Name: Studio Sessions 2026
Start: 2026-07-01T20:00:00
Location: Cincinnati Music Hall

Cincinnati Opera

Salome, the teenage princess of Judea, becomes dangerously fixated on the imprisoned prophet John the Baptist. When he rejects her advances, her desire curdles into obsession. At her stepfather Herod’s birthday feast, Salome dances and, at her maniacal mother’s behest, demands a gruesome reward. Set to Richard Strauss’s lush score, Salome is a fever dream of lust, power, and prophecy, where every glance is loaded and no desire is without cost.

Salome

Cincinnati Music Hall

Cincinnati Opera artists take to the cabaret stage in these intimate performances at Music Hall’s Wilks Studio. Each 90-minute performance includes musical selections that shine a spotlight on the amazing artistry and personal stories of these talented performers. Get ready for two remarkable nights of sound and splendor with our stars!

Studio Sessions 2026

Set 400 years into the future, Lalovavi is an Afrofuturist adventure that follows Persephone, the youngest daughter of the ruler of Atlas, the city formerly known as Atlanta. Currency and status in Atlas are determined based on the presence of Syndica, a gene that promotes vitality and longevity. When Persephone is found to possess a version of Syndica that confers immortality, she is betrayed by her family and must run for her life. She is thrust into an epic journey, uncovering a hidden past that leads her to discover love’s true meaning and the power to determine her destiny.

Lalovavi

The fiercely independent Carmen lives—and loves—on her own terms. When she sets her sights on Don José, a straight-laced soldier with a fiancée back home, he quickly unravels, abandoning everything for her. But Carmen’s heart doesn’t stay in one place for long, and when the charismatic toreador Escamillo enters the ring, jealousy turns deadly. Set to Bizet’s iconic, rhythm-driven score, Carmen is a story of desire, freedom, and fatal choices.

Carmen

Orpheus, a grieving musician, loses his beloved Euridice too soon—and is granted one impossible chance to bring her back from the underworld. Guided by music and memory, he descends into a realm of shadows with only one rule: don’t look back. Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice retells the ancient myth with lyrical intimacy and emotional clarity, blending classical voice with contemporary style. It’s a haunting meditation on love, loss, and letting go.