Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to Host LUMENOCITY: RE-IMAGINE Block Party This August

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce details of the LUMENOCITY: RE-IMAGINE Block Party to take place on Fifth Street outside the Taft Theatre Aug. 5-7, 2016. The Block Party, which is free and open to the public, is designed to offer interactive, family-friendly art experiences while celebrating the fourth and final popular community festival and concert, LUMENOCITY, presented by the CSO.

The Block Party will take place on Fifth Street between Broadway and Sycamore in downtown Cincinnati (which will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5 and throughout the weekend), as well as in the P&G pavilion. A full schedule of events and performances is available below and at LUMENOCITY2016.com.

Block Party Hours

Friday, Aug. 5: 7 p.m. - midnight Saturday, Aug. 6: 1 p.m. - midnight Sunday, Aug. 7: 1 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Block Party Highlights

VR Dome: A highlight of the LUMENOCITY Block Party will be a free interactive Virtual Reality dome sponsored by Lightborne and FotoFocus 2016. The dome incorporates Google Tilt Brush technology that participants can use to create virtual art pieces. While visitors take turns experiencing the 3-D technology, local visual artists will also use the technology to create works of art that will be displayed on an LED screen outside the dome. Students from Northern Kentucky University's College of Informatics will be on hand to guide visitors through the experience. The dome will be open throughout the weekend. Participation of local artists is made possible by The Jennie RosenthAl Berliant and Allan Berliant Family Fund. (The VR Dome is for participants ages 14 and up.)

Instrument 112: Created expressly for LUMENOCITY, students and faculty from the University of Cincinnati School of Design will present an immersive, responsive installation that transforms space and body movements into sound, light, color. The installation creates an audio-responsive environment in the day. Upon nightfall, walking, playing, or dancing through the space will activate a vibrant musical and visual experience.

Lantern Parade, presented by ArtsWave: On Friday, Aug. 5 at 9 p.m. kids and families are invited to join in a lantern parade, presented by ArtsWave. Joined by dancers from Pones, Inc. and The Cincy Brass, lighted costumes, glow sticks and instruments will welcome the start of LUMENOCITY weekend. Visitors may visit the lantern making station in the Family Fun Zone prior to the start of the parade to create their own glowing lanterns. The lantern making station will be open throughout the weekend.

Lighted costumed dancers: Custom LUMENOCITY-inspired lighted costumes, created by Covington-KY-based artist Lindsey Whittle, will be worn by dancers from Pones Inc.

Music Lab: Partners at Antonio Violins will be on hand to demonstrate instruments and aid visitors in trying out different musical instruments.

The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Watch Party: The city's largest LUMENOCITY Watch Party will take place at the Block Party on Fifth Street. The indoor concert will be projected on a giant LED screen outside during the performances at 9:40 p.m. Friday, and 3:40 and 9:40 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Swing Set Drum Kit (Fri/Sat only): Participants are invited to make kinetic art with this human-powered drum set.

Art of Parts (Sunday only): Local artist Jonathan Gibson will create crowd-sourced art, then prepare it for selling it by the part. He'll collect art submissions from the community in advance and put them together on site. Visitors to the Block Party can name their price to take a piece of the final product home on Sunday. Bids will be taken from 8:30-9:30 p.m., and all proceeds help support the CSO and its presentation of LUMENOCITY.

Family Fun Zone: The Family Fun Zone will be open throughout the weekend with art projects, face painting, lantern-making, bubble-making, glow jump-ropes and more.

Community art project: Imagine your city in the future. All ages are welcome to participate. Email a high-resolution image to lumenocity@cincinnatisymphony.org by Wed, July 27 and the artwork may be featured on the LED screen at the LUMENOCITY Block Party.

Food and drinks: Food trucks and beverage purchase stations will be present throughout LUMENOCITY weekend. Beer and wine will be available for purchase, including the special LUMENOCITY: Glow, brewed by Rhinegeist Brewery.

What to bring: Generally-accepted street festival rules apply. Lawn chairs, large backpacks or bags, coolers and picnic set-ups are prohibited. Picnic areas will be available. Permitted items include factory-sealed water bottles, umbrellas and small bags/purses. For a complete list of allowable items, visit LUMENOCITY2016.com.

Easy entry: Ticketholders to LUMENOCITY performances will be able to stop by the CSO Box Office booth at the Block Party to have their tickets scanned and receive a wristband for faster entry into the Taft Theatre for their performance.

First-timer ticket drawing: Block Party attendees who do not already have tickets to any of the LUMENOCITY performances and who have never attended a CSO or Pops concert are eligible for a ticket drawing for the opportunity to purchase tickets to this year's LUMENOCITY concerts. More details will be available at the CSO Box Office booth at the Block Party.

About LUMENOCITY

The CSO presents LUMENOCITY is a popular concert and community festival featuring dazzling visual effects and 3D image mapping. This year's all-new 45-minute LUMENOCITY program, the entirety of which will include spectacular image-mapping choreographed to music creating an engrossing audience experience, will feature the Orchestra performing as both the CSO and the Cincinnati Pops. CSO Music Director Louis Langre?e and Pops Conductor John Morris Russell will share the podium in a stylistically diverse musical program that showcases Cincinnati's extraordinary orchestra and includes familiar and powerful music by John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Johannes Brahms and Dmitri Shostakovich.

The stunning visual effects for the CSO Presents LUMENOCITY: Re-imagine are created by Lightborne, an acclaimed concept factory design studio and Production Company based in Over- the-Rhine that has produced mind-blowing visual effects for the Katy Perry Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2015 and many touring musicians including Andrea Bocelli, Kanye West, Fleetwood Mac and Taylor Swift. The Orchestra has had a long and successful working relationship with Lightborne on a number of projects.

LUMENOCITY 2016 concert schedule

While the Block Party remains free and open to the public, tickets are required to enter the Taft Theatre and attend the performance. Limited tickets remain available at LUMENOCITY2016.com.

FRI AUG 5: 2 performances

Performance 1: 8:00 p.m. Performance 2: 9:40 p.m.

SAT AUG 6: 4 performances

Performance 1: 2:00 p.m. Performance 2: 3:40 p.m. Performance 3: 8:00 p.m. Performance 4: 9:40 p.m.

SUN AUG 7: 4 performances

Performance 1: 2:00 p.m. Performance 2: 3:40 p.m. Performance 3: 8:00 p.m. Performance 4: 9:40 p.m.

The CSO, which also performs and records as the Cincinnati Pops, is one of America's finest and most versatile ensembles. With a determination for greatness and a rich tradition that dates back over 120 years, the internationally acclaimed CSO has performed the American premieres of works by the likes of Debussy, Mahler, Ravel and Barto?k, and commissioned important compositions that have since become mainstays of the classical repertoire including Aaron Copland's iconic Fanfare for the Common Man. With new commissions and groundbreaking initiatives like LUMENOCITY, One City, One Symphony, and the MusicNOW Festival collaboration, the Orchestra is committed to being a place of experimentation. As Cincinnati's ambassador, the Orchestra has toured extensively and sold millions of recordings around the globe, and as Cincinnati's own, the Orchestra elevates the City's vibrant cultural scene not only through CSO and Cincinnati Pops performances, but also by serving as the official orchestra for the Cincinnati Ballet, May Festival and Cincinnati Opera.

Lightborne is a design-driven company specializing in projects that incorporate motion design, live action, animation, and visual effects. The firm's designers and directors love creative collaboration, where the primary goal is to produce work that is visually strong, innovative, and moving. Lightborne's client base is wide; the firm works with advertising agencies, broadcast companies and international musical artists. The work Lightborne generates is equally diverse; the firm produces commercials, concert tour visuals, web content, environmental digital signage and long format videos. Members of the creative team are all equally committed to an ongoing quest for the unique and the exceptional.

Lightborne has brought its unique and capable eye to the world of concert tour visual design, delivering large-scale video content to some of the biggest touring artists of today, including: Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Lenny Kravitz, Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Kenny Chesney, Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac and many others, as well as venues like American Idol, PBS Great Performances, American Music Awards and the Super Bowl Half Time Show. These live, high profile events have allowed Lightborne to develop highly customizable work. In addition, Lightborne routinely collaborates with world-class directors, musicians, stage designers, lighting directors, and performers, making Lightborne the perfect partner for the CSO Presents LUMENOCITY.

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