Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 8 Madama Butterfly

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 15 “The atoms inside the Lyric Opera House shifted” at Lyric’s 2017 Chicago Voices concert. Among the artists were (foreground, left to right) Jessie Mueller, Kurt Elling, Michelle Williams, Matthew Polenzani, Renée Fleming, Shemekia Copeland, and The Handsome Family. of Tosca ?! I have 50.” Thankfully, opera is vast enough to offer something to all of these humans, and another life lesson that it teaches us is that you get the most out of it when you open yourself to its possibilities. • If you want to listen to beautiful voices, come to the opera. • If you want to hear a glorious orchestra, come to the opera. • If you want to see inventive stagecraft and design, come to the opera. • If you want to see passionate acting and thrilling dancing, come to the opera. • If you want to experience storytelling enriched by great music, come to the opera. • If you want to wear a fabulous outfit and see and be seen while drinking the best champagne, come to the opera. • If you want to engage with the politics and philosophies of the past, come to the opera. • If you want to feel the spirit of our current moment, come to the opera. Whether you want to arrive a complete innocent like the hero of Parsifal or an enlightened sage like Sarastro in The Magic Flute , come to the opera. Those of us who make music have been putting in a lot of work, work, work, work, work, work so that you can be transported by this glorious, unique art form. We hope you join us soon and often. Doug Peck, a six-time Jeff Award winner, has been a music director, conductor, and arranger for every major Chicago theater, while also establishing himself with many other distinguished companies throughout the U.S. Cory Weaver