Matthias Pintscher, conductor

Conrad Tao, piano

As the winter winds quell and the flowers of spring begin to blossom, CSO Creative Partner Matthias Pintscher conducts the Orchestra in works capturing the feeling of life beginning anew. Copland’s Appalachian Spring shines with the “Simple Gifts” of the season. After wowing CSO audiences in 2021 and 2022, pianist Conrad Tao returns for Mozart’s intimate and reflective Concerto No. 24 in C Minor. Then, Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 triumphantly ushers in the Spring season.

John Morris Russell, conductor
Charl Brown, vocalist
Dwayne Cooper, vocalist
John Michael Dias, vocalist
Russell Fischer, vocalist
Dominic Nolfi, vocalist

Love the classic sounds of Frankie Valli, The Drifters, The Del Vikings? Join conductor John Morris Russell and the Pops for The Doo Wop Project. From foundational tunes of groups like the Crests and Flamingos through their influences on the sounds of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Seasons all the way to Doo Wop-ified versions of modern musicians like Michael Jackson and Jason Mraz. Featuring stars of Broadway’s smash hits Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical, the Doo Wop Project brings unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence to recreate some of the greatest music in American pop and rock history!

Sir Mark Elder, conductor

Pavel Kolesnikov, piano
Stefani Matsuo, violin

Stories of glory, chivalry and adventure abound as conductor Sir Mark Elder joins the CSO. Wagner’s Tannhäuser is a musical story of lust, love, and deliverance, as the opera’s title character makes a pilgrimage from the magical realm of Venus to his final redemption in Rome. Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben is an epic portrayal of the hero that exists in all of us, along with the accompanying joys and struggles, depicted through battling brass and tender string melodies. Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov brings his “fluid, fine-toned” (Gramophone) playing to Mozart’s melodic Piano Concerto No. 17.

Jason Seber, conductor
Ben Rector
Cody Fry

After selling out two shows at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, Platinum-selling indie superstar Ben Rector and viral TikTok singer/songwriter sensation Cody Fry are bringing their magic to Music Hall with the Pops!

Ben Rector’s piano-driven pop has garnered more than one billion streams and been featured in hundreds of TV shows and films. He teams up with Cody Fry, who achieved meteoric success on TikTok with his song, “I Hear a Symphony,” in 2021. That same year, Fry was nominated for a GRAMMY for his cover of “Eleanor Rigby.” Don’t miss these two in a one-of-a-kind acoustic show that features the intimacy of guitar and piano with the strength of a full symphony orchestra.

Ryan Bancroft, conductor

Inon Barnatan, piano

“Music is life, and like it, it is inextinguishable.” With this declaration written at the top of his score, Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4 pits the everlasting spirit of life against the horror of World War I with dramatic music leading to, what else, but a battle between two timpani! Making his CSO debut, conductor Ryan Bancroft opens this program with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade for Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, displaying the virtuosity of guest pianist Inon Barnatan, heralded by The New York Times as “one of the most admired pianists of his generation.”

John Morris Russell, conductor
Actors from Ensemble Theatre of

Cincinnati, D. Lynn Meyers Producing

Artistic Director

Conductor John Morris Russell and the Pops present Peter Boyer’s poignant Ellis Island: The Dream of America, celebrating the historic American immigrant experience and the American dream. Innovative in its format, bringing elements of theater and multimedia, including historical images from the Ellis Island archives, actors from Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati will share real stories of those arriving to America and the circumstances surrounding their journey.

The program opens by showcasing the vibrancy of Cincinnati’s international communities, with the Donauschwaben Schuhplattlers, Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir/Shanti Choir, Cincinnati Baila! Dance Academy, Ijo-Ugo Performing Arts Company, McGing Irish Dancers and Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts, presenting cultural dance traditions from around the world alongside music from your Cincinnati Pops.

John Morris Russell, conductor
Hi-Tek, DJ/Rapper
Classical Roots Community Choir,

Jason Alexander Holmes, resident

conductor

Chorus soloists: Veronda "Vee"

Gibson, Ciara Harper, Sonia

Harper, Mary Patton, Noel Walton, Rita Winters

The Nouveau Program, Marion Peraza,

director

Lauren Eylise, vocalist

Noah Hawes, rapper & narrator

Alan B. Jones, narrator
Daru Jones, drummer

Yalie Saweda Kamara, Poet Laureate of

Cincinnati

J.PERIOD, DJ/Producer

Gabrielle Walker, Youth Poet Laureate of

Cincinnati

Love and fellowship ring throughout Music Hall for one of Cincinnati's most anticipated musical traditions of each year! JMR leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Choir, Nouveau Program and special guest artists in an evening of inspirational music and poetry encompassing a variety of genres from Gospel to Hip-Hop.

NOTE: Portions of this performance include adult themes and language

Daniel Wiley, conductor

Augustin Hadelich, violin

Schoenberg's music, before he became known as a father of 20th-century 12-tone composition, developed from the harmonic bedrock of Romantics like Brahms, Mahler and Richard Strauss. His "Transfigured Night" was further heightened when Schoenberg met the love of his life and found inspiration in poetry of hope and acceptance. Led by Louis Langrée, the CSO performs this, along with Brahms' Violin Concerto, which features the return of Grammy-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich, and a co-commission from former CSO Composer-in-Residence Jonathan Bailey Holland.

Please note: Music Director Louis Langrée has suffered an injury due to a fall yesterday and will not be conducting the APR 21 CSO program, Hadelich & Holland. Assistant Conductor Daniel Wiley will step in to lead the Orchestra in his CSO debut. The pre-concert talk with Wiley has been cancelled to accommodate for the conductor change. The program will remain intact.

Katharina Wincor, conductor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is filled with optimistic and lyrical music, leading to a finale of fanfares and dances. Conductor Katharina Wincor, who led the May Festival's 2022 production of Candide, returns to Music Hall and welcomes cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, our 2024 MAC Music Innovator, for Shostakovich's raw and rhythmic first Cello Concerto.

Louis Langrée, conductor

Bryce Dessner, composer

Katia and Marielle Labèque, duo pianos

“Wires that connect us, wires that make sound and wires that separate us from one another.”
– Bryce Dessner

Like an interwoven tapestry of wires, both literal and metaphorical, composer Bryce Dessner — member of Grammy-winning band The National — along with piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque join Louis Langrée and the CSO to explore the 21st century sound.

Louis Langrée, conductor

Alice Sara Ott, piano

If Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is known as a musical embodiment of fate, his Seventh carries the spirit of freedom and liberation, with catchy, dance-like melodies woven throughout. Bryce Dessner, founder of Cincinnati’s MusicNOW Festival and a member of the Grammy-winning band The National, shares two of his works for orchestra.

Louis Langrée, conductor
Latonia Moore, soprano

In his final program as Music Director, Louis Langrée and the CSO share the stage one more time for a performance that will pay tribute to highlights of their time together over the past 11 years. Grammy Award-winning soprano Latonia Moore will join the CSO for the world premiere of a new orchestral song cycle by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, whose piece You Have the Right to Remain Silent profoundly impacted Louis and left a poignant impression on livestream viewers at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program also includes Ravel’s mythical and airy Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, a work that Louis and the Orchestra performed on tour in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in 2017; Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2, which was last performed in 2015 as part of that season’s One City, One Symphony initiative; and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which was a part of an all-French program that opened the Orchestra’s 2018-19 season at the newly renovated Music Hall.

Expect moving music and memories, celebrating the final performances of the CSO’s beloved Music Director.