Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 1-Ernani

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 72 WHAT IS YOUR ROLE HERE AT LYRIC,AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THIS POSITION? In Apri 2022, I was named Lyric’s first Chief Artistic Administrative Officer, overseeing all the artistic departments at Lyric, including artistic planning, music administration, operations, and the Ryan Opera Center. My work fosters the artistic experience for all artists who intersect with Lyric. I work to create an environment for everyone to feel welcomed and valued and to help Lyric maintain an artistic space that is centered on Lyric’s principles of IDEA [Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access] and excellence. In addition, I am a part of Lyric’s executive leadership team, so I am also linked to the broad strategy of the company’s mission and vision. My background is a little unusual for a role like this at a company of Lyric’s size and scale. I am rooted in opera production, first as an artist—as an international stage director and musician—and secondly as an artistic director of a nonprofit I founded that incubates collaborative art. In addition, I am also an educator, having served as a professor at the University of Michigan for three years. All of these different intersections come into play in my new administrative role, and help me bring a unique perspective to the table. WHAT KEEPS YOU COMMITTED TO THE WORKYOU DO? I am one of the only Asian American stage directors and leaders in the entire opera industry. As a result, I am committed to building bridges for other minorities—for them to be able to enter and walk into this industry, helping them find a place of belonging. Those bridges did not exist for me when I was traversing what has now been almost 20 years in opera, so being a mentor and a role model is really a core aspect of my own personal mission. In addition, I am a collaborator, and I’m deeply passionate about opera, about the human voice, about storytelling, and how those stories connect to society at large. What stories are we telling inside and outside the opera house, and how can opera help transform people and open people’s perspectives? I am an advocate of honoring the traditions and valuing the foundation of opera while simultaneously challenging what exists in opera and working from within the industry to help us reevaluate, reimagine, and reignite opera’s potential for future generations. WHAT LED YOU TO WORK AT LYRIC? I have been connected to Lyric every season since 2007. Initially, I was an assistant stage manager. I then became a full-time staff member and started quickly working my way up within the company. I left Lyric to start a freelance directing career and to my delight, I have been hired every season since to direct something connected to Lyric, for mainstage productions like Verdi’s Nabucco and Massenet’s Don Quichotte . For Lyric Unlimited, I directed the world premieres of Matthew Aucoin’s Second Nature and Jack Perla’s An American Dream , among others. I have also directed a number of concerts and special events, including Sondra Radvanovsky’s The Three Queens . And during the pandemic I came in as a consultant to serve as the VP of Lyric Unlimited, helping sustain their important work during a very challenging time. My current role allows me to use my breadth of experience, skills, and history here. I have always considered Lyric my home company, and the people who work here feel like my family. I’ve participated in so much art created in this building, and I was even proposed to here in this opera house! So I deeply value the company and its mission, I am passionate about what we do here, and Lyric holds a very important place in my heart and life. WHAT’S SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR JOB THAT PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW? All of it! This is a position new to Lyric and new to me. As a result, it is ripe with opportunity. Just as a stage director brings a story together through the synthesis of art forms, my new position collaborates and intersects with the leadership of the company, every regular and visiting artist, and a myriad of staff members. A huge focus of mine is ensuring our artistic process behind the scenes and Lyric’s artistic planning as a whole align with Lyric’s mission, vision, and standards of excellence. WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF YOUR JOB? It’s the amount of responsibility on my shoulders and the fact that I can’t magically have more than 24 hours in a day! I’m constantly juggling short-term needs and long-term strategies, numerous departments and their staff, and the curation of all projects and commissions. In shifting between macro versus micro perspectives, while I’m only a few months into the job, I’m looking into workflow systems that can ensure every detail and every individual is cared for. BEYOND OPERA,WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER PASSIONS? I love traveling. I grew up and lived abroad in Singapore, so I am constantly yearning to travel to new parts of the world. I also love to read, hike, and play my clarinet. I also just got married, so there are new life stages that I am excited to walk into, including having a kid and starting a family. I’m excited about all the incredible layers that come with raising a child! A FAVORITE LYRIC MOMENT? In 2007, I was working on La bohème , directed by the legendary soprano Renata Scotto. I was generally mesmerized just by working at Lyric, but one truly magical moment sticks in my mind. I was backstage in Act III, during the incredible quartet with Mimì, Rodolfo, Musetta, and Marcello. And of course there is a beautiful tradition of utilizing snow during this scene. So there I was backstage, with my score, giving notes to some of the singers, when the snow started to fall on my score. And honestly, the theatrical snow looked so real. The moment completely disarmed me. And I remember looking up into the sky, and the rail system at Lyric is more than eight stories high, so I couldn’t see where the snow was coming from. In that moment, my reality and the make-believe world of theater had intertwined. I couldn’t figure out where one ended and the other began. The magic of that moment in the snow backstage during the Act III quartet was so completely transcendent that it stays with me to this day. People of Lyric Matthew Ozawa, Chief Artistic Administration Officer Jon Wes