Where the nation sings: a new age of American opera at Lyric

A series celebrating the company’s ongoing history of made-in-the-USA works: 1979-2004. 

The second quarter-century of Lyric’s history, roughly 1979-2004, saw a great flowering of American work — the canonical, the challenging, the utterly entertaining, and the brand-new alike.

A real catalyst was the 1984 launch of a composer-in-residence program, housed under what was then known as the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, or LOCAA — today The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. A flourishing of world premieres, performed by the in-house emerging artists, followed: The Guilt of Lillian Sloan, by William Neil (1986); The Fan, by Lee Goldstein (1989); Orpheus Descending, by Bruce Saylor (1993); Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk) by Israeli-American Shulamit Ran (1997), who had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990; and Lovers and Friends (Chautauqua Variations) by Michael John LaChiusa (2001). 

Hand-in-hand with this fruitful initiative came the 1989 announcement of "Toward the 21st Century," an artistic commitment to present one 20th-century American and European opera per season for a decade. Lyric met the challenge in many thrilling ways, with The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe by Dominick Argento (1990); Antony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber (1991); The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano (1995); Mourning Becomes Electra by Marvin David Levy (1998); The Great Gatsby by John Harbison (2000), which, requiring a 120-piece orchestra, is rarely staged; and Regina by Marc Blitzstein (2003).

Especially notable was the 1997 world premiere of Amistad, the fourth opera composed by Anthony Davis, with a libretto by Thulani Davis, a poet and novelist. The work, relating the true story of an 1839 revolt aboard a Spanish slave ship, was commissioned during Ardis Krainik’s tenure. It was the first opera by a Black composer on Lyric’s stage, a high-water moment immortalized in a recording by the original cast. 

Learn more about the world premiere of Amistad in this digital exhibit from the Chicago History Museum.

(It’s well worth noting that the 2026/27 Season offers a similarly harrowing tale — the Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar, a Lyric co-commission, which opens October 23. Written by MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Rhiannon Giddens and celebrated co-composer Michael Abels, the moving story is based on the memoir of 19th-century Islamic scholar Omar ibn Said, who was captured in West Africa and enslaved in South Carolina.)

Any consideration of American opera at Lyric must prominently note the company’s commission of three major works from composer William Bolcom: McTeague (1992), A View from the Bridge (1999), and A Wedding (2004) all received their world premiere on Lyric’s stage — a series that brought the company significant media attention and burnished its reputation. Renowned soprano Catherine Malfitano appeared in all three works — just a fraction of her nearly two dozen credits at Lyric — and both McTeague (based on a Frank Norris novel) and A Wedding were directed by filmmaker Robert Altman. The latter work was based on Altman’s own 1978 film, made in the same decade that he recieved the first two of his five Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for M*A*S*H* (1970) and Nashville (1975).

In the still-expanding canon of American work at Lyric, no opera holds higher standing than Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. An Appalachian fable of innocence and accusation — a quintessentially American story — the work has previously received just two runs at Lyric, but both proved indelible.

In 1993, directed by Robert Falls in his company debut, Samuel Ramey took the role of Olin Blitch. The object of his troubling attention was an on-the-rise American soprano, Renée Fleming, whose company debut in the role is still spoken about with wonderment. In the 2002/03 Season, nearly a decade later, Ramey returned to menace yet another enrapturing soprano making her company debut — this time, none other than Sondra Radvanovsky, just a few seasons out of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Needless to say, both leading ladies have gone on to huge international careers — and have become lasting friends of the company. In the upcoming season, marking both Carlisle Floyd’s centenary and America 250, Lyric once again presents the absorbing opera, with Gabriella Reyes in the title role. It promises to be a celebration and an examination of the American story — and a beautiful extension of that story as told on Lyric’s stage.

In the 2026/27 Season, Lyric Opera of Chicago will bring more American stories to life. Don’t miss Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar (October 23-28), Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah (April 11-23) — returning after more than 20 years — and Frank Loesser’s beloved Broadway musical Guys and Dolls (June 4-20).