Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 5 - Blue

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 32 season Chin-Loy returned to Arizona Opera to sing Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Victor Frankenstein in the world premiere of Frankenstein. With LA Opera, he sang Pang in Turandot and, with Virginia Opera, the tenor solos in Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road. In concert, Chin-Loy joined the Lubbock Symphony for Haydn’s Creation. Other recent highlights include a solo debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the National Taichung Theater in Taiwan and at Arizona Opera, Don José in Carmen with MasterVoices at Lincoln Center, Henrik Egerman in A Little Night Musi c and Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Arizona Opera, and Benny Paret Jr. in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Champion . In concert, he performed and recorded Taneyev’s At the Reading of a Psalm with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall. He joined the North Carolina Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem , the Caramoor Festival for an Independence Day celebration concert, and the Boise Philharmonic for a performance of Hailstork’s I Will Lift Mine Eyes. JONATHAN PIERCE-RHODES POLICEMAN 2 Lyric debut This season, the tenor joins the Oratorio Society of New York as soloist in the world premiere of Moravec’s All Shall Rise , returns to Washington National Opera as Mingo in Porgy and Bess , makes his Baltimore Symphony debut as the Messenger in Aida , and joins InSeries for a Damien Geter opera workshop. Rhodes recently sang Timothy Laughlin in the West Coast premiere of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce’s Fellow Travelers with Opera Parallèle. Other roles include Pong in Puccini’s Turandot (Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera), role debuts as The Hippo in The Lion, the Unicorn and Me and A Priest in Songbird (Washington National Opera), Policeman 2 (Washington National Opera) and The Son (New Orleans Opera) in Blue , and Frank in The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson (Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival). At The Glimmerglass, he sang Cacambo in Candide , and was also seen as the Man in Armor and Priest #1 in The Magic Flute, and Cherubiel in the world premiere of Holy Ground . Rhodes is a recipient of an encouragement award in the Houston District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and received training as a Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera. CHRISTOPHER HUMBERT, JR. POLICEMAN 3 Previously at Lyric: Second Prisoner/Fidelio and Count Ceprano/ Rigoletto (both 2024/25). Originally from Akron, Ohio, the second-year Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone has performed widely, including soloist appearances with Minnesota Orchestra ( The Listening Project , 2022), Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Palm Beach Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Detroit Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera. In 2023, he was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, St. Louis District. Humbert is a former participant in the young artist programs at Palm Beach Opera ( L’elisir d’amore, Carmen, La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte ) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Concert appearances include Carnegie Hall (a debut as baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem ) and the Erie Philharmonic. Recipient of a 2024 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award, Humbert holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and a Master of Music degree from Boston Conservatory. Christopher Humbert, Jr. is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Patricia Frank and cosponsors Mary Houston, in loving memory of James Houston and the Bill & Orli Staley Foundation. JOSEPH YOUNG CONDUCTOR Lyric debut This season, the American conductor has debuts and return engagements with the National Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE, the Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Louisville Orchestra, among many others. He previously led Blue with the Washington National Opera. This past summer, he conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the Cincinnati Opera’s world-premiere staging of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio . Recent engagements include debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, National Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Detroit Symphony, the Sphinx Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (Portugal), and the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa). Young is the Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony, a role he has held since 2019. Also a noted music educator, he is the Artistic Director of Ensembles and Chair of the Conducting program at the Peabody Conservatory. His long-time affiliation with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra (NYO2) culminated in 2023 with his Carnegie Hall debut, followed by the group’s first international tour to the Dominican Republic. Young began his career as a League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow with the Baltimore Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic, and went on to roles with the Atlanta and the Phoenix symphonies. He sits on the board of New Music USA. TAZEWELL THOMPSON DIRECTOR Lyric debut The internationally acclaimed director, playwright, and librettist recently directed the premiere of his own work, Jubilee , at Seattle Opera. Blue , written with composer Jeanine Tesori, won the 2020 Music Critics Association of America Award for Best New Opera in North America. Thompson has more than 150 directing credits, including 30 world and American premieres, in major opera houses and theaters across the U.S. and around the world. His play Constant Star has had 16 national productions, garnering nine Barrymore Awards, five NAACP Awards, and three Carbonell Awards. His