Lyric and Joffrey: A winning cultural collaboration

On September 7, Sunday in the Park with Lyric will bring more than its signature beautiful music to audiences enjoying the first notes of the new fall arts season in Millennium Park. In addition to hearing Music Director Enrique Mazzola lead the acclaimed Lyric Opera Orchestra and an exciting roster of vocal artists from the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, audiences will also enjoy a thrilling dance performance from Carmen by The Joffrey Ballet for the first time. Joffrey’s appearance at this annual event is yet another great moment in a cultural partnership that has been forged over many years between two of Chicago’s flagship arts organizations.

The connection between opera and dance has a long tradition in the world of performing arts, and in September 2017, Lyric and Joffrey enjoyed two significant milestones together. The first was the announcement that The Joffrey Ballet would become a resident company of the Lyric Opera House, starting with the 2020/21 Season. The landmark partnership provided Joffrey with a larger, technically sophisticated stage for its expanding artistic ambitions, while animating the Lyric Opera House stage for more performances throughout the year and drawing new audiences to the opera house. 

The Lyric Opera Orchestra also began playing for Joffrey Ballet performances, a wonderful shared artistic resource. Although the pandemic resulted in the loss of the 2020/21 Season for cultural organizations, Joffrey’s residency at Lyric Opera House began in Fall 2021 to warm public response and audience delight.

The artistic collaboration has strong roots, most notably the critically acclaimed 2017 production of Gluck’s Orphée and Eurydice produced by Lyric in collaboration with Joffrey Ballet. The production — directed, choreographed, and designed by John Neumeier — featured Lyric’s principal cast, Orchestra, and Chorus, and more than 40 Joffrey dancers, receiving widespread praise from audiences and critics alike. The Chicago Tribune called the production “triumphant” and “miraculously fresh and alive.” In another shared success, the celebrated production was broadcast on PBS “Great Performances” to a national audience in 2019. Revisit Orphée with video features on the dancers, the costumes, and the production’s critical success.

In July 2025, the residency agreement between Lyric and The Joffrey was extended through 2034, which the Chicago Tribune editorial board praised as “a dynamic combination operating within a historic building that’s a pivotal cultural anchor.” The announcement came on the heels of two box office blockbusters at Lyric Opera House that were each celebrated with four stars in their Chicago Tribune reviews. Lyric’s romantic La Bohème marked the company’s highest-selling opera since the pandemic and was called “exquisite… a joy to hear and a wonder to watch” by the Chicago Sun-Times. The Joffrey’s dazzling Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland followed, and aside from The Nutcracker, became the company’s highest-selling show ever. The Chicago Sun-Times called it “a cornucopia of artistry, color, whimsy, merriment, zaniness and, well, fun.” 

Lyric President, General Director, and CEO John Mangum shared his excitement about the new agreement. “We love working with our partners at the Joffrey. Having Chicago’s premier ballet company in residence is a wonderful opportunity to light up the Lyric Opera House stage with more than 100 superlative performances per year, drawing audiences from Chicago and beyond.” 

"Lyric and the Joffrey's shared creative vision has forged a partnership we are excited to continue into the next decade," says Greg Cameron, President and CEO of The Joffrey Ballet. "Our collaboration has led to new commissions that deliver bolder storytelling, supported by Lyric's world-class orchestra and excellent production, administrative, and leadership teams. Together, we've created synergy across the front and back of house, strengthening subscriptions, deepening donor engagement, and enhancing the audience experience. At the center of it all are the artists. When they have the space and support to thrive, audiences witness transformative performances."

In 2025/26, Joffrey celebrates its 70th Season and offers two works that will be familiar to opera fans. In addition to their much-loved Nutcracker and their dynamic American Icons, which features work by trailblazing artists of the 20th century, Joffrey opens their season with the U.S. premiere of choreographer Liam Scarlett’s Carmen featuring Bizet’s score, and closes with Eugene Onegin, with choreography by Yuri Possokhov and music by Ilya Demutsky. 

These performances will share the opera house with Lyric’s season, which opens with Medea, with highlights including Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, two genre-defying world premieres with collaborative partners Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins and Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young, and many more great works.

Don’t miss the kick-off of a thrilling new cultural season on Sunday, September 7, and the opportunity to see a free performance featuring artists from two of Chicago’s cultural titans at Sunday in the Park with Lyric. It’s the perfect evening, and it just may inspire and move you to see more opera and dance during the upcoming season!