The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announces that local Cincinnati band Little Lights will be the opening act for the MusicNOW Festival on Friday, March 21. The band will perform at from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall’s Springer Auditorium. Comprised of Emmie Bishop, Scot Torres, and Gabriel Molnar, Little Lights features “Dreampop soundscapes, lush guitar washes, and vintage beats accompany softly sung melodies.” The full concert program begins at 8 p.m. with the CSO’s ensemble-in-residence eighth blackbird performing Bryce Dessner’s (MusicNOW Founder and Artistic Director and guitarist with popular rock band The National) Murder Ballades. The full CSO then performs Mr. Dessner’s St.

Carolyn by the Sea which features Bryce and his brother Aaron (also of The National) on electric guitar. The second half of the program consists of the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Pleasure Ground, a portrait work commissioned by the Orchestra depicting the life of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. The Orchestra brings the performance to a close with Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy.

The CSO’s pioneering MusicNOW collaboration represents a spirit of experimentation permeating Louis Langrée’s inaugural season as CSO Music Director. The Festival will continue on Saturday, March 22 with works by Jonny Greenwood, Penderecki, Prokofiev and a world premiere by David Lang.

Both performances will take place at Cincinnati’s historic Music Hall. Tickets for each concert (which include the opening act by Little Lights) are still available and start at $12. More information and tickets are available by calling the CSO Box Office at (513) 381-3300 or visiting www.cincinnatisymphony.org/musicnow.