“Enthusiastic cheers greeted James Conlon as he entered MusicHall’s stage at the Cincinnati May Festival Friday night. The festival’s music director laureate returned for his May Festival performance since stepping down in 2016 following an unprecedented, 37-year tenure. “It’s a very moving experience for me to be back,” he told the audience, adding that some members of the May Festival Chorus have been his friends for 40 years. His program included some of the thoughtful and dramatic touches that enthralled festivalgoers for much of his tenure. Besides the chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a fine ensemble of operatic singers were soloists in works by Mahler, Boito and Mussorgsky…

… Conlon was an energized leader on the podium, alert to every detail of the score. It was a high-voltage performance that electrified from beginning to end.”  — Cincinnati Business Courier

“James Conlon led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with assurance in this May Festival concert…. a magnificent concert…. Conlon led the orchestra and the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus (directed by Robert Porco) in front of a capacity audience on the Festival’s closing weekend — a reminder of how good it is, every spring, to celebrate world-class music-making in Cincinnati.” — Seen and Heard International