Lyric Opera of Chicago Announces its 2024/25 Season

CHICAGO (3/12/24) — Lyric Opera of Chicago today announces the company’s 2024/25 Season, a carefully balanced mix of four classic operas, two contemporary works never before performed in Chicago, three unmissable special concerts and recitals, and a festive 50th anniversary celebration of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center artist-development program. Lyric also announces the extension of Music Director Enrique Mazzola’s contract for another five-year term through the 2030/31 Season, guaranteeing a continuity of leadership as Lyric continues its search for a successor to retiring General Director, President & CEO Anthony Freud.

The company’s 70th anniversary season opens with Verdi’s epic of vengeance: Rigoletto, September 14–October 6, 2024, conducted by Maestro Mazzola in his sixth Verdi opera at Lyric. Directed by Mary Birnbaum in her Lyric debut, this Lyric production stars Igor Golovatenko in the title role, Mané Galoyan as Gilda and Javier Camarena as the Duke of Mantua in their Lyric debuts, and Soloman Howard as Sparafucile.

The season continues with Beethoven’s timely political opera Fidelio, not seen at Lyric in 20 years, on stage September 26–October 10, 2024. Fidelio is conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola — his first outing with Beethoven’s powerful score — and directed by Matthew Ozawa, whose work as a stage director at Lyric includes Don Quichotte in the 2016/17 Season and Nabucco in the 2015/16 Season and who joined its administration as Chief Artistic Administration Officer in 2022. This new-to-Chicago production stars Elza van den Heever and Russell Thomas as the lovers Leonore and Florestan, as well as Brian Mulligan as Pizarro and Mika Kares as Rocco.

To salute the 2024/25 Season, one of musical theater’s most legendary stars will headline Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes on Friday, October 4, 2024. This brand-new show, never before seen in Chicago, is LuPone’s "personal musical memoir" and will commemorate key moments in her life through song. Following the performance, Lyric’s Season Opening Gala continues the celebratory spirit of the evening.

November brings a pair of operas that celebrate opera’s noble past while pointing to the future of the art form. Mozart’s beloved comic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro, on stage November 9–30, 2024, is directed by Chicago Shakespeare Theater founder Barbara Gaines and conducted by Erina Yashima in her Lyric debut. Mozart’s sublime music will be sung by an all-star cast: Peter Kellner in his Lyric debut as Figaro, Ying Fang as Susanna, Federica Lombardi in her Lyric debut as Countess Almaviva, Gordon Bintner in his Lyric debut as Count Almaviva, and Ryan Opera Center alumna Kayleigh Decker as Cherubino.

In repertory with one of opera’s most enduring favorites is one of opera’s newest modern classics: Blue, by composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson, which was named the Best New Opera of 2019 by the Music Critics Association of North America. The opera, at Lyric November 16–December 1, 2024, follows a Black police officer and his wife as they grapple with the killing of their son at the hands of a white police officer. Gospel-influenced music and vivid flashbacks capture the grief of a family and community navigating loss. This Lyric co-production, originally scheduled for the conclusion of the 2019/20 Season but postponed due to the pandemic, is conducted by Joseph Young and directed by Thompson, both in their Lyric debuts. Blue stars Kenneth Kellogg in his Lyric debut as the Father, Chicago native Zoie Reams as the Mother, and Norman Garrett as the Reverend.

The internationally celebrated (and Berwyn-born) Sondra Radvanovsky is an artist beloved by Lyric audiences. Following the sold-out sensation of her innovative 2019 concert program The Three Queens and her season-opening star turn as Lady Macbeth in the 2021/22 Season (as well as many other leading roles at Lyric), Radvanovsky returns to Lyric for another unique project: Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines, featuring the Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola, for three performances only, February 8–16, 2025. Radvanovsky and Mazzola are working in partnership to create a new and original program that highlights arias from each of Puccini’s 12 operas, from Le Villi to Turandot. Audiences will hear some of opera’s most popular arias and will discover some of Puccini’s lesser-known gems in a concert event that will redefine the term "show-stopping."

Puccini’s unforgettable music returns for a longer stay when La Bohème takes the stage in a gloriously detailed new-to-Chicago production, March 15–April 12, 2025. Conducted by Jordan de Souza, who led Lyric’s shimmering Florencia en el Amazonas in the 2021/22 Season, and directed by Melanie Bacaling in her Lyric debut, the production features Pene Pati in his Lyric debut as Rodolfo and a thrilling cast of returning stars, including Ailyn Pérez as Mimì, Gabriella Reyes as Musetta, Will Liverman as Marcello, and Peixin Chin as Colline.

Paired with the classic La Bohème is another contemporary work in its Chicago premiere: The Listeners, by the celebrated team of composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, March 30–April 11, 2025. Mazzoli and Vavrek received enormous critical praise for their 2016 collaboration Breaking the Waves, which won the inaugural Best New Opera Award from the Music Critics Association of North America and was shortlisted for the "Best World Premiere" Prize at the International Opera Awards.

Co-commissioned and co-produced by Lyric, Norwegian National Opera, and Opera Philadelphia, The Listeners was met with thunderous applause when it premiered in Oslo in 2021. Based on a story by novelist Jordan Tannahill, the work is a dark and psychologically charged thriller about a woman’s descent into manipulation by a charismatic group leader as the foundation of her life crumbles, and explores how she finds unexpected community and family during a time of crisis. Conducted by Lyric’s Music Director Enrique Mazzola, who won great acclaim for his mastery with contemporary work with Terence Blanchard’s Champion earlier this season, and directed by the exciting theater director Lileana Blain-Cruz in her much-anticipated Lyric debut, The Listeners stars Nicole Heaston in her Lyric debut as Claire, Kyle Ketelsen as Howard, Jasmine Habersham in her Lyric debut as Ashley, Jonas Hacker as Kyle, and Daniela Mack as Angela.

Lyric concludes its regular season with Lyric in Concert: A Wondrous Sound, April 16 and 18, 2025. Maestro Mazzola will design an original program of some of opera’s choral favorites and most thrilling overtures — perfect for opera aficionados and newcomers alike — that shows off the truly grand scale of the more than 100 artists of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Chorus.

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric’s world-class artist-development program, celebrates its 50th anniversary during the 2024/25 Season. The program’s annual Rising Stars in Concert on Friday, April 25, 2025, will be a particularly special occasion to mark this milestone. It will feature the 2024/25 Ensemble performing with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Lyric’s Music Director Enrique Mazzola and directed by Lyric’s own Matthew Ozawa. Many familiar faces will return to Lyric to celebrate the program’s 50 years of excellence in training the next generation of opera stars.

"After a very successful "season of firsts" for me, with new repertoire and even a first Aida, next season is every bit as exciting. We are once again bringing a wide range of operas and other experiences to Lyric audiences — there are so many ways to experience the joy of live performance together," says Lyric’s Music Director Enrique Mazzola. "I am also deeply gratified that my position as Music Director has been extended for another five years. The entire Lyric staff has been so supportive, and I love working with the world-class Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus and am thankful that our relationship will continue. I also look forward to deepening my mentorship work with the artists in our Ryan Opera Center and continuing to forge deeper, long-lasting partnerships with other artists and organizations in town. Now more than ever, this is my "Sweet home, Chicago."

"As an opera director, I am excited to bring my vision of Beethoven’s Fidelio to Lyric audiences, and to celebrate the Ryan Opera Center’s 50th anniversary with an evening to remember," says Matthew Ozawa, Lyric’s Chief Artistic Administration Officer. "And in my role as the head of Lyric’s Artistic Department, I am so proud that Lyric continues to embed the principles of IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) both onstage and throughout the company. Audience members will see themselves at Lyric, in both the stories we are telling and among the artists telling these stories."

"While it is bittersweet that this is the final season I announce before my retirement later this year, I am thrilled with the upcoming season of enduring classics and bold contemporary works that my colleagues and I have planned, and I know Lyric audiences will be delighted by our incredible casts and productions," says Anthony Freud, Lyric’s General Director, President & CEO. "I am also certain that with the continuing leadership of Music Director Enrique Mazzola, Lyric audiences and supporters are in very good hands, and that Lyric will continue to be producing consistently world-class seasons, as both a true cultural hub for all of Chicago and one of the world’s great opera companies."

For more information on Lyric’s 2024/25 Season,

visit lyricopera.org/newseason

m Matinee performance
* Lyric Opera of Chicago debut
+ Alumni of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2024/25 Season

Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto

September 14, 18m, 22m, 25, 28, October 1 & 6m, 2024

Adapting a powerfully dramatic play by Victor Hugo, Giuseppe Verdi brought astounding intensity to the court jester Rigoletto, tragically obsessed with avenging his daughter Gilda’s dishonor. The score’s highlights are unforgettable, from Rigoletto’s hair-raising denunciation of the Duke of Mantua’s courtiers, "Cortigiani," to the immoral, philandering Duke’s "La donna è mobile," to Gilda’s ecstatic "Caro nome." Conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola, a much-acclaimed Verdian, Lyric’s visually sumptuous production stars the sensational Russian baritone Igor Golovatenko. He's joined by two other international luminaries making eagerly awaited company debuts: Mané Galoyan, the exquisite Armenian soprano, and Javier Camarena, the spectacular Mexican tenor.

Rigoletto: Igor Golovatenko
Gilda: Mané Galoyan*
Duke of Mantua: Javier Camarena*
Sparafucile: Soloman Howard
Maddalena: Zoie Reams

Conductor: Enrique Mazzola
Director: Mary Birnbaum*
Set Designer: Robert Innes Hopkins
Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood
Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler
Chorus Director: Michael Black

Lyric’s presentation of Verdi’s Rigoletto is generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor and Randy L. & Melvin R.* Berlin.
*deceased

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Rigoletto

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Ludwig van Beethoven
Fidelio

September 26, 29m, Oct 2m, 5 & 10, 2024

New-to-Chicago production

Seeing and hearing Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, onstage is a supremely moving experience. Listening to the "Prisoners’ Chorus," you’ll wonder if any other composer has so vividly communicated human beings’ longing for freedom and sunlight. No operatic heroine is more courageous than Beethoven’s Leonore, who disguises herself as a young man in order to work in the prison, hoping to rescue her husband. Enrique Mazzola conducts this timeless political thriller in Matthew Ozawa’s production, praised as "transformative… a thoughtful examination of how we strive for the ideals of justice and freedom." Vocally radiant, uniquely charismatic South African soprano Elza van den Heever is joined by two exciting American artists and Lyric favorites — tenor Russell Thomas and baritone Brian Mulligan.

Leonore: Elza van den Heever
Florestan: Russell Thomas
Pizarro: Brian Mulligan
Rocco: Mika Kares
Marzelline: Elbenita Kajtazi*
Don Fernando: Alfred Walker

Conductor: Enrique Mazzola
Director: Matthew Ozawa
Set & Projection Designer: Alexander V. Nichols*
Costume Designer: Jessica Jahn
Lighting Designers: Yuki Nakase Link*
Chorus Director: Michael Black

A San Francisco Opera production

Lyric’s presentation of Beethoven’s Fidelio is generously made possible by Patricia A. Kenney & Gregory J. O’Leary.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Fidelio

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Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes
and Season Opening Gala

One night only: Friday, October 4, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.

Music has the power to crystallize a moment in time and evoke eras. In her new concert, Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes, the three-time Tony Award winner performs an array of songs which do just that. These songs are touchstones and reflections on her life growing up in America: from her girlhood during the burgeoning rock and roll scene of the Fifties, to coming of age in the politically and socially turbulent Sixties, to eventually achieving success with both career and family. In a new show conceived and directed by Scott Wittman and written by Jeffrey Richman, LuPone makes her Lyric debut alongside her longtime musical director Joseph Thalken, in a special evening to celebrate the opening of a new season at Lyric.

"Patti LuPone is that very particular kind of animal, perhaps the last of the breed, a genuine Golden Age Broadway star, the kind that can turn a theater into a living room, throwing out an electric current that makes 1,000 people feel as if they are being spoken to, and sung to, individually." — The New York Times

Enhance your experience by joining us for cocktails before the performance, then dinner and dancing the night away at our Season Opening Gala. Walk the red carpet like a star and enjoy premium seats to this most highly anticipated event.

For more information about premium packages, please contact the Development Office at 312.827.5676 or gala@lyricopera.org.

Lyric’s Season Opening Gala is a project of the Women’s Board.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/PattiLuPone

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Marriage of Figaro

November 9, 13, 17m, 19, 21m, 24m, 27m & 30, 2024

Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is a compelling study of human relationships. In the setting of Count Almaviva’s castle, his servants, Figaro and Susanna, conspire to get the better of their willful employer, joined by his long-suffering wife, the Countess. Also on hand is opera’s most lovable pageboy, Cherubino. Intrigues abound in a matchless score by Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte that has enriched lives and spirits for generations.

Returning to direct her exhilarating Lyric production is Chicago theatrical legend Barbara Gaines. She’ll collaborate with the electrifying young German conductor Erina Yashima in her Lyric debut, leading a cast of internationally celebrated Mozartians.

Figaro: Peter Kellner*
Susanna: Ying Fang
Countess Almaviva: Federica Lombardi*
Count Almaviva: Gordon Bintner*
Cherubino: Kayleigh Decker +
Marcellina: Sarah Mesko*
Dr. Bartolo: Nicholas Newton
Don Basilio: Brenton Ryan

Conductor: Erina Yashima*
Director: Barbara Gaines
Set Designer: James Noone
Costume Designer: Susan Mickey
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel
Chorus Director: Michael Black
Choreographer: Harrison McEldowney

Lyric’s presentation of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is generously made possible by The Negaunee Foundation, Mary Stowell, Invenergy, and Randy L. & Melvin R.* Berlin. *deceased

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Figaro

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Lyric premiere

Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson
Blue

November 16, 20, 22, 26 & December 1m, 2024

Blue is destined to become an American classic. Co-produced by Lyric and The Glimmerglass Festival, the opera presents the moving story of a Black middle-class family in Harlem whose hopes and dreams for their teenage son are shattered when he is shot by a white police officer. Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s magnificently moving music is matched by Tazewell Thompson’s probing, deeply sensitive libretto. The vocally and theatrically formidable bass Kenneth Kellogg (Lyric debut), who scored a triumph in the world premiere and in productions around the world, plays opposite two outstanding American artists — mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams and baritone Norman Garrett — in this anticipated Chicago premiere.

Father: Kenneth Kellogg*
Mother: Zoie Reams
Reverend: Norman Garrett

Conductor: Joseph Young*
Director: Tazewell Thompson*
Set Designer: Donald Eastman*
Costume Designer: Jessica Jahn
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel

Scenery and Costumes for this production of Blue are co-produced by Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Washington National Opera.

Lyric’s presentation of Tesori and Thompson’s Blue is generously made possible by The Joyce Foundation.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Blue

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Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert:
The Puccini Heroines

February 8, 13 & 16m, 2025

Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano
Enrique Mazzola, conductor

After Sondra Radvanovsky’s Lyric triumphs in Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, Chicago audiences will at last have the chance to applaud the American diva’s brilliance as a Puccinian. Radvanovsky has earned rapturous international praise as Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Suor Angelica, and most recently Turandot. Enrique Mazzola will collaborate with her in an original program including excerpts from each of Puccini’s twelve operas, not only the popular masterpieces but also his less familiar, early operas — all performed with the Lyric Opera Orchestra. Her magnificent voice, stylistic command, and incandescent dramatic powers, all mean Radvanovsky was made for this tour-de-force performance.

Lyric’s presentation of Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines is generously made possible by Sonia Florian.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/SondraRadvanovsky

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Giacomo Puccini
La Bohème

March 15, 19m, 22, 25, 28, 31, April 3m, 6m, 9 & 12m, 2025

New-to-Chicago production

An ideal opera for first-timers, La Bohème has also never lost its appeal for the most passionate of opera lovers. Puccini brings unique beauty and sensitivity to this tale of young lovers in 19th-century Paris. With the famous arias of the ardent poet Rodolfo, the fragile seamstress Mimì, and the good-hearted party-girl Musetta, matched perfectly to the romance and heartbreak of this universal story, La Bohème is operatic perfection. At Lyric, two dazzling sopranos, Ailyn Pérez and Gabriella Reyes, are paired with the shining-voiced tenor Pene Pati (in his Lyric debut) and the vibrant baritone Will Liverman, in a production that will be a truly memorable moment in the company’s longstanding tradition of great La Bohème performances.

Mimì: Ailyn Pérez
Rodolfo: Pene Pati*
Musetta: Gabriella Reyes
Marcello: Will Liverman +
Colline: Peixin Chen
Benoit & Alcindoro: Levi Hernandez +

Conductor: Jordan de Souza
Director: Melanie Bacaling*
Set Designer: Gerard Howland*
Costume Designer: Peter J. Hall
Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler
Chorus Director: Michael Black

A production of Los Angeles Opera and Dallas Opera.

Lyric’s presentation of Puccini’s La Bohème is generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Boheme

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Lyric premiere

Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek
The Listeners

March 30m, April 2, 5, 8 & 11, 2025

The Listeners promises to be one of the most significant operatic events of the 2024/25 season. Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, the renowned composer/librettist team, have adapted a riveting story by novelist Jordan Tannahill. Its heroine, Claire, is driven nearly mad by an unending, low-frequency hum that she hears. In desperation, she joins a community organization, "The Listeners," formed to discover the origin of the noise and destroy it. The group becomes frighteningly cult-like, ultimately leading to catastrophic consequences. Lyric’s vocally and dramatically brilliant cast will be conducted by Enrique Mazzola and directed by one of the most gifted theater artists of her generation, Lileana Blain-Cruz.

Claire: Nicole Heaston*
Howard: Kyle Ketelsen
Ashley: Jasmine Habersham*
Kyle: Jonas Hacker
Angela: Daniela Mack
Paul: Zachary Nelson
Dillon: John Moore*
Thom: Joseph Lim +

Conductor: Enrique Mazzola
Director: Lileana Blain-Cruz*
Set Designer: Adam Rigg*
Costume Designer: Kaye Voyce*
Lighting Designer: Yi Zhao*
Video Designer: Hannah Wasileski*
Chorus Director: Michael Black

Co-commissioned and co-produced by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Norwegian National Opera, and Opera Philadelphia.

Lyric’s presentation of Mazzoli and Vavrek's The Listeners is generously made possible by then Zell Family Foundation.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Major support for The New Work Fund provided by the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation, David W. Carpenter and Orit K. Carpenter, in loving memory of David W. Carpenter, and Virginia Tobiason.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Listeners

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Lyric in Concert: A Wondrous Sound
Thrilling overtures and favorite choral works

April 16 & 19m, 2025

Enrique Mazzola, conductor

Opera has long provided the soundtrack to our world, and Lyric invites you to join us for a program featuring some of the most thrilling overtures and favorite choral works in the entire repertoire. Celebrate the wondrous sound of opera through masterworks by Mozart, Puccini, and more as performed by the talented artists of the Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra. From the most rousing, life-affirming, and joyful of works, to the quiet, introspective beauty that only great music can provide, audiences will be guided through our program by Music Director Enrique Mazzola as he shares favorites — and some of your favorite composers’ more rarely performed works. You’ll even have the chance to play a starring role in creating the music yourself! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to enjoy a concert featuring the most anticipated moments in opera.

"The Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra are the stars of so many of our productions, and this program is a unique opportunity to really shine a spotlight on their artistry. Whether you are a longtime opera lover and these works are among your favorites, or you are new to opera and just starting your journey, we can't wait to come together for this special concert lineup!" — Enrique Mazzola

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/WondrousSound

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Rising Stars in Concert 50th Anniversary Celebration

One night only: Friday, April 25, 2025

Join us to celebrate The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center’s 50 incredible years of nurturing the talents of many of opera’s brightest stars. This annual showcase features the 2024/25 Ensemble conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola, directed by Lyric’s own Matthew Ozawa, and performing with the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

Hear some of the most thrilling emerging operatic artists in the field, plus see some familiar faces pay tribute to the Ryan Opera Center’s half-century legacy.

Following the concert, join us for the Ryan Opera Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala and help support the program’s work for the next five decades. For more information on the Rising Stars Gala, contact the Development Office at 312.827.5676 or gala@lyricopera.org

Rising Stars in Concert is generously made possible by Lead Sponsors Donna Van Eekeren Foundation with additional support from the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Chauncey and Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation, Patricia A. Kenney & Gregory J. O’Leary, and Dr. Nora Jaskowiak and Mr. Matthew Hinerfeld.

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Returning this summer

Sunday in the Park with Lyric

Sunday, August 25, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 East Randolph Street, Chicago

Join us for an evening of beautiful music as artists from The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center perform a variety of favorites from the 2024/25 Season with Music Director Enrique Mazzola conducting members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. Bring a blanket, your favorite snacks, your fellow music lovers, and those you can’t wait to introduce to opera for this free, fun and friendly, can’t-miss summer delight that always ushers in a new cultural season on a high note.

Seating is first-come, first-served for this free event and no tickets are required.

Sunday in the Park with Lyric is generously supported through an endowment by an Anonymous Foundation with additional support from the Rhoda & Henry Frank Family Foundation, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, and Sipi Metals Corporation.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Millennium

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Opera in the Neighborhoods returns

Joe Illick and Mark Campbell
Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World

Lyric's Opera in the Neighborhoods program brings live performances of youth-focused operas in neighborhood venues throughout the Chicago area. Programmed for grades 3-6, Opera in the Neighborhoods is free to school groups. Join us for our 2024/25 Opera in the Neighborhoods public performances of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, a story about facing your fears, learning new things, and the power of friendship.

The story, based on the acclaimed book by author and illustrator Laurence Anholt, follows the real-life friendship of Marianna, a young girl living in the heart of Mexico City, and Frida, the famed artist. When Marianna plucks up her courage to go and meet Frida, a friendship blossoms between them. You’ll meet Frida’s husband, Diego Rivera, as well as a singing parrot, dog, and monkey — and you’ll even have the chance to participate in this charming musical journey.

While written for young audiences, music and art lovers of all ages will enjoy Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World. Approximately 35 minutes with General Admission seating.

Adapted from the book Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World by Laurence Anholt. Commissioned by Fort Worth Opera. Licensed by arrangement with the Barbara Hogenson Agency, Inc.

Details about dates and tickets will be released in the coming months.

Opera in the Neighborhoods is supported by Lead Sponsor CIBC with major support from the Nancy W. Knowles Student and Family Performances Fund.

Learn more at lyricopera.org/Frida

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Ticketing

Subscriptions to the 2024/25 Season are on sale now.
Visit lyricopera.org/subscribe or call 312.827.5600.

Production photos from Lyric's 2024/25 Season are available here in Lyric's online press room.

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Lyric’s 2024/25 Season is sponsored by Erika Gross in loving memory of Dietrich Gross, Julie & Roger Baskes, and Invesco QQQ.

Lyric Opera of Chicago thanks its Official Airline, American Airlines, and acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.

About Lyric

Lyric Opera of Chicago is committed to redefining what it means to experience great opera. The company is driven to deliver consistently excellent artistry through innovative, relevant, celebratory programming that engages and energizes new and traditional audiences.

Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO Anthony Freud, Music Director Enrique Mazzola, and Special Project Advisor Renée Fleming, Lyric is dedicated to reflecting, and drawing strength from, the diversity of Chicago. Lyric offers, through innovation, collaboration, and evolving learning opportunities, ever-more exciting, accessible, and thought-provoking audience and community experiences. We also stand committed to training the artists of the future, through The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center; and to becoming increasingly diverse across our audiences, staff, programming, and artists—magnifying the welcoming pull of our art form, our company, and our city.

Through the timeless power of voice, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus, theater, dance, design, and truly magnificent stagecraft, Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down.

Join us @LyricOpera on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.