Chicago Opera Theater is set to celebrate the centennial of Giacomo Puccini’s death with “Bohème and Beyond – The Legacy of Puccini.” The concert will highlight how Puccini’s work impacted the evolution of opera and musical theater and will be performed at DePaul University’s Gannon Hall at the Holtschneider Performance Center on Dec. 7. This concert will feature beloved arias {…}
The Lyric Opera of Chicago Opera and Chicago Opera Theater are teaming up for a free panel event on Sept. 21, 2024. The focus of the panel will be Beethoven’s “Fidelio” and Paër’s “Leonora,” two operas based on the same story. WFMT program host LaRob K. Rafael will host a panel featuring Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Enrique Mazzola and Matthew {…}
(Credit: Picture from Chicago Opera Theater) Chicago Opera Theater is set to open its 2024-25 Season with the North American premiere of “Leonora.” The Italian opera composed by Ferdinando Paër to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa and Giacomo Cinti is based on the same story as Beethoven’s later opera “Fidelio.” According to musicologists, Beethoven was influenced by Paër while {…}
Chicago Opera Theater has unveiled its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Ferdinando Paër, Giuseppe Maria Foppa, and Giacomo Cinti’s “Leonora.” The opera, which premiered in 1804, will get its North American premiere and tells another version of the same story that Beethoven adapted for his famed “Fidelio.” The work stars Edgardo Rocha, Vanessa Becerra, Ian Koziara, Kameron Alston, Keely {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater continues its 50th Anniversary season with the concert premiere of the fifth full-length opera produced through COT’s industry leading Vanguard Initiative. “The Weight Of Light” is Gillian Rae Perry’s first opera that was developed over the course of her two years as a COT Vanguard composer and audiences will have the opportunity to see the culmination {…}
The Mayor of Chicago has proclaimed that April 5 is officially Chicago Opera Theater Day in Chicago. The company announced the news via social media with the Mayor’s proclamation which honors the company’s 50th anniversary. COT was founded in 1973 by Alan Stone and has become one of the premiere companies in Chicago. It has grown from a grassroots, community-based {…}
Chicago Opera Theater will continue its 50th Anniversary season with the Midwest Premiere of Huang Ruo’s opera “Book of Mountains and Seas.” The opera will be presented in partnership with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. The work will feature six puppeteers wielding beautiful, larger-than-life puppets designed by the opera’s Director, world-renowned puppeteer Basil {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater will present the Chicago Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “The Nose” at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. The opera will be performed on Dec. 8 and 10, 2023 in a brand-new production by director Francesca Zambello and will be conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya in her final performances conducting as COT’s Music Director before stepping down {…}
The Board of Directors of Chicago Opera Theater has announced that Lidiya Yankovskaya will step down from her position as Morse and Genius Music Director at the end of the company’s 2023-24 50th Anniversary season. Yankovskaya will continue to lead Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative, the immersive training and residency program for first-time opera composers which she created for the {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has announced a cast change for “Soldier Songs” one week before performances start. The company revealed that Nathan Gunn had to withdraw from the production due to a family emergency. In his stead, David Adam Moore will jump in. He sang the opera previously with a number of companies and appeared in commercial recording of the {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater is set to open its 50th Anniversary season with David T. Little’s “Soldier Songs.” The haunting, heavy-metal infused theatrical cantata about the psychological impact of war is set to star baritone Nathan Gunn as The Soldier. Conducted by Chicago Opera Theater Elizabeth Morse and Genius Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya, the opera will be performed on Oct. 5 at Epiphany {…}