May Festival Chorus To Perform Rachmaninoff On Oct 20

The Cincinnati May Festival Chorus will present a rare a cappella concert at Music Hall on Sunday, October 20 at 4 p.m. featuring selections from Rachmaninoff's crowning work, the All-Night Vigil or Vespers, led by Director of Choruses Robert Porco.

This sublime piece of sacred music (settings of liturgical texts from the Russian Orthodox Church) was considered by the composer himself to be one of his finest works. Rachmaninoff composed the Vespers during World War I, just after a yearlong tour supporting Russian troops, and this work is the composer's attempt to respond with beauty to the suffering he witnessed.

Also on the all-Russian program are other sacred vocal works from the Russian Orthodox repertoire sung by the May Festival Youth Chorus, led by Matthew

Swanson. This performance harkens back to the earliest days of Music Hall, which was originally built with the May Festival in mind.

Tickets for this performance start at $10 and are available at mayfestival.com or by calling the May Festival Box Office at 513.381.3300.