Upcoming shows

Lyric is thrilled to present an exciting slate of virtual performance experiences giving you a multitude of ways to continue to make music, opera, and Lyric a part of your life. Join us from the comfort of your couch or the passenger seat of your car for a season full of works that will redefine how you think of opera.

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August 2021

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2021|22 Season

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2021|22 Season

Giuseppe Verdi

September 17 - October 09, 2021

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Gaetano Donizetti

September 26 - October 08, 2021

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

November 03 - November 27, 2021

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Daniel Catán

November 13 - November 28, 2021

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Giacomo Puccini

March 12 - April 10, 2022

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Terence Blanchard & Kasi Lemmons

March 24 - April 08, 2022

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April 01, 2022

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Missy Mazzoli & Royce Vavrek

January 22 – 30, 2022

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Explore the 2020|21 Season

Breaking Down the Score: Attila with Maestro Enrique Mazzola

Breaking Down the Score: Attila with Maestro Enrique Mazzola

Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola stars in an original, engaging, and delightful web series centered on the twelve musical numbers of Verdi’s Attila. In each episode, Maestro Mazzola shares a personal interpretation and reading of one of the pieces, offering unique insight into one of Verdi’s early masterpieces from a conductor at the height of his craft.

Tune in each week and be the first to see new episodes by subscribing to Lyric's channel on YouTube.

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Master Classes with Sir Andrew Davis

Master Classes with Sir Andrew Davis

Lyric takes you behind the scenes as Music Director Sir Andrew Davis leads a series of one-on-one master classes with Ensemble members of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Ensemble, one of the premier professional artist-development programs in the world. Working with the artists on one of his favorite operas, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Maestro Davis shares detailed insights to help them prepare for international careers.

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Now streaming

Pasión Latina

Pasión Latina

Celebrate music of the Spanish-speaking world with a free virtual concert starring and hosted by renowned soprano and Lyric favorite Ana María Martínez. Presented by The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, the concert also features prominent Ryan Opera Center alumni — tenors René Barbera, David Portillo, Mario Rojas, and bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba — and two 2020/21 Ensemble members—soprano Denis Vélez and baritone Ricardo José Rivera. These engaging artists perform a dynamic selection of some of their favorite music from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Argentina, and Spain, with piano accompaniment by Ryan Opera Center music director Craig Terry and current Ensemble pianist Chris Reynolds.

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Now streaming

Creating The Factotum

Creating The Factotum

Follow the development of a new opera that transcends the limits of traditional repertoire. The Factotum will reinvigorate an established operatic comedy by giving it a fresh fade. Ryan Opera Center alumnus Will Liverman and DJ/recording artist K-Rico reimagine Rossini's The Barber of Seville by placing their work in a present-day Black barbershop in Chicago while combining operatic singing with hip-hop, barbershop, gospel, funk, neo soul, and R&B music. Working with the authors, the Ryan Opera Center will hold a music workshop for The Factotum in December. The behind-the-scenes process of creating the new work will be documented and shared with audiences at a future date.

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Now streaming

Sole e Amore (Sun and Love)

Sole e Amore (Sun and Love)

Revel in the sounds of Italy with a virtual recital awash with beautiful lesser-known musical gems by beloved Italian opera composers, curated and hosted by Lyric's Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola and presented by The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. With Maestro Mazzola at the piano, members of the Ryan Opera Center 2020/21 Ensemble will perform songs by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, and Mascagni, selected with love by Mazzola.

Premiering Sunday, February 21 at 6:00 pm CT on Lyric’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

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NOW STREAMING

Magical Music Around the World

Magical Music Around the World

Experience the artistry of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Ensemble in a delightfully entertaining, cabaret-style program featuring some of your very favorite bewitching melodies. Our talented singers and pianists will whisk you away with a thematic performance of operatic and popular music, led by Grammy-winning Music Director Craig Terry. Thanks to some technological magic, alumni from around the globe will join the evening to share how their careers have benefited from the amazing training and experience they received at the Ryan Opera Center.

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The Sonata Sessions

The Sonata Sessions

Gioachino Rossini was — unbelievably — only 12 years old when he wrote six gorgeous string sonatas while spending a summer in Ravenna, Italy. Originally written for a string quartet, Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola leads an enhanced string ensemble featuring members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra in performances of all six of these beautiful, lesser-known pieces. Each video in the digital series will feature one of the sonatas, with new videos being released every week.

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Lyric Audio Streaming

Lyric Audio Streaming

Nothing quite compares to the excitement of hearing the biggest stars in the opera world performing with a full orchestra and chorus in front of a live audience. Now you can experience the magnificent sound of full-scale opera free, whenever you like, with Lyric Audio Streaming. Listen to previously recorded full operas online and through a variety of online music streaming platforms.

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Attila Highlights in Concert: Explore More with Enrique Mazzola

Attila Highlights in Concert: Explore More with Enrique Mazzola

Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola leads world-renowned principal artists in a performance of piano-accompanied excerpts from Verdi's Attila, the story of the infamous "Scourge of God," his consuming desire for power, and his final downfall.

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The Great Verdi Chorus Showdown

The Great Verdi Chorus Showdown

Verdi's choruses are some of the most exhilarating experiences in opera. Whether you're a longtime opera fan or a casual listener, the power of Verdi’s choral melodies have the power to move you and thrill you with the sheer splendor and beauty of their sound. In a stirring new digital series, the three maestri of Lyric—Music Director Sir Andrew Davis, Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola, and Chorus Master Michael Black—will each conduct two grand Verdi choruses, performed by members of the Lyric Opera Chorus, recorded from the safety of the artists’ homes. The fun begins as we share them here and spotlight one masterpiece per week — giving you the chance to vote for your audience favorite!

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April 28 - May 2, 2021

Twilight: Gods

Twilight: Gods

Experience a reimagining of the final chapter of Wagner's epic Ring cycle in the Chicago premiere of Twilight: Gods. From the safety of your own vehicle, you'll be immersed in a series of live performances, videos, and installations brought to life by singers, small instrumental groups, and actors as you drive through the parking garage. With new English texts written by Yuval Sharon and poetic transitions written and performed by Chicago interdisciplinary artist avery r. young, each of the discrete scenes is linked together and recontextualized, making this story unique to its time and place.

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Now streaming

Rising Stars in Concert

Rising Stars in Concert

Enjoy a program of rarely heard operatic gems in the annual showcase of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center: Rising Stars in Concert. This concert will be led by conductor Christopher Allen, with Ryan Opera Center pianist Chris Reynolds and a chamber ensemble of Lyric Opera Orchestra members. Don't miss this opportunity to hear the talented artists from one of the world's leading artist-development programs in a concert designed to showcase their outstanding abilities.

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Now streaming

Celebrating Sir Andrew Davis, from Mozart to Stravinsky

Celebrating Sir Andrew Davis, from Mozart to Stravinsky

Music Director Sir Andrew Davis leads members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Lyric Opera Chorus, and star soloists in a rousing concert that celebrates his remarkable career at Lyric. The program includes selections from Mozart's beloved comedy, The Marriage of Figaro — the first opera Sir Andrew conducted at Lyric — and Stravinsky's English-language masterpiece The Rake's Progress — the last opera he would have conducted as music director this spring — with personal tributes from some of your favorite Lyric artists.

Join us to raise a glass to Sir Andrew — and to more than three decades of his glorious music-making at Lyric!

 

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Now streaming

The New Classics: Songs from the New Golden Age of Musical Theater

The New Classics: Songs from the New Golden Age of Musical Theater

Take a seat, fire up your biggest screen, and experience a star-studded virtual cabaret featuring some of your favorite Broadway and Lyric voices in the comfort of your own home this June with The New Classics: Songs from the New Golden Age of Musical Theater.

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For the Love of Lyric Concert

For the Love of Lyric Concert

A free virtual concert from the stage of the Lyric Opera House. The starry lineup is led by world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming and features special guests, including Tony Award® and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-actress Heather Headley, soprano Ailyn Pérez, bass Soloman Howard, and mezzo-soprano and Ryan Opera Center alumna J'Nai Bridges, with Doug Peck serving as music director. Members of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Ensemble and members of the Chicago Children's Choir also perform in this enlightening and entertaining program of familiar and revelatory selections from the worlds of opera, Broadway, popular music, and some surprising sources.

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Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter

Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter

Lyric's Ryan Opera Center presents a free virtual concert celebrating the depth and breadth of Black artistry, hosted by world-renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee, who also serves as artistic advisor for the event. The concert also features prominent Ryan Opera Center alumni — soprano Whitney Morrison, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges, and baritone Will Liverman — and three current 2020/21 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members — tenors Martin Luther Clark and Lunga Eric Hallam, and baritone Leroy Davis.

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Join us, and be moved and inspired by powerful stories, thrilling theater, and the music you’ve been craving. Subscribers get special benefits along with the best prices of the season, including priority access, event invitations, and more.

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Explore the 2021|22 Season

September 17 – October 9, 2021

Macbeth

Macbeth

Lyric’s riveting season opener is the inaugural production of Music Director Enrique Mazzola's tenure, and a brand-new production from Sir David McVicar. Adapting one of the greatest tragedies written by his hero, Shakespeare, Verdi created a stunning portrait of the most power-hungry couple who ever trod a stage. Macbeth’s bloody ascent to the throne of Scotland — led and supported by his wife’s own consuming ambition — results in disaster for them both. Verdi brings them to blazing life in a score that bristles with energy and endless excitement. Grand-scale arias, hair-raising duets, stupendous ensembles — they’re all here, in the first genuine masterpiece of Verdi’s career.

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September 26 – October 8, 2021

The Elixir of Love

The Elixir of Love

No operatic hero is more endearing than Nemorino, who pines for the flirtatious Adina. She’s the owner of the town’s hotel, he’s her delightfully naive waiter. His only hope to win her is the “elixir” sold by the quack, Dr. Dulcamara — little does he know that it’s just Bordeaux wine! From start to finish we root for Nemorino, as Adina toys with him until she finally lets him know how she really feels. Elixir is opera’s most heartwarming comedy, filled with Donizetti’s delectable music that brings nonstop smiles.

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November 3 – 27, 2021

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute

Mozart’s miraculous blend of the human and the supernatural, comedy and romance, draws us into a world where a prince, Tamino, and a princess, Pamina, triumph over every obstacle in their search for wisdom and enlightenment, and are finally united in love. This is a gloriously varied score, with the lovers’ soulful arias, the stratospheric vocal fireworks of the villainous Queen of the Night, the subterranean depths of the formidable high priest Sarastro, and the folk-like melodies of the lovable birdcatcher, Papageno. Lyric brings you a critically acclaimed production that pays homage to the silent movies of the 1920s, praised by The Guardian as “a joyous yet profound staging in which animation takes centre stage…[taking] live video to new heights on the opera stage.”

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November 13 – 28, 2021

Florencia en el Amazonas

Florencia en el Amazonas

Lyric’s first Spanish-language work to be presented as part of the mainstage opera season, this story about a glamorous diva on a life-changing adventure on the Amazon is suffused by the entrancing allure of magical realism. Florencia Grimaldi, a renowned diva, is engaged to perform at the opera house of Manaus, Brazil. Traveling there by boat, she’s consumed by longing for her long-lost lover, who she hopes will be awaiting her. Florencia and her fellow passengers are all intensely memorable characters, and they’re illuminated by the magnificent, sumptuous romantic music created by a true musical genius — Mexico’s finest opera composer, Daniel Catán.

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March 12 – April 10, 2022

Tosca

Tosca

A diva who has all of Rome at her feet. A woman who takes charge of her life and fights for what she wants. A heroine who is brave and loving, extravagantly emotional, yet utterly irresistible. Floria Tosca is all these things. She’s loved by Mario Cavaradossi, the revolutionary, and lusted after by Baron Scarpia, Rome’s vicious police chief. Puccini’s lushly grand-scale music illuminates these characters, and the entire opera bursts with a theatricality that makes Tosca a favorite of audiences everywhere.

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March 24 – April 8, 2022

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s widely acclaimed memoir is the source for this extremely moving story of his traumatic youth in Louisiana. What an amazing collection of talent — composer Terence Blanchard, one of the most influential figures in American jazz; librettist Kasi Lemmons, director of such remarkable films as Harriet and Eve’s Bayou; and a topflight cast including many of America’s most brilliant singing actors. Fire Shut Up in My Bones is an opera for today, revealing the Black experience in this country as few other operas have done.

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April 1, 2022

Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Beethoven 9

Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Beethoven 9

Lyric will celebrate Sir Andrew Davis’s magnificent two-decade tenure as music director with one of his favorite works, never previously performed at Lyric: Beethoven’s enthralling, life-enhancing Symphony No. 9, the “Choral,” music’s most exalted hymn to the human spirit. Sir Andrew will conduct a superb vocal quartet with the wonderful Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The concert will begin with a new choral work by Sir Andrew’s son, Ed Frazier Davis, an impressively gifted composer.

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January 22 – 30, 2022

Proving Up

Proving Up

The American dream: the promise of a better life for those who work to achieve it. In this gripping drama, acclaimed composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek explore whether regular, hardworking people are able to fulfill their destiny — and what happens when fate is cruel, and their dreams turn into nightmares. A haunting, supernatural story of Nebraska homesteaders in the 1870s and their dream of “proving up” and obtaining the deed to the land they’ve settled, the opera draws us vividly into a world where the requirement of a single glass window can shatter the hopes and dreams of a family. The Washington Post called Proving Up “harrowing…powerful…a true opera of our time.” Join us for the anticipated Chicago premiere of this new chamber opera.

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2020|21 Season programming innovations from Lyric Opera of Chicago are generously supported by

Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel

Patricia A. Kenney and Gregory J. O'Leary

Susan and Robert Morrison

Anonymous

 

Virginia Tobiason

Lyric Opera of Chicago wishes to thank its Official Airline, American Airlines.

Lyric Opera's 2021|22 Season is presented by

Lyric Opera of Chicago thanks its Official Airline, American Airlines.

Lyric Opera of Chicago is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Photos: Kyle Flubacker, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Joe Mazza/Brave Lux, Jean-Baptiste Millot, Svetlana Pasedko, Todd Rosenberg, Jaclyn Simpson, Scott Suchman Photo,