Champion

January 27. 2024 - February 11. 2024

Upcoming Dates

January 27. 2024 - February 11. 2024

Lyric Premiere Champion

An opera by Terence Blanchard. Libretto by Michael Cristofer.

Lyric Opera of Chicago welcomes Champion, the first opera written by composer Terence Blanchard. Based on a true story and featuring a libretto by Michael Cristofer; the drama unfolds in what composer Terence Blanchard calls “an opera in jazz.” Welterweight boxer Emile Griffith is tortured by the complex realities of his life: decades-long guilt from defeating a challenger in the ring, who died from Griffith’s blows; and desperately conflicted feelings regarding his own sexuality. James Robinson’s production arrives in Chicago with a remarkable cast. Joining Lyric favorites Eric Owens, Whitney Morrison, and Paul Groves is Justin Austin, a brilliant new star who triumphed in Fire Shut Up in My Bones, with Music Director Enrique Mazzola leading the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

Content advisory: Champion addresses adult themes and includes adult language.

  • Language: Sung in English with projected English titles
  • Running Time: 3 hours, including 1 intermission
  • Location: Lyric Opera House
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Lyric’s production of Blanchard’s Champion is generously made possible by The Zell Family Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, and Ethel & Bill Gofen.

Major support for The New Work Fund provided by the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, and the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Artists

 

MONTANA LEVI BLANCO *
COSTUME DESIGNER 

 

* Lyric debut

** Ryan Opera Center alumi

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Originally commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis. A co-production of Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera.

Header image: Scott Suchman/Washington National Opera