-3300 or www.mayfestival.com

The 2021 May Festival

Opening Weekend – May 21 & 22, 7:30 p.m.

Bruckner: Adagio from String Quintet in F Major; Perry: Stabat Mater; Mahler: “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen;” Holst: Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda. Sara Couden, contralto; Elliot Madore, baritone; May Festival Chorus Tenor and Bass Ensemble; Juanjo Mena, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Voice and Verse – May 28, 7:30 p.m.

Copland: Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson; Schneider: “Winter Morning Walks;” Adams: “The Wound-Dresser.” Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Sophia Burgos, soprano; Davóne Tines, baritone; Robert Porco, CSO

Hearts and Voices Soar – May 29, 7:30 p.m. & May 30, 2:30 p.m.

Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5; Britten: “Les Illuminations;” Schubert: 4 Lieder; Holst: Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda; Esmail: “I Rise: Women in Song.” Joélle Harvey, soprano; Paul Appleby, tenor; May Festival Chorus Soprano and Alto Ensemble; Juanjo Mena, CSO