Cincinnati Opera and 90.9 WGUC bring opera to the airwaves with fall broadcasts of the 2026 Summer Festival and a live 2027 Season Preview
CINCINNATI (October 26, 2026)—Cincinnati Opera and 90.9 WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical public radio station and the Opera’s media partner, continue their collaboration to bring local opera to the airwaves this fall and winter.
Beginning November 1, 2026, WGUC will broadcast six performances from Cincinnati Opera’s 2026 Summer Festival on Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. ET. Then, on Saturday, January 23, 2027, WGUC will air Cincinnati Opera’s 2027 Season Preview live from the Cincinnati Public Radio studios, and the public is invited to join the studio audience.
Cincinnati Opera’s 2026 Summer Festival took place June 18–August 2, 2026, at Cincinnati’s historic Music Hall. The fall broadcasts include Richard Strauss’s Salome; the world premiere of Kevin Day and Tifara Brown’s Lalovavi, the first work in Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project; Georges Bizet’s Carmen; Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice; and both of Cincinnati Opera’s 2026 Studio Sessions: “Soul & Sound 2.0: The Gospel of Tomorrow” and “Matthew White in Recital.”
The 2027 Season Preview in January offers an early look at Cincinnati Opera’s 107th Summer Festival, which features the world premiere of Maria Thompson Corley and Diana Solomon-Glover’s John Lewis: Good Trouble, the second work in the Black Opera Project; the all-star concert Viva Verdi!; Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; Puccini’s Turandot; and the return of Studio Sessions.
All broadcasts can be heard locally on air at 90.9 FM and online at wguc.org.
CINCINNATI OPERA’S 2026 SUMMER FESTIVAL ON 90.9 WGUC
Broadcast Schedule:
Sunday, November 1 | 8 p.m. ET
Salome
Originally performed June 18 and 20, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall
Music by Richard Strauss; libretto by Hedwig Lachmann, based on the play by Oscar Wilde
Robert Spano, conductor; Jose Maria Condemi, stage director
Featuring: Kathryn Lewek, Alfred Walker, Chad Shelton, Michelle DeYoung, Zach Borichevsky; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Description: 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.
Sunday, November 8 | 8 p.m. ET
Studio Sessions—Soul & Sound 2.0: The Gospel of Tomorrow
Originally performed June 25, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio
Featuring: Tifara Brown (poet and host), G. Thomas Allen (countertenor), Donald Lee III and Kevin Miller (pianos)
Description: Hosted by poet Tifara Brown and featuring countertenor G. Thomas Allen and pianists Kevin Miller and Donald Lee III, this intimate cabaret-style performance is more than a concert—it is a living, breathing ceremony, rooted in the gospel tradition and expanded through virtuosic performance and storytelling. The artists remember and reimagine the power of Black music across time, from the sacred foundation of spirituals into the heart of gospel, through the freedom of jazz and the depth of Black classical excellence, and into a bold Afrofuturist horizon.
Sunday, November 15 | 8 p.m. ET
Studio Sessions—Matthew White in Recital
Originally performed July 1, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio
Featuring: Matthew White (tenor), James Maverick (piano)
Description: Cincinnati audiences will remember tenor Matthew White from his 2025 starring role as Cavaradossi in Tosca and his Don José in 2026’s Carmen. During this Studio Session, White takes to the cabaret stage for his first-ever solo recital, featuring an enthralling evening of music, from opera arias to Appalachian folk tunes, with Cincinnati Opera’s Head of Music Staff James Maverick at the piano.
Sunday, November 22 | 8 p.m. ET
Lalovavi (world premiere)
Originally performed July 9 and 11, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall
Music by Kevin Day; libretto by Tifara Brown
Kevin Miller, conductor; Kimille Howard, stage director and dramaturg
Featuring: Brittany Olivia Logan, Adrienne Danrich, Morris Robinson, Talise Trevigne, Zoie Reams, Terrence Chin-Loy, Michael Preacely, G. Thomas Allen; Cincinnati Opera Chorus; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Description: Set 400 years into the future, Lalovavi (lah-low-VAH-vee) 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.
Sunday, November 29 | 8 p.m. ET
Carmen
Originally performed July 25, 29, 31, and August 2, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall
Music by Georges Bizet; libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Ramón Tebar, conductor; Paul Curran, original stage director; Anderson Nunnelly, revival stage director
Featuring: J’Nai Bridges, Matthew White, Teresa Perrotta, Ryan McKinny, Sam Smith, Kayleigh Decker, Jeysla Rosario Santos, Thomas Dreeze, Jack Keller, Nathan De’Shon Myers; Cincinnati Opera Chorus; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Description: The fiercely independent Carmen lives—and loves—on her own terms. When she sets her sights on Don José, a straitlaced soldier with a sweetheart 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.
Sunday, December 6 | 8 p.m. ET
Orpheus and Euridice
Originally performed July 28, 30, and August 1, 2026, at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio
Music and text by Ricky Ian Gordon
Stephen Mulligan, conductor; Audrey Chait, stage director
Featuring Heidi Middendorf (soprano), Christopher Pell (clarinet); members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Description: 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.
Thanks to the L and L Nippert Charitable Foundation and the Willard and Jean Mulford Charitable Fund and the Victoria L. Memmel Charitable Fund of the Cambridge Charitable Foundation for supporting WGUC’s Cincinnati Opera broadcasts.
CINCINNATI OPERA’S 2027 SEASON PREVIEW: LIVE ON 90.9 WGUC
Saturday, January 23, 2027 | 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Public Radio, 2117 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45207
Broadcast live on 90.9 FM and wguc.org
Tickets: $15; to order, visit www.cincinnatiopera.org beginning Monday, October 26.
Description: Be part of the live studio audience for an inside look at Cincinnati Opera’s 2027 Summer Festival. Hosted by Evans Mirageas, Cincinnati Opera’s Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director, the program explores the history behind each work and shares behind-the-scenes details about the productions coming to Music Hall. Live singers will perform excerpts from the 2027 Summer Festival, which features John Lewis: Good Trouble, Viva Verdi!, The Marriage of Figaro, Turandot, and Studio Sessions.
About Cincinnati Public Radio
Cincinnati Public Radio is home to 90.9 WGUC, Greater Cincinnati’s classical music station, and 91.7 WVXU, the region’s NPR news and information station. In addition to its broadcast programming, Cincinnati Public Radio offers a variety of music experiences through its digital streams, including JazzWorks, Inhailer Radio, and Radio Artifact. Through music, journalism, and community engagement, Cincinnati Public Radio connects audiences to the arts, culture, and stories that enrich our region. Learn more at Cinradio.org.
About Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera’s mission is to enrich and connect our community through diverse opera experiences. Founded in 1920, it is the second-oldest opera company in the U.S. It presents a season of grand opera every summer at Cincinnati Music Hall, a National Historic Landmark, featuring world-renowned artists and the esteemed Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The company also offers year-round education and community engagement programming throughout the Greater Cincinnati region.
The company’s repertoire spans beloved classics and bold new works, with a distinguished tradition of producing opera that resonates far beyond the stage. Select regional, national, and world premieres include Margaret Garner (2005), Fellow Travelers (2016), and Blind Injustice (2019), which have gone on to productions across the country. Cincinnati Opera is also the originating home of The Black Opera Project, a first-of-its-kind initiative creating three full-length operas from 2026 through 2028 celebrating the Black American experience. Through Opera Fusion: New Works, its long-running creative partnership with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the company shepherds new American operas from workshop to world premiere. Cincinnati Opera is a proud member of OPERA America. Learn more at cincinnatiopera.org.
Cincinnati Opera is supported by The Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund as well as the generosity of tens of thousands of contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign. Programming is made possible in part by an investment of public funds from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Cincinnati Opera also receives support from The Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation Fund for Leading Artists, along with many other generous individuals, corporations, and foundations.
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The Cover of Life is the second show of Mason Players’ 2027 Season. The production is being directed by Gail Rudolph, produced by Mary Stan Fizer, and stage managed by Melodie LaNicca and will be presented April 23 through May 1, 2027.
