Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 7 - La bohème

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 In many ways, Dewan is the perfect candidate not only to lead the group, but simply to be a member. Growing up and through high school, he played in band and orchestra — trombone, to be exact. After college, he moved to Chicago, and says he discovered that he “wanted to do things that I didn’t necessarily have the chance to do if I lived in some other place.” He had “heard a little bit of opera music, but I had never been to one before,” he remembers. His first foray? The 2007/08 Season’s Die Frau ohne Schatten , in a powerhouse production featuring Deborah Voigt as the Empress, Quinn Kelsey as the Spirit Messenger, Meredith Arwady as the Voice from Above, and Elizabeth De Shong as the Voices of Unborn Children, among other stars. “I was just blown away by the spectacle,” he remembers. “The opera house itself is really impressive, a special place to visit. It’s a block wide, and you can’t miss it if you live or work anywhere near it. And so many people have never been inside.” But it was the scale and drama of the work that really lit the fire for him (and the Strauss was a fortunate choice; From top: Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (center) and Enrique Mazzola (at right) joined the board at the event; the photo booth was a popular gathering spot.