CHICAGO (6/24/25) — Single tickets go on sale Thursday, June 26 at 10 a.m. Central Time for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s exciting 2025/26 Season, a rich mix of traditional operas and distinctive live performances anchored by the incomparable Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The season includes two world premieres by the Chicago arts pioneers Billy Corgan and avery r. young, two Lyric premieres, three new-to-Chicago productions of operatic classics, an expansion of the sold-out Movie Nights at Lyric series, a recital by the legendary American soprano Renée Fleming, performances by Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti, and more. Until now, Lyric’s much-anticipated new season was only available to subscribers; recent seasons have seen incredible demand for single tickets.
“I can’t wait for audiences to discover the variety of lavish and powerful opera productions we have planned for next season, as well as the wide range of live musical performances that open the aperture and expand the definition of what a company like Lyric can do,” says John Mangum, Lyric’s General Director, President & CEO. “Under the musical leadership of Music Director Enrique Mazzola, our orchestra will play everything from a Puccini tragedy to a modern Disney classic, ensuring there’s an event for everyone to enjoy at Lyric.”
Single tickets are available Thursday, June 26 at 10 a.m. — online at lyricopera.org or by calling Lyric Audience Services at 312.827.5600; the Box Office at the Lyric Opera House is also open for in-person sales, Tuesdays through Fridays from 12 to 5 p.m. Discounts are still available for subscription packages and groups of 10 or more. Act quickly to secure the best seats for performances as many dates already have limited availability and are anticipated to sell out.
The company’s 71st anniversary season kicks off with the Lyric Opening Concert & Gala: Brian Stokes Mitchell & Laura Benanti in Concert, in which the two Tony Award winners partner with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Broadway favorite Rob Fisher, to usher in the start of Chicago’s new cultural season.
The opera season begins with the Lyric premiere of Cherubini’s tragedy of infidelity and vengeance, Medea, conducted by Maestro Mazzola and starring a trio of hometown superstars giving Olympic-level performances — Sondra Radvanovsky, Matthew Polenzani, and Zoie Reams. The classic Greek tragedy comes to blazing life in the critically acclaimed Lyric co-production by Sir David McVicar, first seen at the Metropolitan Opera.
Following its sold-out, one-night-only premiere with Singin’ in the Rain last season, the Movie Nights at Lyric series expands to include two performances of two beloved films — Disney and Pixar’s Coco in Concert Live to Film and Disney’s Mary Poppins in Concert Live to Film — each powered by the Lyric Opera Orchestra performing the score live on stage in harmony with the film shown on a huge screen above them.
The season continues with opera’s most high-octane double feature, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana & Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, conducted by Maestro Mazzola. Known collectively as Cav/Pag, these two shorter Italian operas combine for a singular experience of intense, full-throttle drama.
Orff’s blazing cantata Carmina Burana, also conducted by Maestro Mazzola, is an instantly familiar work that features more than 225 artists on stage: the combined forces of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Lyric Opera Chorus plus a large children’s chorus from Uniting Voices Chicago and star soloists, Jasmine Habersham, David Portillo, and Ian Rucker.
Lyric is proud to host the world-premiere performances celebrating the 30th anniversary of the decade-defining album by the legendary Chicago alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins: A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness. Iconic frontman Billy Corgan reimagines his magnum opus by marshaling all of Lyric’s technical and artistic forces — including the epic sound of the Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by James Lowe, the Lyric Opera Chorus, and guest artists Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdés Chenes, and Edward Parks — for an immersively original sonic and visual experience that blurs the boundaries of opera, rock, and performance art.
Salome, Richard Strauss’s explosive opera of obsession and depravity, returns to Lyric for the first time in nearly 20 years in an acclaimed production conceived by Sir David McVicar. International sensation Elena Stikhina makes her eagerly awaited Lyric debut in the demanding title role.
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Mozart’s lighthearted romantic comedy Così fan tutte, conducted by Maestro Mazzola, is set in a 1930s-era seaside country club. Lyric favorite Ana María Martínez, who starred as Fiordiligi when Lyric last presented this opera in the 2017/18 Season, now takes on the role of the scheming Despina.
International superstar Renée Fleming makes her much-anticipated return to the Lyric stage for one night only with Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, created in partnership with the National Geographic Society and featuring a program based on her 2023 Grammy Award-winning album.
The unforgettable music of Puccini returns to Lyric when Madama Butterfly takes the stage in a beautiful new-to-Chicago production from Lyric’s own Matthew Ozawa, whose striking new vision for the opera’s traditional Japanese setting is executed by an all-female and all-Japanese design team.
The Spanish-language opera El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz, makes its Lyric premiere in a stunning production that brings vivid life and color to the Mexican holiday the Day of the Dead. This acclaimed contemporary work is rich in Mexican culture, combining traditional folklore with a cinematic score as the two artistic titans grapple with their mortality — and immortality — through art.
Lyric concludes its opera season with another world premiere: safronia, an Afro-surrealist opera featuring music and libretto by Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young. safronia is young’s moving story of the Great Migration, told through the eyes of a family returning from the northern U.S. to their southern hometown to reckon with the ghosts of their past. The powerful generation-spanning narrative combines folklore, poetry, and history with gospel, blues, funk, and soul.
And to celebrate the end of the season and inspire a new generation to discover the wonder of opera, Lyric throws open its doors to welcome people of all ages into the Lyric Opera House for a day of exploration and fun. Explore Your Lyric features live performances of Faye Chiao and Anton Dudley’s youth opera Katie: The Strongest of the Strong, exciting presentations on stage combat, a chance to peek into the orchestra pit, and other hands-on activities for all to enjoy.
Seize your first chance to hear artists from the new 2025/26 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble as they make their first “official” Lyric appearance with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Mazzola, at Sunday in the Park with Lyric on Sunday, September 7, 2025, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. (No tickets are required; picnic baskets optional!)
For more information about Lyric’s 2025/26 Season and to purchase tickets beginning Thursday, June 26, visit lyricopera.org.
Production photos and a video trailer from Lyric's 2025/26 Season are available here in Lyric's online press room.
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2025/26 Season Schedule
October 10, 2025
Lyric Opening Concert & Gala: Brian Stokes Mitchell & Laura Benanti in Concert
October 11–26, 2025
Lyric premiere
Medea
October 16 & 18, 2025
Movie Nights at Lyric: Disney and Pixar's Coco in Concert Live to Film
November 1–23, 2025
Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci
November 14–18, 2025
Carmina Burana
November 21–30, 2025
World premiere by Billy Corgan
A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness
January 25–February 14, 2026
Salome
February 1–15, 2026
Così fan tutte
February 5, 2026
Renée Fleming in Recital — Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene
March 14–April 12, 2026
Madama Butterfly
March 21–April 4, 2026
Lyric premiere
El último sueño de Frida y Diego
April 10 & 11, 2026
Movie Nights at Lyric: Disney's Mary Poppins in Concert
April 17 & 18, 2026
World premiere by avery r. young
safronia
April 26, 2026
Explore Your Lyric
