It’s not surprising, but the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra announced this morning that they are canceling all concerts and events through the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus.

In addition, the entire Cincinnati May Festival season is canceled, as well as performances by the professional chorus, the Vocal Arts Ensemble.

This year is the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season.

Of course, financially the effects of Covid-19 will be disastrous for all of Cincinnati’s major arts organizations. We await to learn whether Cincinnati Opera will be able to mount its much-anticipated 100th anniversary season, to open in June.

Here’s the CSO’s announcement with a listing of cancellations:

In compliance with Governor Mike DeWine’s standing mass-gathering prohibitions and the recent directive to stay at home, and given ongoing travel bans, international quarantines and the continued disruption of normal business activity caused by the Coronavirus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced today the cancellation of all CSO, Cincinnati Pops and May Festival concerts and events through May 31, 2020.

The CSO had previously cancelled concerts and events through April 5. President Jonathan Martin said that in light of the deepening national health crisis, the organization had no choice.

“After consideration of the facts in this rapidly evolving situation and through close
conversations with all of our stakeholders, the most responsible action we can take at this time
is to cancel the remaining concerts in our season,” said Martin, president of the CSO,
Pops and May Festival.

“As more time elapses, our ability to quickly get back to the business of
concert production diminishes. Our choruses cannot rehearse, audiences are understandably
wary of buying tickets and our international and national guest artists cannot travel to
Cincinnati. We are deeply disappointed to lose the rest of our season, but we have no choice.”

The following concerts and events are cancelled:
• Peter & the Wolf: Sensory-Friendly Rehearsal (March 24)
• Manny & Mozart (March 27 and 28)
• Manny & Chamber Players (March 27)
• Lollipops: Peter & the Wolf (March 28)
• Vocal Arts Ensemble: Sacred Heart (March 29)
• Young People’s Concert: Plugged In (March 31)
• Beethoven 8 + Sō Percussion (April 3 and 4)
• CSO Night/Light (April 4)

• May Festival at the Basilica (April 5)
• CSO Artist-In-Residence Guy Braunstein in Recital (April 16)
• Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev (April 17 and 18)
• CSYO Philharmonic Spring Concert (April 18)
• CSO Proof (April 22)
• CSO Chamber Players (April 24)
• Mendelssohn & Strings (April 25 and 26)
• CSO/CSYO Side-By-Side (April 28)
• Louis on 125: The Luminaries (April 30)
• DreamWorks Animation in Concert (May 1, 2 and 3)
• Mozart’s Paris (May 8 and 9)
• CSYO Concert Orchestra Spring Concert (May 9)
• CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows Musical Matinee (May 9)
• Mahler 3 + Adolphe Premiere (May 16 and 17)
• May Festival Cabaret (May 21)
• May Festival Beethoven 9 (May 22)
• May Festival John Adams Conducts El Niño (May 23)
• May FestivALL SING (May 24)
• May Festival Presents the St. Thomas Gospel Choir (May 27)
• May Festival “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw Sky” (May 28)
• May Festival America’s Sounds (North) (May 29)
• May Festival America’s Sounds (South) (May 30)
• May Festival “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw Sky” (May 31)

Please note that the April 14 concert with Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers is currently
postponed with a new date TBD, pending scheduling feasibility.

All ticket holders will be contacted via email with their options. Tickets for the Bruce Hornsby
concert, if rescheduled, will be honored on the new date. Ticket holders are encouraged to support
the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival by donating their tickets to cancelled
concerts.

Ticket holders may call the Box Office at 513-381-3300 or view their options online at
cincinnatisymphony.org or mayfestival.com.

As the situation develops, all updates and information can be found online at cincinnatisymphony.org/healthandsafety