Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 The Three Queens

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 For a high-school student dreaming of a career onstage, firsthand contact with a major artist can be life-changing. Lyric makes that happen through the Vocal Partnership Program (VPP) – bringing celebrated performers together with students for master classes and in-depth discussions. The Merit School of Music, ChiArts (Chicago Public Schools’ high school for the performing arts), Chicago Academy for the Arts, and The CPS Advanced Arts Program at Gallery 37 have all benefited from Lyric’s drive to create special artist-student connections. The VPP was a goal for Renée Fleming when she became Lyric’s creative consultant. Fleming and other major Lyric artists have met with VPP students, who have also had in-school visits from Michael Black, Lyric’s chorus master. “There are four or five guest-artist visits per season,” explains Todd Snead, Lyric’s director of learning programs. “The students also receive free tickets to dress rehearsals and backstage tours, and some have ‘shadowed’ Lyric chorus members at rehearsals.” Merit’s director of voice and guitar programs, Melanie Lunardi, considers the program’s greatest value “exposing students to incredible artists and great art.” Meeting important artists “can show students what it means to be a professional musician. I see them responding to that. We give them the opportunity to work directly with these artists, to understand all the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them. It’s been helpful to hear about the varied paths that have gotten these artists where they are. This is especially good for our kids, who come from so many diverse backgrounds.” Meeting a star, the students are “sort of in a stupor,” says Lunardi, but the excitement stays with them, along with the renewed motivation to excel. “One student who’d been part of a children’s chorus at Lyric came to Merit to continue his training. He was in the elite division of our voice program and was present for all the master classes. He’s now in his first year at CCM [the prestigious University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music]!” One exciting element of the program last season brought students from all the schools together. For the America Project, all the participating schools met over eight weeks with teaching artists from Lyric, who discussed By Roger Pines Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop was appearing in Cendrillon last season when she took time to meet with Vocal Partnership Program students at Lyric. Todd Rosenberg Todd Rosenberg Changing students’ lives: The impact of Lyric’s Vocal Partnership Program