Matthew Swanson is the Associate Director of Choruses and the Director of the May Festival Youth Chorus. He annually prepares the May Festival Chorus and Youth Chorus for performances with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, and for their featured appearances at the May Festival.

Under his leadership, the May Festival has instituted an annual Youth Chorus commissioning project; the May Festival Community Chorus; the presentation of community choral concerts at Music Hall during the May Festival; a robust program of professional voice instruction, free to Chorus and Youth Chorus members; the Festival’s community choral podcast “Sing the Queen City”; and free in-school choral clinics for area high schools.

A native of southeast Iowa, Swanson earned an undergraduate degree in trumpet performance and American Studies at the University of Notre Dame; master’s degrees in choral conducting and choral studies from CCM and King’s College, Cambridge, respectively; and a doctorate of musical arts in conducting from CCM. He was awarded the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship in 2015. 

Photo Credit: AJ Waltz