Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 6 - Champion

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 32 KRYSTY SWANN COUSIN BLANCHE Previously at Lyric: Third Maid/ Elektra (2018/19) and Grimgerde/ Die Walküre (2017/18). The Philadelphia-born, New York-based mezzo-soprano opened the 2023/24 season as Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking at the Metropolitan Opera, which was followed by the Mother in New Orleans Opera’s production of Jeanine Tesori’s and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue , a role she has performed also at Detroit Opera. Other engagements this season include Schönberg’s Gurre- Lieder with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Sanctuary Road with Princeton Pro Musica. Last season, Swann returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Cousin Evelyn in Champion , and sang Rossweisse in Detroit Opera’s The Valkyries , Elijah with Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, The Ordering of Moses for Oberlin Conservatory, and Handel’s Messiah for Pacific Symphony. Other recent highlights include a debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Third Maid in Elektra and an appearance in the revival of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten . For Lincoln Center Theater, she created the role of Mayme in the world premiere of Intimate Apparel , directed by Bartlett Sher and written by Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon. With the Metropolitan Opera, she has appeared in productions of Die Walküre , Marnie , Il tabarro , and Francesca da Rimini . NAYA ROSALIE JAMES LITTLE EMILE Lyric debut Recent highlights for James include Sophie in School of Rock at The Paramount Theatre in Aurora, where she also understudied the role of Tomika, and the lead role of Matilda in Matilda the Musical at Magical Starlight Theatre. She has twice played the role of Amaryllis in The Music Man , at Downers Grove North High School and Oak Lawn Community Theatre, where she was also the youngest member of the ensemble in Hello, Dolly! IAN RUCKER MAN IN BAR Previously at Lyric: The Foreman/ Jen ˚ufa (2023/24) and Moralès/ Carmen (2022/23). The second-year Ryan Opera Center baritone is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His roles there included Count Almaviva/ The Marriage of Figaro and the title role/ The Barber of Seville . He has also appeared as Papageno/ The Magic Flute at Bloomington Chamber Opera. The baritone previously earned his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he was heard in the title roles/ Don Giovanni and Sweeney Todd , as well as Officer Lockstock/ Urinetown and Ernst Ludwig/ Cabaret . Rucker is a former Palm Beach Opera Apprentice Artist and a former Aspen Music Festival Renée Fleming Artist. He recently received an Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (Wisconsin District) and first place in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. Ian Rucker is sponsored by Karen Petitte, Jennifer L.Stone and Heidi Heutel Bohn. LARRY YANDO RING ANNOUNCER Lyric debut The Chicago-based actor performed as Scar in the national tour of The Lion King for three years. Winner of five Joseph Jefferson awards, Yando has appeared in leading roles at all the major Chicago theaters. He has played Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol to great acclaim for more than a dozen years. Role highlights include Lear/ King Lear , Malvolio/ Twelfth Night , and Prospero/ The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare), Roy Cohn/ Angels in America Parts I and II (Court Theater), Pangloss/ Candide (Goodman), and Dawson/ Fake (Steppenwolf), among numerous others. In 2019, Yando toured Europe in Peter Brook’s production of Battlefield . He has taught advanced acting classes at The Theatre School at DePaul University, Northwestern University, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Classical Training Program. URIA BENNETT DANCER Lyric debut The Chicago Native has trained with many dance companies including Joffrey Ballet and Deeply Rooted. Her most recent credit is Personality , the Lloyd Price Musical . BENJAMIN FREEDMAN DANCER Lyric debut Freedman earned his BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he currently serves as a professor in the dance department. He began his career as a company member with the Mark Morris Dance Group and was featured in the PBS special Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato filmed at the Teatro Real in Madrid. He has danced with the Metropolitan Opera in productions of Champion , The Magic Flute , Turandot , Der fliegende Holländer , and Samson et Dalila, and as a soloist in Agrippina . Other opera credits include the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Lafayette, Against the Grain Opera, and Opera Columbus. Off-Broadway, he performed in Third Rail Project’s The Grand Paradise and Company’s Nutcracker Rouge and Boylesque Bullfight . He has danced as a member of Seán Curran Company, Keigwin + Company, the Bang Group, Jennifer Muller/The Works, and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company,