Lyric Opera of Chicago

Classical MusicMusic

Lyric Opera of Chicago Announces Annual Sunday in the Park with Lyric Concert on August 25, 2024

Celebrate the start of Chicago’s cultural season with a melodic evening under the stars. Lyric’s annual free concert, Sunday in the Park with Lyric, takes place on August 25, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and promises an opportunity to embrace the end of summer with a fun-filled night of music. The event will be hosted by Lyric’s Chief Artistic Administration Officer Matthew Ozawa, NBC5’s Arts and Entertainment Reporter LeeAnn Trotter, and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth.

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BalletDance

Joffrey Ballet Announces Return of Possokhov’s Don Quixote

The Joffrey Ballet is kicking off off 2022 with the remount of Yuri Possokhov’s fresh interpretation of Don Quixote, the classic story written by Miguel De Cervantes, presented during the Joffrey’s first-ever season at the historic Lyric Opera House in downtown Chicago at 20 North Upper Wacker Drive, in 10 performance only, February 16–27, 2022.

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Autumn 2020Theater

A Question of Diversity

Though most stages are dark and classrooms empty as performing arts organizations head into the fall, artists and administrators are busier than ever. In this era when audiences can’t gather, and collaborative art is a struggle to create safely, Chicago artists are using their time to do difficult and important work around equity, diversity and inclusion, using this summer’s protests as a springboard for meaningful change.

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Lyric Unlimited Announces Virtual Learning Programming for 2020

After recent announcements about Lyric’s upcoming programming for 2020, amidst ongoing public-health regulations, the Lyric Unlimited – Learning & Creative Engagement wing of Lyric Opera of Chicago has also announced its plan to continue in-school and out-of-school virtual education programs for the 2020-21 school year, as well as engaging virtual community programs. These programs include Lyric’s Opera Residencies; EmpowerYouth!, in partnership with the Chicago Urban League; and public programs inspired by the Chicago premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue.

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Music

Lyric Opera Names Sylvia Neil First Woman Board Chair

Anthony Freud, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s general director, president & CEO, has announced the election of Sylvia Neil as chair of Lyric’s Board of Directors, the first woman board chair in Lyric’s history. Neil was elected unanimously during Lyric’s Annual Meeting of members and the Board of Directors’ Annual Meeting in early September, after holding the position of board chair-elect for the last year. In her acceptance speech Neil said, “I am honored to be the first woman chair of Lyric, and am humbled and inspired by Carol Fox and Ardis Krainik, the extraordinary groundbreaking women general directors of our past. These are the folks that light my path forward.”

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BalletDanceSummer 2020

Joffery’s Big Move

Autumn 2020 brings a new and exciting partnership for Chicago audiences to enjoy when the Joffrey Ballet officially joins forces with the Lyric Opera to share the iconic Lyric Opera House on North Wacker Drive. 

The partnership of these two pillars of the Chicago cultural scene has developed over time. First, as an artistic collaboration with 2017’s Orphée et Eurydice, a thrilling piece that blended the musical talents of the Lyric with ballet sequences performed by the Joffrey. During this laudable production, these cherished arts institutions discovered a kind of symbiosis that held the potential for extension beyond a single event.

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Classical MusicMusic

“For the Love of Lyric,” a Virtual Concert to Open Lyric Opera’s New “Reimagined” Season

Lyric Opera of Chicago will open the company’s reimagined fall season with “For the Love of Lyric,” a virtual concert from the stage of the Lyric Opera House, on Sunday, September 13, available for free streaming starting at 6:00 p.m. CDT.

“Lyric’s Opening Night Opera Ball has long been a signature project of Lyric’s Women’s Board,” says Lyric’s general director, president and CEO, Anthony Freud.

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ArtsSummer 2020

Pandemic Pallor Sets In with Shutdowns Shutting Audiences Out of Area Arts Venues

“It’s extraordinary that our world should have been turned upside down in such a short amount of time,” sighs Anthony Freud, Lyric Opera’s general director and CEO as he recounts the days before and after having to cancel the Lyric’s much anticipated Ring Cycle. “But we always have to remember that this is a national and a global tragedy in which we, Lyric Opera, are a tiny microcosm.”

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