Conductor Mark Gibson will lead the CCM Philharmonia on Friday evening.

Read CityBeat week in and week out, and you'll find that there are literally hundreds of performances that happen during a school year at the University of Cincinnati's COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC. There's such a wealth of Jazz, Opera, chamber music, drama, musical theater, dance and orchestral music that the average arts consumer would be hard pressed to take it all in.

Unless you decide to show up at CCM on Friday evening at 6:30 for A MOVEABLE FEAST. Hosted by the Friends of CCM, who raise funds for financial assistance, scholarships and career development for students, the evening is also intended to heighten awareness of CCM in the community.

If you go, you'll get an itinerary that will steer you through a welter of brief performance choices, in addition to tours of CCM's remarkable scenery, costume and lighting design studios. There will be two moments to gather everyone attending: a "Big Band Prelude" at 7:30 p.m. featuring the CCM Jazz Ensemble directed by Rick VanMatre, and a "Philharmonia Finale" at 10 p.m. featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson.

In between you can socialize and nibble on hors d'oeuvres from Jeff Thomas Catering and sip cocktails outside CCM's many venues. Musical theater majors will sing several numbers, including a patriotic Broadway medley; the opera department will offer selections from an upcoming production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro; the dancers will perform excerpts from Giselle and La Bayadère. The string department will do tunes by Brahms and Liszt; the winds will blow some Dvorák.

It's a guarantee that you'll be impressed by these young performers who are training to be tomorrow's professionals. If you're a twentysomething, admission is $20; it's $30 for those in their 30s and $40 for the next bracket. Fifty and older -- it's $50. And no one will be carded: It's an honor system. If you're busted, you might have to sing or dance yourself. 513-556-2100. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

Saturday 01
Jerry's not dead, man. He totally lives on with, like, that ice cream flavor and the loving Grateful Dead mimicry of Chicago's DARK STAR ORCHESTRA. The reason DSO gets a lot more notice than your usual Dead tribute group is their attention to detail. The Dead played over 2,500 shows in their 30-year run and, with their legendary taper-friendliness, each show is probably available to listen to. Each night before a show, the DSO picks one of those gigs and then re-creates it song-by-song, right down to the stage-plot and equipment. The band, like their heroes, has become a concert circuit phenom, and many actual Dead members have given them their stamp of approval by appearing with DSO onstage. So what will they do when they play Bogart's on Saturday? It's impossible to say, but don't bank on seeing the famed Woodstock set, which Dead members have derided as perhaps their worst ever. 513-562-4949. (See Music.) -- MIKE BREEN

Sunday 02
Looking for a way to recognize Black History Month? Join in the 14th Annual NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN READ-IN CHAIN hosted at the Main Library. Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English and endorsed by the International Reading Association, the read-in involves over 1 million readers from bookstores, schools, churches, libraries and professional organizations across the nation. It's easy to participate -- just grab a book by any African-American author and head into the Reading Garden Alcove or the Atrium at the Main Library. Special guest Michelle Hopkins of WLWT-TV 5 will be making an appearance. All are invited to help make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. 4-5 p.m. Sunday. 513-369-6900. (See Literary.) -- MELINA VISSAT

Monday 03
Nothing much to do on a Monday night, right? Here's the tonic to overcome a blah evening: Go see a brand-new play at a public reading by professionals at ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI. At 7 p.m. the monthly Theatre of the Mind series offers -- for a dirt-cheap $5 ticket -- a professional presentation of Brooks Appelbaum's IF YOU DON'T KNOW NOW. The playwright is an actress and a writer (she's been published in The New Yorker) who trained as a director at Yale. Her script is a bittersweet drama about a woman holding a vigil over her dying father. The reading is directed by the Cincinnati Playhouse's Michael E. Haney, who directed that theater's current production of Proof. 513-421-3555. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

Wednesday 05
How about some hot Shakespeare action to warm up those winter doldrums? The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Film Society are teaming up for CINEMUSICA, a series of films and related CSO concerts. The first in the series is Franco Zeffirelli's steamy 1968 version of ROMEO AND JULIET. The film, starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in the title roles, caused quite a stir in its day -- and though its risqué nature is tame by today's standards, the lead performances are just as combustible as they were 35 years ago. Those participating receive buy-one-get-one-free vouchers to a corresponding CSO concert at Music Hall. 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Cincinnati Art Museum Auditorium. 513-721-2787. (See Events.) -- JASON GARGANO

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