The Listeners

March 30. 2025 - April 11. 2025

Upcoming Dates

March 30. 2025 - April 11. 2025

LYRIC PREMIERE The Listeners

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents The Listeners, expected to be one of the most significant operatic events of the 2024/25 Season. Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, the renowned composer/librettist team, tell the story of Claire, who is driven nearly mad by an unending, low-frequency hum that she hears. In desperation, she joins a community organization, “The Listeners,” formed to discover the origin of the noise and destroy it. The group becomes frighteningly cult-like, ultimately leading to catastrophic consequences. Lyric’s vocally and dramatically brilliant cast will be conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola and directed by one of the most gifted theater artists of her generation, Lileana Blain-Cruz.

  • Language: Sung in English with projected English titles
  • Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 intermission
  • Location: Lyric Opera House
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Lyric’s presentation of Mazzoli and Vavrek’s The Listeners is generously made possible by the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation, the Zell Family Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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

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

Pre-opera talk

Speaker: Dr. Justin Vickers

Join us in the Ardis Krainik Theatre one hour before your opera performance begins for a free, 30-minute preview talk discussing that day’s production.

Seating is unreserved, but a ticket for that day’s performance is required. Talks begin one hour before each performance and doors open approximately 15 minutes before the start of the talks.

Pre-opera talks are supported by Raynette and Ned Boshell.

Artists

JARED ESGUERRA
VINCE

CHRISTOPHER FILIPOWICZ
BRAM

MIKHAELA MOHONY*
REVIVAL DIRECTOR

KAYE VOYCE*
COSTUME DESIGNER


YI ZHAO*
LIGHTING DESIGNER 


HANNAH WASILESKI*
VIDEO DESIGNER

* Lyric debut
** Ryan Opera Center alumnus
*** Ryan Opera Center Ensemble

 

Co-commissioned and co-produced by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Norwegian National Opera, and Opera Philadelphia.

Header images: Erik Berg/Norwegian National Opera & Ballet