Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 Don Giovanni

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 remains an important part of the opera scene, Lyric consistently rethinks those traditions. It strives to reflect this constantly changing art form and the community that supports it – for example, by presenting world premieres and specially commissioned works on The Ken Pigott Stage. Think of Jimmy López’s Bel Canto in 2015 (later telecast on PBS’s Great Performances series), or the company’s groundbreaking partnership with the Chicago Urban League in EmpowerYouth!: Igniting Creativity through the Arts (in 2018, Chicago high school students created an original opera and performed it onstage at the opera house). And there was Chicago Voices, the multi- year initiative celebrating Chicago’s vibrant, diverse vocal music culture, culminating in an award-winning gala concert here in February of 2017. For many international artists and performers, Lyric represents Chicago on the world’s stage. “Lyric serves as a cultural ambassador for the city of Chicago.” Ashley Wheater, artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet, has noted. “In the 1980s when I first began visiting Chicago, the Lyric Opera was one of my destinations. Now that I am a resident, I consider the Lyric to be one of my artistic homes.” The opera house is the proud host to a score of world-renowned performers. Among them is Lyric’s own creative consultant, soprano Renée Fleming. She approaches everything she does for the company with a sense of community in mind, stating in a recent Chicago Tribune interview that [her work with Lyric has] “made me think much more broadly about what the role of an opera company can be in society...made me think creatively about how to maintain a position for the Lyric audiences in the opera house’s Ardis Krainik Theatre have enjoyed everything from Wagner’s Parsifal to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar . Todd Rosenberg Robert Kusel The opera house has always been a home for great artists during any Lyric season, among them Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann, and Sir Andrew Davis, who collaborated in concert (2013|14); and Eric Owens and Lawrence Brownlee, who joined voices for a duo recital (2016|17). Todd Rosenberg Todd Rosenberg