Grammy-winning classical singer Julia Bullock will direct the 2026 Cincinnati May Festival, bringing a globally celebrated career shaped by bold performances and advocacy for equity in the arts.
Bullock will serve the one-year role of festival director alongside Director of Choruses Matthew Swanson, curating concerts and programs that honor the festival’s 150-year legacy while advancing her artistic vision.
The previous two festival directors were Julia Wolfe, a Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, in 2024 and Grammy winner Renée Fleming this year.
“Julia Bullock is a preeminent artist in every way,” Swanson said. He praised her for combining “worldwide experience and fervent local interest.”
Bullock has shaped programs at top institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Symphony and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. Her performances have spanned the New York Philharmonic to Berlin’s Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester. In 2024, she won a Grammy for her album “Walking in the Dark.”
Julianne Akins Smith, the May Festival’s executive director, said Bullock’s leadership builds on the festival’s blend of tradition and innovation.
Bullock has launched initiatives like “History’s Persistent Voice,” which highlights Black American heritage through music and poetry, and sits on the advisory board of Turn the Spotlight, a foundation advancing equity in the arts. As a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company, she continues to challenge how classical music engages audiences.
She’s also no stranger to Cincinnati. Bullock recently appeared at Music Hall with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in “El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered,” a chamber orchestral reimagining she co-arranged with her husband, conductor Christian Reif.
“The development of the rich cultural scene in Cincinnati is documented well and is simply inspiring,” Bullock said. “In the programming for 2026, I sought out ways to explicitly draw attention to the traditions of the festival.”
Organizers plan to announce official programming and release the 2026 Festival Pass this fall.
“Never have I felt so enthusiastic and excited while devising programs in partnership with arts organizations,” Bullock said. “I honestly just feel lucky, as a singer, to take part in your arts and cultural experience.”
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