Time to re-imagine Cincinnati May Festival?

Even as the final notes of the "Hallelujah" Chorus resounded this weekend in Music Hall, officials of the Cincinnati May Festival were pondering what will be their next act.

The 142-year-old festival is facing its biggest transformation since the 1960s. As its board plans a new vision for the storied choral festival, it faces some daunting challenges.

For starters, it must decide upon new artistic leadership. After a celebrated tenure as music director, James Conlon has announced that next year – his 37th – will be his final season.

Next, it must figure out how to keep its audience after it vacates its home for two seasons and moves to the Taft Theater Downtown. If all goes as planned, Conlon will leave just as Music Hall closes its doors for an extensive, 18-month renovation to start in June 2016. Some work could begin as early as this summer.

And not least, it must build an audience for the future while preserving an historic, distinguished tradition. The lackluster attendance of opening weekend this year has underscored how critical that will be.

Addressing just one one of these issues would be daunting for any arts organization. But May Festival executive director Steven Sunderman is optimistic about the possibilities for America's oldest and most unique choral festival.

"Whether it's updating or transforming, I have big dreams of what everything could be," said Sunderman. "Maybe they're out of our reach, but I don't think so. I think that our 1963, when the festival made the last changes, is now. I'm very excited at what's possible."

In 1963, then-music director Max Rudolf led an overhaul of the festival, which, until then, had been a week-long festival of evening and daytime performances, held every other year.

Today, anchored by the volunteer, 130-voice May Festival Chorus, directed by Robert Porco, the May Festival presents masterpieces of choral music over a span of two weeks each May in Music Hall and at Covington's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

First on the Sunderman's agenda: Finding new artistic leadership. Rudolf's changes to the festival ushered in a golden age of artistic leaders, who included names as starry as Julius Rudel, Leonard Bernstein, native son James Levine, and his hand-picked successor, Conlon. Guest conductors included choral icon Robert Shaw, George Szell, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy and Michael Tilson Thomas. Soloists have included the greatest voices of opera and oratorio.

But a search this time around may not mean hiring a traditional music director, Sunderman said. The board is brainstorming an entirely new leadership model for the festival, such as hiring a creative director to oversee programs, while booking guest conductors to lead them.

A bigger challenge may be building new audiences for masterpieces such as Haydn's oratorio "The Creation," heard on opening night, and Berlioz's Requiem, featured the second weekend. But how to do that, in a time when schools and society have marginalized arts and culture, is no easy task.

Should the May Festival change its format?

Some are suggesting it should hang its star on a smaller version of the World Choir Games, which galvanized the whole city three years ago.

Cincinnati is a singing city, and the way it embraced the Games, which brought thousands of singers to the city, was astounding. Some believe that the festival should evolve into a larger event that pulls in local and national choruses, such as barbershop and gospel ensembles.

"There could be guest choirs, whether it's Roomful of Teeth or Chanticleer, or another choir that does repertoire that's different from what we do. Those are all ways of thinking outside the box," Sunderman said.

In addition, adding other genres might appeal in an era when Americans are infatuated with TV shows such as NBC's "The Sing-Off," hosted by Nick Lachey. The movie, "Pitch Perfect 2," about a female vocal group, was the Memorial Day Weekend box office smash.

Should it bring back the brats and beer that were featured in Cincinnati's first singing festivals in Saengerfest Hall? Should it expand its offerings into alternative, unexpected venues around the region?

Other arts groups are. This year, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is experimenting with those ideas in August, including shorter concerts in bars, and already several concerts are sold out.

And what about other local collaborations? Recently, the festival partnered with the Vocal Arts Ensemble, which allowed the chorus to augment its ranks during a time when few men were auditioning. On the other side, the partnership has given the VAE much-needed administrative help.

There are questions, too, about Music Hall, which was built in 1878 for the May Festival. After years of finalizing a funding plan for what is now a $125 million project, the construction plans for the hall, Springer Auditorium, have not yet been made public.

The public, then, is still waiting for those details, such as: How many seats will be eliminated? What will the hall look like? Are the balconies structurally sound? How far out will the stage be extended? How will the acoustics be affected? Will whomever is selected to succeed Conlon be consulted about those decisions?

The May Festival is still basking in the glow of its performances last year in Carnegie Hall. Performances this year in Music Hall have been extraordinary. But this year's festival, which coincided with Memorial Day Weekend and Taste of Cincinnati, had lackluster first weekend attendance, with only 1,516 in the 3,417-seat Music Hall on opening night. The question on the lips of many concertgoers, such as arts patron Dr. Al Lopez, was, "Where is the audience?"

"We have such an amazing May Festival. It is a phenomenal organization, both the quality of the musicianship and the (music) they put up onstage," Lopez said. "But we are somewhere losing it if we don't do something about audience development. It's a shame to see so few people in the audience."

Looking back at all of the great choral literature he's conducted, Conlon said last week that he hopes that those masterpieces will be a part of this festival for many years to come.

"As I look forward and know that every music lover in Cincinnati looks forward to the future of the May Festival, whatever form it may take, I hope that the core value of this legacy of choral music will be preserved," he said.

May Festival average attendance in the last four years

May Festival attendance, on average, has remained stable in recent years.

Music Hall currently seats 3,417, but officials plan to remove at least 1,000 seats in the upcoming renovation.

2014: 2,307 per concert

2013: 2,281 per concert

2012: 2,317 per concert

2011: 2,481 per concert

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