Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 9 - Proximity

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 34 JEFF PARKER | ARNE DUNCAN | THE WALKERS Lyric debut The Chicago-based actor has appeared at most of Chicago’s major theaters, including the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers, Court, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Drury Lane, Marriott, Porchlight, and many others. Regional appearances include work with Manhattan Theatre Club (New York), Huntington Theatre (Boston), American Conservatory Theatre and Magic Theatre (San Francisco), Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota), Clarence Brown Theatre (Knoxville), Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, and the Kennedy Center. Parker received a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for Best Actor in a musical for his performance of Guido in the musical Nine for Porchlight Music Theatre. He was also a part of the Jeff Award winning ensemble of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/ Sister Plays directed by Tina Landau at Steppenwolf. Recent appearances include the national tour of The King’s Speech at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. and the Beatles-infused musical version of As You Like It at Chicago Shakespeare and Milwaukee Rep. Television and lm appearances include The Big Leap , Prison Break , Empire , NeXt , Proven Innocent (Fox), Chicago P.D ., Chicago Fire , Chicago Med (NBC), Soundtrack (Net ix), and Christmas is Canceled (Lionsgate/Amazon Prime). JAMION COTTEN | LIL’ BUNCHY BATES | THE WALKERS Lyric debut The 13-year-old honor student was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago. He appeared at Lyric in Dead Man Walking (2019/20). A member of Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly the Chicago Children’s Choir) since 2018, Cotton performed with Chance the Rapper at the 2020 NBA All-Star halftime show, and sang in Bernstein’s Mass and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at Ravinia. At age 11, Cotten wrote and recorded the song “Just a Dream” with the Uniting Voices Choir (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir). UNITING VOICES CHICAGO Previously at Lyric: 16 productions since 2000/01, most recently Carmen and Hansel and Gretel (both 2022/23). Uniting Voices Chicago (Josephine Lee, president and artistic director), formerly Chicago Children’s Choir, is the nation’s preeminent youth choral organization, serving 5,200 students across the city of Chicago. Founded in Hyde Park in direct response to the Civil Rights Movement in 1956, UVC has grown from one choir into a vast network of in-school and after-school programs driven by one mission: to inspire and change lives through music. UVC has impacted the lives of more than 50,000 diverse youth throughout its 62-year history. Since its founding, UVC has focused on building programs that re ect the racial and economic diversity of Chicago. Eighty percent of youth served are from low-moderate income homes, with over 4,000 students annually participating completely free of charge. All singers in UVC programs receive some level of subsidy. High school seniors enrolled in UVC have a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate, becoming global ambassadors who carry on UVC’s core values in a wide array of professional elds. KAZEM ABDULLAH | CONDUCTOR Lyric debut The American conductor was Music and Artistic Director of the City of Aachen, Germany from 2012 to 2017. During his tenure, he performed more than 25 operas and collaborated with musicians such as Johannes Moser, Lise de la Salle, Angela Gheorghiu, Augustin Haedelich, and Midori. Among his recent orchestral credits are the symphony orchestras of Oregon, Indianapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. In addition to his symphony engagements, he recently conducted an opera gala for the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the American premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s opera Brokeback Mountain with New York City Opera, and Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda for Cape Town Opera. He lead the Orquestra de São Paulo on its third United States coast-to-coast tour, conducted the New World Symphony’s 2009 Ives In-Context Festival, and on short notice conducted the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group. Abdullah has guest conducted such esteemed companies as the Atlanta Opera ( Così fan tutte ) and the Théâtre du Châtelet de Paris, where he led performances of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha . He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009 conducting Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice . As a clarinetist, Abdullah has performed extensively as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist, and spent two seasons as a member of the New World Symphony. YUVAL SHARON | DIRECTOR & CURATOR Previously at Lyric: Twilight: Gods (2020/21). Sharon is founder and co-Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles and the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera, where he made his debut in 2020 with Twilight: Gods , an adaptation of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung that then came to Lyric, performed in the Millennium Park garage. In the 2021/22 season at Detroit Opera, he lead new productions of Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss , staged in the historic Michigan Building Theatre, and La bohème , presented in reverse order in the Detroit Opera House. He also reprised his production of Die Zauber öte with the Berlin State Opera. With The Industry, Sharon has directed and produced new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, Hollywood sound stages, and various “non-spaces” such as warehouses,