The Nouveau Program supports increased participation in classical music by African American and Latine student musicians by providing equitable opportunities for music study and performance. The Nouveau Program includes several groups, and students must audition to participate. Nouveau members receive weekly chamber coaching, perform throughout the season, and participate in age-appropriate workshops and activities. Nouveau ensembles include Novice, Apprentice, Chamber Players and Winds. The Nouveau Program is supported by The Unnewehr Foundation, The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links Incorporated, The Voice of Your Customer and Journey Steel.
DIANA FLORES, Nouveau Liaison to Learning Department. Costa Rica-born cellist Diana Flores is an accomplished orchestral and chamber musician, as well as an educator, currently based in Cincinnati. She has performed with prestigious ensembles such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Pops, Grant Park Music Festival, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and Sarasota Orchestra, among others. Flores was also a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has participated in renowned summer festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Orchestra of the Americas, and Campos do Jordão in Brazil.
Since 2022, Flores has been a member of Sphinx Virtuosi, contributing to their debut album Songs for Our Times with Deutsche Grammophon. An experienced educator, Flores teaches at the School of Creative and Performing Arts and coaches chamber music for The Nouveau Program.
THE POIESIS QUARTET, Apprentice and Chamber Players Coach. Founded 2022, the Poiesis Quartet is the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Among their awards are the 2026 Cleveland Quartet Award, the First Prize and Commission Prize of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the 2023 Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. As 2024 winners of the Louis & Susan Meisel Competition, the quartet joined the Concert Artist Guild Roster.
Made up of inter- and multi-disciplinary young artists, Poiesis seeks to program music of all styles and genres and expand the traditional quartet setting with an emphasis on platforming works by emerging and underrepresented composers. The Poiesis Quartet strives to create unique moments of synchronicity, sensitivity and verve in each performance.
The name Poiesis is derived from an ancient Greek word that means “to make,” specifically to create something that has not existed before. Members of Poiesis are violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor and cellist Drew Dansby. Dansby is also a member of the CSO cello section.