The May Festival seeks an individual who demonstrates artistic excellence, technical prowess, flexibility, and energy to prepare and lead the May Festival Chorus (MFC), a dedicated group of volunteer singers with professional expectations. They must demonstrate trust in and respect for MFC members and colleagues and seek collaboration within the framework of planning, rehearsals, and performance.

The ideal candidate will be familiar with and confident across a wide range of choral repertoire and musical forms past and present and possess a strong interest in evolving and building the canon. The candidate will be thoughtful and enthusiastic in their approach and recognition of the broad responsibilities of the Director of Choruses role, both on and off the podium. They will serve as a catalyst for innovative partnerships and impactful artistic collaborations which reflect the May Festival’s inclusive approach to programming and the diverse cultural spectrum of our community and the world. 

Leadership & Inspiration
The May Festival seeks an individual who will lead the May Festival Chorus with confidence while demonstrating compassion and respect. They must be committed to the MFC’s artistic development and personal well-being, collectively and individually. The Director of Choruses will serve as an inspirational force and establish a healthy rapport with singers, administration, volunteers, the board, and the community.

Communication & Collaboration
The ideal candidate will exhibit superb communication skills, seek clarity, demonstrate adaptability, and be prepared to tolerate risk within the framework of artistic expression and vision. 

Advocacy 
The May Festival seeks an individual whose focus embraces the organization’s vision of relevancy beyond the doors of Cincinnati Music Hall. The May Festival’s strategic objectives make it imperative that the Director of Choruses serve as an ambassador and advocate of the Chorus and the May Festival across all its stakeholders. 

Personal Responsibility 
The May Festival seeks candidates who will embrace and adopt the May Festival Chorus as their responsibility, with attention to preserving and enhancing its profile and strengthening the connections between the organization and collaborators throughout the region, the country, and the world.  

Creativity & Vision
It is also imperative that the successful candidate encourage and support imaginative programming and be aware of and engaged with the full range of May Festival activities. The candidate must actively embrace and advocate for the May Festival’s Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Plan, including the broader choral ecosystem, the May Festival Youth Chorus, the Choral Conductor Fellowship, and other programs that aspire to serve all ages and every community in the tri-state (Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana, Northern Kentucky) region. 

COMMITMENT AND COMPENSATION:
It is expected that the successful Director of Choruses will be an active member and resident of the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. The Director of Choruses will be an employee of the May Festival and be eligible to participate in the organization’s health and dental benefits, Health Savings Account, life insurance, long-term disability coverage, and retirement plan. Compensation depends on experience and qualifications, no less than $110,000 annually. A detailed job description can be found here. Expected start date: August 2024

Candidate Availability:
Final candidates must be available to be in Cincinnati for 2-3 days from August 28^th to September 18^th, 2023—specific dates to be mutually agreed upon.

About Cincinnati May Festival

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which also performs as the Cincinnati Pops, is one of America’s finest and most versatile ensembles. With a determination for greatness and a rich tradition that dates back over 120 years, the internationally acclaimed CSO attracts the best musicians, artists and conductors from around the world to Cincinnati. With new commissions and groundbreaking initiatives like LUMENOCITY®, One City, One Symphony, The Pelléas Trilogy, and the MusicNOW Festival collaboration, the Orchestra is committed to being a place of experimentation. Louis Langrée began his tenure as the CSO's 13th Music Director in the 2013/14 season with a celebrated program The New York Times said “deftly combined nods to the orchestra's history, the city's musical life and new music.” Over the Orchestra's 122-year history, it has also been led by Leopold Stokowski, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Reiner, Eugene Goossens, Max Rudolf, Thomas Schippers, Jesús López-Cobos, and Paavo Järvi, among others. A champion of new music, the Orchestra has given American premieres of works by such composers as Debussy, Ravel, Mahler and Bartók and has commissioned works that have since become mainstays of... the classical repertoire, including Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. The Orchestra continues to commission new works and to program an impressive array of music. In recent years, the CSO has performed the world premieres of Nico Muhly's Pleasure Ground, David Lang's mountain, Caroline Shaw's Lo and Daniel Bjarnason's Collider as part of the groundbreaking collaboration with the MusicNOW Festival, as well as the world premiere of André Previn's Double Concerto. More recent commissions include Gunther Schuller’s Symphonic Triptych, Michael Fiday’s Three for One, three works set to the poetry of Dr. Maya Angelou by T. J. Cole, Jonathan Bailey Holland and Kristin Kuster, as well three new concertos for orchestra by composers Sebastian Currier, Thierry Escaich and Zhou Tian, which are featured on the Orchestra’s most recent commercial recording. The CSO was the first American orchestra to make a world tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and continues to tour domestically and internationally, most recently to Asia in March 2017 and a three-week European tour in August and September of the same year. The CSO has performed at New York's Carnegie Hall 48 times since its debut there in 1917, most recently to rave reviews in May of 2014. In January of 2016, the Orchestra performed at New York’s Lincoln Center as part of the invitational Great Performers series.

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Connections working at Cincinnati May Festival