What You Need to Know About Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Beethoven 9

Featuring the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus

CHICAGO (3/2/2022) – Lyric Opera will celebrate Sir Andrew Davis’s magnificent two-decade tenure as music director with a special concert on Friday, April 1 at 7:00 pm at the Lyric Opera House. Sir Andrew will conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the "Choral," music’s most exalted hymn to the human spirit. Beethoven’s 9th is one of Sir Andrew’s favorite works and the first time it will be performed on Lyric’s stage. Audiences eagerly await the return of Sir Andrew Davis to the podium at Lyric, and this one-night-only performance is almost sold out.

The program will begin with the Chicago premiere of new choral work, A Seed of Joy, by Sir Andrew’s son, Ed Frazier Davis, an impressively gifted composer. This concert will be dedicated to the memory of Sir Andrew’s late wife and Ed’s mother, Lady Gianna Rolandi Davis, who, after a distinguished international career as a performing artist, served as director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center from 2006 to 2013.

The performance concert features the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and four outstanding soloists: bass-baritone Eric Owens, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members, soprano Mathilda Edge and mezzo-soprano Kathleen Felty.

Soprano Mathilda Edge is in her third year with the Ryan Opera Center. In Lyric’s 2019/20 Season, she was seen as Berta in The Barber of Seville, and her 2021/22 Lyric appearances include Lady in Waiting in Macbeth and First Lady in The Magic Flute.
Mezzo-soprano Kathleen Felty is also a third-year Ryan Opera Center Ensemble member. In Lyric’s 2019/20 Season, she sang the role of Laura in Luisa Miller, and last fall she performed Third Lady in The Magic Flute in the 2021/22 Season.
Tenor Matthew Polenzani, an alumnus of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center, has appeared at Lyric in 15 roles since his debut in Simon Boccanegra in the 1995/96 Season, most recently the title role in Idomeneo in the 2018/19 Season, Nadir in The Pearl Fishers and the Duke in Rigoletto in the 2017/18 Season, and Tamino in The Magic Flute in the 2016/17 Season. His 2021/22 Season includes three appearances at the Metropolitan Opera and his much-anticipated role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland.
Bass-baritone Eric Owens has performed seven roles at Lyric since his debut as General Leslie Groves in Doctor Atomic in the 2007/08 Season, most recently The Wanderer (Wotan) in Siegfried in the 2018/19 Season, Wotan in Die Walküre in the 2017/18 Season, Wotan in Das Rheingold in the 2016/17 Season, and Porgy in Porgy and Bess in the 2014/15 Season. His 2021/22 Season includes a return to the role of Porgy at the Metropolitan Opera, a performance which earned him his second Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, following his win for Doctor Atomic in 2012.
Ed Frazier Davis is an English-American composer, baritone, and conductor. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Choral Creativity, an organization dedicated to building composer-ensemble relationships and fostering the creation and appreciation of contemporary choral music. He is also Senior Composer-in-Residence for the William Baker Choral Foundation.
Sir Andrew Davis served as music director and principal conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago from 2000 through the 2020/21 Season. Since his debut engagement in the 1987/88 Season, he led 690 opera performances plus nine special concerts at Lyric, as well as the majority of Lyric’s free concerts in Millennium Park.
Only one chance to see this concert, Friday April 1 at 7:00pm
Performance in English and German with English titles above the stage.
A running time of 95 minutes with no intermission.
Lyric Opera of Chicago requires that all audience members provide a valid photo identification and proof of two or more doses of vaccine against Covid-19. Additionally, facial masks worn properly over the nose and mouth, will continue to be required through the end of the season for all patrons for the duration of their time in the opera house. For updated information about Lyric’s ongoing health and safety protocols visit lyricopera.org/safety.

Learn more about this one-night-only concert with Sir Andrew Davis and current ticket availability.

Lyric Opera's 2021|22 Season is presented by

Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Beethoven 9 is generously made possible by

About Lyric

Lyric Opera of Chicago is where the world sings — and where Chicago comes alive.

Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO John Mangum and Music Director Enrique Mazzola, Lyric stands at the intersection of artistic excellence and civic purpose, harnessing the full power of opera — voice, orchestra, stagecraft, and story — to illuminate the questions, emotions, and experiences that define us as human beings. Nearly 75 seasons of world-class performances have made Lyric one of the greatest opera companies in the world. What drives us now is what has always driven us: the belief that this art form, at its best, can move people in ways nothing else can.

Lyric is also Chicago’s partner — in its neighborhoods, its schools, and its communities — through education, engagement, and a relentless commitment to making opera accessible, relevant, and irresistible to everyone. At the heart of that commitment is The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, which trains the artists who will carry this art form into its future. Every night when the curtain rises, Lyric reminds this city — and the world — why live performance still matters.

Lyric Opera of Chicago doesn’t just present opera, it redefines what opera can be. It’s where Chicago comes to be moved, inspired, and connected.

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