“The 2018 May Festival will feature the first woman to conduct a concert in the festival’s 145-year history,” reads an unsigned Friday (2/2) article in the Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio). “The festival announced Eun Sun Kim will make her festival debut on May 18, leading the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the renovated Cincinnati Music Hall…. She replaces the previously announced conductor, Cincinnati native James Levine. The festival removed Levine in December, after news of a growing investigation into multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Born in Korea, Kim made her acclaimed U.S. debut in October, leading … Verdi’s La Traviata at the Houston Grand Opera. She also will make her debut with the San Francisco Opera during the 2018-19 season…. Kim studied composition and conducting in Seoul and continued her training in Stuttgart.… The May Festival is America’s oldest choral music festival. This year’s concerts will mark the May Festival’s return to Music Hall, which reopened in October 2017 after a $143 million renovation. The building was originally built for the May Festival in 1878.” Juanjo Mena is the May Festival’s principal conductor.
Posted February 8, 2018
