JMR and the Pops open the new season with a powerful celebration of iconic divas of soul, pop, Broadway, R&B, jazz, opera and gospel that'll blow the roof off Music Hall. Experience some of the most popular songs made famous by the likes of Adele, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston and others. Three powerhouse singers join the Pops for an inspiring display of vocal fireworks sure to make you say, “I’m with HER!”

Inspired composer and filmmaker pairs create short-format films with new music performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with conductor and CSO Creative Partner, Matthias Pintscher. Produced in collaboration with Liquid Music as part of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial: World Record, Sun Dogs seeks to understand the natural world that can’t be touched or measured. Typically a composer responds to a director’s ideas in a film scoring capacity, or a filmmaker is given music to respond to visually, but Sun Dogs explores how stories can be told with music and film from equal footing.

Join JMR, the Pops and audience favorite Michael Feinstein for a tour through the life and songs of Judy Garland, in honor of her 100th birthday. Enjoy big screen film clips, never-before-seen photos, rare audio recordings, good humor and, of course, great music. We’ll explore Judy’s early career through her trip over the rainbow, her time on TV and the unforgettable concert years—with songs you know and love like "Get Happy," "Over the Rainbow," and more.

Do you remember your brain before the internet? Before you became tethered to a tiny computer that travels on an infinite loop from nightstand to pocket to purse to your hand and back again? Were your dreams different? Did you wander the streets of a strange city, and did you delight in the terror of getting lost? In a new song cycle, Gabriel Kahane examines our cultural and economic obsessions with convenience and efficiency, and the debts that accrue as a result: debts to labor, to the planet, to privacy and, increasingly, to our free will.

Romantic themes that stand the test of time? Check. Epic moments so powerful they give you goosebumps? Oh, absolutely. Pops Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton leads a spectacular orchestral mixtape featuring some of Tchaikovsky’s greatest hits, including Romeo & Juliet, selections from Swan Lake, and of course, the 1812 Overture.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Die schöne Melusine ("The Fair Melusine")

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD: Violin Concerto

ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY: Die Seejungfrau ("The Mermaid")

Choreographer Rosie Herrera wants you to imagine that, after a night of gleefully overindulging in absinthe cocktails, filmmaker Federico Fellini stumbles down an alley in old Havana. A door cracks open and music washes over him like a sticky sunrise in September. He steps inside into a primordial soup of neon and sound and tropical heat. A wild undercurrent pulses through the room, whispering that anything (and everything) might happen.

JMR and the Pops wrap up the 22/23 season with a Broadway musical reimagined for the concert hall! The brainchild of renowned writing team Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, Ragtime, which follows three pursuits of the American Dream, became an instant classic. Nominated for 13 Tony Awards and two GRAMMY Awards in 1998, the show beat out The Lion King for the Tony for Best Original Score. Now you can experience the celebrated smash hit in a whole new way—in concert with the Cincinnati Pops!