Go with the Flow
With one pass, you can experience a year of compelling Black arts experiences across jazz, theater, visual art and opera.
The 2026–27 lineup ArtsWave Flow series begins Sept. 10, as Grammy winners Branford Marsalis Quartet and Dianne Reeves celebrate the centennial of John Coltrane’s birth with a performance at the Aronoff Center.
The performance will be a live experience of the new album, “Dedicated to You,” from Marsalis and Reeves that that pays tribute to Coltrane. The album features the acclaimed saxophonist and his quartet performing with the great vocalist. Together they offer new renditions of the six standards that appeared on the 1963 Impulse album “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman,” as well as additional instrumental performances of compositions from Coltrane’s canon, to create an exquisite homage.
The ArtsWave Flow Pass
The pass for four events is available now. The cost is $195 and includes reserved seating and a Flow Social.
Flow Passes are on sale at artswave.org/flow.
“Flow gives people a way to experience some of the best Black artistry in the country, right here in Cincinnati, and to be part of growing it,” says Alecia Kintner, president and CEO of ArtsWave. “There’s nothing else like it in the region: one pass, moving across four of Cincinnati’s stages, with Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, the Taft Museum of Art and Cincinnati Opera all bringing a piece of this season together. That kind of partnership is how you build a real, lasting audience for Black artistry, and that’s how we build a more vibrant and connected region for everyone.”
Each Flow Pass event opens with a Flow Social, a reception with food, drinks and conversation among Flow Pass Holders, artists and community leaders, before the main performance begins. The four events run from September 2026 through June 2027 and are presented in partnership with Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, the Taft Museum of Art and Cincinnati Opera, each already producing the work that Flow is built around.
2026–27 Season at a Glance
All events include a themed Pass holder-only ‘Flow Social’ with food, drinks and light bites.
Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 — Aronoff Center, Procter & Gamble Hall.
September 2026 marks the centennial of John Coltrane’s birth. The Branford Marsalis Quartet and five-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves revisit Coltrane’s landmark 1963 collaboration with Johnny Hartman on a new world tour. Presented by the Cincinnati Arts Association.
“The African Company Presents Richard III”
Thursday, Feb.11, 2027 — Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
Written by Carlyle Brown, the play tells the true story of an all-Black theatre troupe in 1821 that staged Shakespeare on its own terms while a rival white theater mounted a competing production blocks away, turning performance itself into an act of defiance.
Robert S. Duncanson Experience at the Taft Museum of Art
Spring 2027, date to be announced — Taft Museum of Art.
An intimate exploration of Robert S. Duncanson’s legacy with Taft curators, centered on murals recognized as among the most significant pre-Civil War domestic artworks in the country. Hosted jointly with the Taft Museum’s Duncanson Society.
“John Lewis: Good Trouble” (World Premiere)
Friday, June 18, 2027 — Music Hall, Springer Auditorium.
Presented as part of Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project, this new opera by composer Maria Thompson Corley follows John Lewis from a young civil rights leader to elder statesman, driven by his belief in what he called “the Beloved Community.” The production features bass Morris Robinson, a Cincinnati Opera Artistic Advisor.
Flow Pass Holders join a growing community built around one goal: helping Black artistry find and keep a larger audience in Cincinnati.
Flow’s 2026–27 season also arrives during ArtsWave’s centennial year, ahead of the organization’s 100 Days of Arts programming in spring 2027; Flow Pass Holders will receive bonus offers and special invitations tied to that celebration. Flow is presented by Fifth Third Bank, with support from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Triversity and additional regional sponsors.