Getting Social with the Flow Pass

What do a jazz legend, competing productions of Shakespeare, a pre-Civil War muralist and an opera about a civil rights leader have in common?

Several things, believe it or not. But for our purposes here? They’re all part of the Flow Pass 2026-27 season.

The Flow Pass connects audiences to four of the region’s most compelling Black arts experiences across jazz, theater, visual art and opera. Flow Pass Holders become part of a community built around one goal: building and keeping a larger audience for Black artistry in the Cincinnati region.

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.

With one pass, you access four Cincy stages, with every element of your night out provided: the entertainment, the company, the food and drinks, all part of the experience.

What about that entertainment?

Good question! Here’s what the season looks like, at a glance:

Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Presented by Cincinnati Arts Association at the Aronoff Center

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.

“The African Company Presents Richard III”
Thursday, February 11, 2027
Presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

Written by Carlyle Brown, the play tells the true story of an all-Black theater 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
Spring 2027 (date to be announced)
Presented by 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
Presented by Cincinnati Opera at Music Hall

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.

Part of a complete Cincy arts experience

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.

The Flow Pass is $195 for all four events, including reserved seating and every Flow Social ($180 for members of ArtsWave’s Circle of African American Leaders for the Arts). Get your Flow Pass here!.