Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 The Three Queens

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 13 friends. Cendrillon [ Cinderella ] was great because people knew the story, and with The Magic Flute there was music that people recognized.” Many YOC members get together each season to share the pleasures of a Lyric backstage tour. “When I applied to the YOC,” recalls Katie, “I was really excited to learn about the behind-the- scenes aspects of the company. My favorite part was the costume department. Even if there’s no one actually working when we’re there, you can feel the life that’s breathed into all the things that go into making an opera – costumes, wigs, and everything else.” Some of the YOC’s most important events involve contact with artists and Lyric staff. Council members were thrilled to record a podcast with general director Anthony Freud, in which they asked him some lighthearted personal questions but also about how Lyric picks its repertoire and his opinions regarding the future of opera. Maeve Sullivan, a senior at Mother McCauley High School in Chicago, also hugely enjoyed meeting one of the stars of Lyric’s recent Idomeneo and Turandot , Janai Brugger: “It was a joint meeting with Steppenwolf’s youth council. Janai did a Q&A and sang a little of ‘Summertime.’ It was impactful for me. It drew me further into opera – I felt more connected to it.” YOC members receive a ticket to every opera, and they generally attend them all each season. “We can also get at least one extra ticket for $20 per show,” says Maeve. In inviting friends to join her, what does she say to get them intrigued about opera? “I tell them it’s very different from what they’re expecting. Most of my friends are interested in musicals, so I say, ‘It’s everything you like – it’s just more music-based.’” Sophia adds that for friends who have never been to an opera, “I say, ‘It’s at least worth trying because how do you know if you don’t try it?’” Asked to name their favorite opera to date, La traviata is high on these students’ lists, along with Idomeneo, La bohème , and Elektra . “My favorite is Rigoletto ,” declares Sophia, “the first opera I was ever in. I was a supernumerary. I still say the opening night was the best night of my life – I missed Homecoming for it! But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The chance to be onstage with world-class performers and learn from them was amazing.” The YOC exists in large part to break down barriers standing in the way of students’ getting to know opera. That includes the fact that, more often than not, it’s sung in a foreign language (Katie remembers that as a first-timer, “I didn’t know the libretto was projected on a screen above the stage”). Sophia has friends “who think every opera performance is five or six hours long!” When she was younger, says Taylor, “I didn’t understand opera. Once you see all the complexity and the layers, it’s more engaging than anything else you can find.” YOC members like to make going to the opera an occasion. “I have this little tradition with my friends,” says Maeve. “We’ll go to a restaurant across the street for dinner and then attend the performance.” Katie enjoys “the novelty of coming downtown on a Friday or Saturday night, going out to dinner and hanging out with your friends, taking a train downtown in your best clothes. It’s not something you get to do every day.” So what’s their sales pitch for the YOC? “Do you like opera?” says Taylor, “Or, do you want to like opera? Then this is for you.” And Katie adds, “Even if you don’t like opera, come so we can persuade you otherwise!” Members of the Youth Opera Council, ready to enjoy a “Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park” concert.