Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Announces Auditions for 2025/26 Ensemble Singers

CHICAGO (1/11/24) — The esteemed Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, renowned for its commitment to developing emerging artists, announces that applications are now open for singers in its 2025/26 Ensemble.

Singers from around the world are invited to complete an initial online application including video recordings. Applications are free and must be submitted via YAP Tracker; free registration for a YAP Tracker account can be found at yaptracker.com. Deadlines for submission range from March 18 through June 7, 2024 pending audition dates and location.

The Ryan Opera Center is an equal-opportunity employer/program and encourages qualified artists from historically underrepresented groups, including but not limited to those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, to apply for its Ensemble.

Select applicants will be invited to live Preliminary Auditions in New York or Chicago. Singers who then further advance to the September 8, 2024 Final Auditions will be hosted for a weekend in Chicago with coachings, interviews, and the auditions on Lyric’s mainstage.

The approximate program dates for the 2025/26 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble are May 12, 2025, through April 25, 2026, with an option for renewal, as the positions are expected to have a two-year residency.

To learn more about Ryan Opera Center singer auditions, please visit lyricopera.org/ryan-opera-center/auditions. For questions, please contact Susanna McNatt, Ryan Opera Center Manager, at smcnatt@lyricopera.org or 312-827-3510.

Ryan Opera Center Final Auditions are generously made possible by Lead Sponsor Philip G. Lumpkin.
Finalists' airfares are generously provided by American Airlines as the Official Airline of the Ryan Opera Center National Auditions.

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About the Ryan Opera Center

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center is Lyric's preeminent artist-development program that nurtures the talents of some of the most promising operatic artists of each generation. The program's Ensemble members earn their coveted spot by successfully auditioning among more than 500 artists worldwide. Its alumni are among the dominant names in opera today. Donor generosity ensures continued unparalleled training, performance experience, and professional readiness of Ensemble members. This highly competitive program, established in 1974, is honored to enjoy the support of acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming as Advisor at Large, along with full-time staff Director Dan Novak, Music Director Craig Terry, and Director of Vocal Studies Julia Faulkner.

Learn More about the Ryan Opera Center

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.

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