Four years ago, clarinetist Ixi Chen moved from New York to join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and immediately began networking with other young professionals. A brainstorming session drew 15 musicians, and concert:nova was born. The group took inspiration from cellist Matt Haimowitz, a champion of new music who performs in concerts halls and Rock clubs and collaborates with leading conductors, Hip Hop artists and Klezmer musicians.  

For its third season opener, concert:nova joins forces with light sculptor Tony Luensman and video artist Charles Woodman for 'Playing With Light,' a typically eclectic program featuring works by George Crumb, Arvo Prt, George Tsontakis and the English Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis. They play at 7:30 p.m. at the concert:nova Garden downtown.  

Once a month, crowds gather at Northside Tavern for a hot session of trio sonatas and brass quintets. Or wind ensembles and string quartets. Or operatic arias. On a recent Sunday evening, an audience decked out in jeans, multiple tattoos and piercings ambled past the Cincinnati Wind Quintet warming up to perform a Viktor Ewald piece. It's another evening of Classical Revolution, Cincinnati's branch of a growing national network that bypasses the concert hall for bars and nightclubs.  

Once a month, crowds gather at Northside Tavern for a hot session of trio sonatas and brass quintets. Or wind ensembles and string quartets. Or operatic arias. It's another evening of Classical Revolution, Cincinnati's branch of a growing national network that bypasses the concert hall for bars and nightclubs. And the audience's ages skew well under 40, precisely the elusive demographic that symphony marketing directors have been slavering for. Advantage: Classical Revolution. It's free, the audience comes and goes and the bar keeps serving.  

Ainadamar is an old well located north of Granada. The name is Arabic for Fountain of Tears, and it was there that Spain's preeminent poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca was murdered by Falangists in August 1936. Lorca and his death are at the core of Osvaldo Gulijov's opera 'Ainadamar,' presented by Cincinnati Opera at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Music Hall.  

Ainadamar is an old well located north of Granada. The name is Arabic for "Fountain of Tears," and it was there that Spain's preeminent poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca was murdered by Falangists in August 1936. Lorca and his death are at the core of Osvaldo Gulijov's opera 'Ainadamar,' presented this week at Music Hall by Cincinnati Opera.  

Everyone expects the Spanish Inquisition in Verdi's 'Don Carlo,' a work hailed as his greatest opera. All the classic operatic elements are there in plus sizes: love, betrayal, intrigue and the most dysfunctional royal family this side of the Pyrenees. Don Carlo's arranged marriage to Elisabetta de Valois was thwarted by his father, King Phillip II, who married her himself. Carlo had the bad luck to fall in love with his intended (and she with him), and in despair, he allies himself with the oppressed people of Flanders. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Music Hall.  

The Cincinnati Opera season opens with Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro,' deemed "the perfect opera" for its witty libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte and its brilliant score. Figaro, the wily hero of 'The Barber of Seville,' and his equally clever fiancée Susanna are about to celebrate their wedding, but first they have to stop Figaro's boss, Count Almaviva, from claiming his feudal right to bed Susanna. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Music Hall.  

Cincinnati Opera’s summer season isn’t quite virtual travel, but you can experience Spain at four pivotal moments in its long history. Three operas are standard repertoire and one contemporary work has its regional premiere. And all were written by foreigners. “There’s a rich Spanish tradition of literature but it just didn’t make (it) into opera,” says Cincinnati Opera’s artistic director Evans Mirageas.   

Master Peter’s Puppet Theatre has its regional premiere in a co-production by Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Madcap Puppet Theatre (both recent Corbett Awards for the Arts winners) and Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Master Peter is part of the CCO’s first Spanish Legends series, which begins June 7.