Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 2 The Elixir of Love

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 27 SIMON MILLS | ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGNER Lyric debut For more than two decades, the British designer has created lighting for many of the world’s most distinguished opera companies, including those of Madrid, Frankfurt, Munich, Geneva, Paris, Copenhagen, San Francisco, Auckland, Oslo, Lyon, and Houston. His repertoire has extended across more than four centuries of music, from Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria to contemporary works such as Jonathan Dove’s L’altra Euridice , Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale , and Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face , while also including works of Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Smetana, Janáˇcek, and Britten. Mills’s designs for The Elixir of Love have previously been seen at Opera North (Leeds), Welsh National Opera (Cardiff), Ópera de Oviedo (Spain), and Pittsburgh Opera. Simon Mills is supported by the Mary-Louise and James S. Aagard Lighting Director Endowed Chair. MICHAEL BLACK | CHORUS MASTER The Australian chorus master held this position at Opera Australia in Sydney from 2001 to 2013. Black has served in this capacity for such distinguished organizations as the Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Holland Park (London), and, in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, the Cantillation chamber choir, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Other activities include preparing The Damnation of Faust chorus at the Grant Park Music Festival, where he has worked for two seasons. As one of Australia’s most prominent vocal accompanists, Black has regularly performed for broadcasts and recordings. He has served as chorus master on four continents, and his work has been recorded and/or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, for many HD productions in movie theaters, and on television. Michael Black is supported by the Howard A. Stotler Chorus Master Endowed Chair . TIM CLAYDON | CHOREOGRAPHER Previously at Lyric: Parsifal (2013/14). The British choreographer appeared in opera at Glyndebourne ( The Queen of Spades , Eugene Onegin ), Covent Garden ( The Bartered Bride ), and English National Opera ( Les Troyens , War and Peace ) before debuting as an operatic choreographer with The Bartered Bride at Opera North in Leeds. Claydon’s many other Opera North productions include works ranging stylistically from La clemenza di Tito and I Capuleti e i Montecchi to La bohème , Rusalka , The Merry Widow , and Peter Grimes (Olivier Award, Best Opera Production, 2007/08 season). His work has also been seen at New Zealand Opera ( The Bartered Bride ), Vlaamse Opera ( Carmen ), Houston Grand Opera ( Don Carlos , La traviata ), Minnesota Opera (Keiser’s The Fortunes of King Croesus , previously produced at Opera North in the British premiere), and Malmö Opera ( Les contes d’Hoffmann ). Claydon has worked as an aerialist and choreographer for the Generating Company (an English company undertaking large-scale shows worldwide) and NoFit State Circus (a contemporary circus based in Wales). SARAH HATTEN | WIGMASTER & MAKEUP DESIGNER Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer has worked in a wide repertoire at Des Moines Metro Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre, as well as Columbus Opera, Toledo Opera, the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has also worked at the Glimmerglass Festival and the major opera companies of Los Angeles, Omaha, Cleveland, Sarasota, and Central City, as well as Wisconsin’s American Players Theatre and, in Los Angeles, the Pantages Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse. Sarah Hatten is the Marlys Beider Wigmaster and Makeup Designer Endowed Chair.