Conductor

The ingenuity and courage of the 1960s missions to the Moon sparked a spirit of wonderment in the world’s creative community. Films and TV shows had their own “space race” that included glorious and inspiring music that lives far beyond those original productions.

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A Cosmic Voyage: Symphony in Space

Winspear Centre

For over two decades, Classical Roots has been a Cincinnati community staple celebrating the rich legacy of African American music. Love and community will ring throughout Music Hall when the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Choir, Nouveau Program and more come together for an evening of joyful song. JMR leads an inspirational program that will light up your heart and bring you to your feet!

Classical Roots

Cincinnati Music Hall

Be uplifted and inspired by a powerful new musical-visual work created by composer Peter Boyer and photographer Joe Sohm. Stunning video imagery from across all 50 states, passages from Boyer’s quintessential American-themed orchestral music, plus live narration of powerful, relevant quotes from throughout American history will combine to celebrate the land, cities, towns, people and spirit of the United States for its 250th birthday.

American Mosaic

Password, please! Travel across Berlin, New York, Paris, Buenos Aires and beyond as you ring in the New Year in the style of 1930s cabaret speakeasies. With an intoxicating blend of decadence, rebellion and raw emotion, cabaret music thrives on the tension between love and tragedy. Join JMR and the Pops as they perform iconic songs of Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), Kurt Weill (Threepenny Opera), Edith Piaf (La Vie en Rose) and more. Your evening at our cabaret café will be one of playful indulgence.

NEW YEAR’S EVE: Cabaret Café

There’s nothing like hearing holiday music played by a world-renowned orchestra and chorus. Head to Orchestra Hall — decked in boughs of holly — for a program of popular carols, holiday favorites and festive surprises. Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus perform lavish, stirring arrangements that are sure to inspire holiday cheer in all.

Merry, Merry Chicago!

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

There's nothing quite as magical as the Pops during the holiday season, when family memories are created anew at festive, sold-out performances of Holiday Pops! This December, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Cody Fry will join JMR, the Pops, choruses and dancers from around the city to bring your holiday favorites to life.

Holiday Pops

Celebrate America with the 80 stirring voices of the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club. A tribute to America’s heroes with all your favorite red, white, and blue melodies. Patriotic anthems, Broadway hits, choir classics, and more – in concert with the Nashville Symphony! Also featuring an invigorating performance by the USNA Pipes and Drums band!

U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club

Shermerhorn Symphony Center

Fusing together elements of cirque acrobatics, classical dance and contemporary theatre, Troupe Vertigo brings audiences on a spellbinding journey through the world of artistic movement. Using highly stylized choreography, lighting and music to create scenes with imaginative visual landscapes, prepare to be mesmerized by music from Bizet, Lecuona, Albéniz and more, as reimagined by the fantastical Troupe Vertigo and the Cincinnati Pops.

TROUPE VERTIGO: Cirque España!

Join JMR and the Cincinnati Pops for its annual July 4 celebration, featuring patriotic favorites and a spectacular post-concert firework show! Complete with ample space to picnic and play at Riverbend, there’s no better way to celebrate.

Red, White & Boom!

Riverbend Music Center

Celebrate our Season Finale with a vibrant program that highlights rarely heard gems and captivating sounds. We begin with the spirited Overture in C by Marianna Martines, an 18th-century composer whose lively and sophisticated style shines in this delightful work, rediscovered and re-embraced by modern audiences. 

34th Season Finale

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Best known for starring on Broadway in Wicked and Hamilton, and for her portrayal of Nina Rosario in the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, Broadway icon Mandy Gonzalez joins JMR and the Pops in a celebration of the Latine voices of Broadway, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno and Linda Ronstadt. Expect hits from In the Heights, Hamilton, Moana and many more!

MANDY GONZALEZ: La Vida Broadway

CSYO-CSO Side by Side

From Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker to Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington, the Harlem Renaissance was a period of Black creative cultural expression in the United States that greatly influenced the sound of Jazz and Blues as we know it today. JMR, the Cincinnati Pops and special guests celebrate the centennial anniversary of the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, with the music, dance and poetry of an all-American movement known around the world.

AMERICAN ORIGINALS: Harlem Renaissance

Love and community ring throughout Music Hall when the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Choir and Nouveau Program celebrate a much-beloved Queen City tradition. JMR leads an inspirational program — an evening of powerful performances that will fill your heart with joy and bring you to your feet!

Celebrate two of St. Louis’ greatest loves—music and baseball—with your SLSO. Experience the thrill of the game as we team up with former All-Star St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, who performs songs from his new country album. The evening features Americana classics and a special rendition of the poem “Casey at Bat” that conveys all the drama of America’s favorite pastime. 

Double Play featuring Adam Wainwright

Stifel Theatre

Ring in the New Year with the Pops and the sophisticated and timeless music of Cole Porter! Join Tony DeSare and his guests Aubrey Logan (trombone/vocals) and John Manzari (tap dance/vocals) as they give their fresh spin on such hits as: “Night and Day,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “You’re the Top,” and many more.


Let's Misbehave: The Music Of Cole Porter

There’s nothing quite as magical as the memories made during the holiday season and, thanks to you, Holiday Pops has allowed us to share and create those memories year after year. With sold-out performances in a decked-out Music Hall, we invite you to join us again this year as Broadway star Norm Lewis joins JMR and the Pops with choruses, vocalists and dancers from around the city bringing festive favorites and holiday classics to life!

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack are bringing their groundbreaking symphony collaboration to Music Hall with the Cincinnati Pops!

A founding member of the Grateful Dead, the legendary rock band that pioneered psychedelic and jam music, Bobby Weir is one of rock’s finest and most distinctive guitarists. In a career that has spanned six decades, Weir has become a rock music icon who continues to write new music, perform, and find ways to reinvent the timeless material of the Grateful Dead.

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Usually, you'll find Rick Steves touring the great destinations of Europe for his acclaimed PBS television series or within the pages of his numerous travel guides. Now you can join him on a different journey: A Symphonic Journey. From Italy, England, Austria, Norway and beyond, Steves combines Europe's most stirring orchestral classics with beautiful high-definition cinematography and his own insights into European history.

Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey

Enjoy a concert featuring iconic music from the ageless James Bond movie franchise, including hits from Skyfall, Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and more. John Morris Russell conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra alongside Broadway star and vocal powerhouse Capathia Jenkins in this salute to the notorious secret agent.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Symphony Center

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 and Nouveau Players in an evening of powerful and inspirational music.

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, performers 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 choruses and dancers presenting cultural traditions from around the world.

Livestream: The Dream Of America

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, performers share real stories of those arriving to America and the circumstances surrounding their journey.

The Dream of America

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!

The Doo Wop Project

Celebrate George Gershwin’s 125th birthday! An all-Gershwin tribute to the composer and pianist who ingeniously blended popular, jazz and classical genres to create a whole new style of music. Featuring ‘S Wonderful, The Man I Love, Porgy & Bess selections, An American in Paris and more.

Gershwin Celebration

Duke Energy Center for the Arts

JMR and The Pops ring in 2024 with the sophisticated jazz stylings of Edward “Duke” Ellington to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the legendary pianist and composers’ birth. Jazz vocalist Denzal Sinclaire will bring Ellington's lyrics to life with his velvety baritone, and dancers from Revolution Dance Theatre join in to lend their artistry to Ellington's arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite. Dust of your finest or come as you are, and get ready to swing into the new year in style with the classic and elegant sounds of “Duke.”

NEW YEAR'S EVE: Ellington at 125

Tony Award–winning Broadway icon Lea Salonga returns to the Cincinnati Pops for an unforgettable evening of music and storytelling. Celebrated for her iconic performances in Miss Saigon and Les Misérables, and as the singing voice of Disney’s Jasmine and Mulan, Salonga brings her luminous voice and heartfelt artistry to a program filled with Broadway showstoppers, beloved film songs and timeless favorites — all soaring with the full symphonic splendor of the Pops.

Lea Salonga

A true masterpiece for the senses, this unique live music experience takes orchestral classics like Gershwin's An American in Paris, Falla's Three-Cornered Hat and Respighi's Pines of Rome, and pairs them with sweeping visual projections by Lightborne of some of the world’s greatest works of art — transforming Music Hall into a living gallery as images and melodies come alive together. A feast for the eyes and ears, this fusion of sound and art invites you to experience the Cincinnati Pops in a brand-new way.   

Jmr’s Orchestral Canvas

The resounding voices of the US Naval Academy Glee Club fill Powell Hall as these talented midshipmen join the SLSO for an evening celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary. Enjoy an array of Broadway favorites, patriotic anthems, sea shanties, and choral classics. The program’s centerpiece, American Mosaic, is an exciting multimedia experience that pairs a sweeping orchestral journey with breathtaking visuals of the American landscape.

A Salute to America

Powell Hall

Celebrate the magic of the season with Cincinnati’s favorite holiday tradition! Each year, Music Hall fills with twinkling lights, the sound of nostalgic carols and the joy of thousands of audience members at Holiday Pops. Featuring talented choirs and dancers from around our city, plus special guests and a few surprises along the way, this is the Cincinnati Pops concert that captures all the wonder, warmth and togetherness of the holidays.  

Russell Conducts Symphonie Fantastique

The Bushnell

For more than two decades, Classical Roots has stood as a beloved Cincinnati tradition, honoring the powerful legacy and enduring influence of African American music. This year, love and unity will fill every corner of Music Hall as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Choir, members of the Nouveau Program and special guests join together for an evening of joyous celebration. Led by JMR, this inspiring program promises to warm your heart, lift your spirit and have you on your feet before the night is through! 

John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops celebrate American Roots music with a powerhouse gathering of today’s most electrifying bluegrass artists. Blazing a trail at the center of it all is Michael Cleveland, one of the most celebrated fiddlers of our time, with his Grammy-winning band Flamekeeper. Joining them are The Steel Wheels, known for their soulful Americana style, and the 2020 International Bluegrass Music Awards Entertainer of the Year Sister Sadie, bringing tight vocals, crisp picking and bold bluegrass spirit. From tender ballads to barn-burning breakdowns, experience the raw virtuosity and close-harmony storytelling of bluegrass elevated by the rich, full sound of the Pops.

Conductor

John Morris Russell

Events

Upcoming events

12 - 13 Sep, 2026

Lea Salonga ·

25 - 27 Sep, 2026

Jmr’s Orchestral Canvas · Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

20 - 21 Nov, 2026

A Salute to America · St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

11 - 13 Dec, 2026

Holiday Pops · Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

12 - 14 Feb, 2027

Russell Conducts Symphonie Fantastique · Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Past events

17 - 18 Apr, 2026

A Cosmic Voyage: Symphony in Space · Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

Mar 26, 2026

Classical Roots · Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in An American in Paris by Gershwin

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Pines of Rome by Respighi

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz

Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff

Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Prelude in C by Whitacre

Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Three-Cornered Hat by Falla

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

About

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