Partnering with Lyric Unlimited, Lyric Opera’s outreach division, Lyric has announced this falls free or low-cost showcases and programming.

Fall 2016 Lyric Opera Showcases and Programs.

SEASON PREVIEW CONCERT 
Tuesday, September 27
6:30 p.m.
Lyric’s Civic Opera House

Free event to donors and subscribers; a limited number of free tickets available to the public

With Lyric’s 2016/17 season kicking off October 1, join us for a night of music and conversation highlighting the thrill and excitement that awaits. Enjoy a first taste of our season in an evening that will feature both a musical preview of the upcoming 62nd season performed by members of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and a season overview by Roger Pines, Lyric’s dramaturg. To access tickets, click on the balcony level “nonapplicable” seating, or call 312-827-5600.

LYRIC FROM THE INSIDE 
Wednesday, September 28
5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Lyric’s Civic Opera House

Free admission, no tickets required

To celebrate the start of Lyric’s new season, we invite you to explore the inner workings of our world-renowned opera company with behind-the-scenes access, an array of demonstrations and hands-on activities, and a short musical performance. Enter via the Civic Opera House loading dock on Wacker Drive and walk on stage through the set of the new production of Wagner’s DAS RHEINGOLD. Take a tour of the orchestra pit, try on costumes, and experience informative technical and stagecraft demonstrations. Visitors will also enjoy a short live performance by tenor Jonathan Johnson, a third-year member of The Ryan Opera Center. News crews are welcome.

OPEN HO– USE CHICAGO
Saturday, October 15
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Lyric’s Civic Opera House

Free admission, no tickets required

Open House Chicago, presented by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, is the city’s annual architecture festival. For one weekend in October, explore Chicago’s most iconic and unique architectural treasures. Lyric’s Civic Opera Building, home to the second largest opera house in North America and the largest stage in downtown Chicago, is opening its doors to welcome visitors! Explore the dramatic Rice Grand Foyer and the elegant Ardis Krainik Theatre, plus examine Art Deco and Art Nouveau styling and ornamentation, along with musical motifs and an impressive arcade that runs the length of the east façade.

OPERATHON
Saturday, October 15
9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Heard locally on 98.7WFMT and streamed online at WFMT.com

If you love opera and love learning about Lyric, join us for our annual Operathon broadcast where you’ll hear interviews, fascinating conversations, and sublimely beautiful music as we join together in support of the important work Lyric Unlimited does in the Chicago community. At the conclusion of Operathon, stay tuned for the opening night broadcast of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, co-anchored by Lyric’s dramaturg Roger Pines and WFMT’s midday program host, Lisa Flynn. Listeners will have access to line-by-line translations in real time online at lyricoperalive.org.

LECTURE: LOVE AND FATE IN VIRGIL’S AENEID AND BERLIOZ’S THE TROJANS
Saturday, October 15
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Fullerton Hall, Art Institute of Chicago

Free presentation with museum admission

This exciting program examines Berlioz’s monumental opera LES TROYENS  and its source, The Aeneid, Virgil’s epic poem detailing the epic adventure of the Trojan hero Aeneas and the founding of Rome. Presenters include Virgil scholar Vassiliki Panoussi, College of William and Mary, and Roger Pines, Lyric’s dramaturg. Attendees will come away with a renewed appreciation of two of the greatest masterpieces of Western music and literature and the art they have inspired—works that thrill with their grandeur and move us with their humanity.

BACKSTAGE TOURS
October 17, November 21 & 28, December 12 & 14, January 5
February 9 & 27, March 1 & 16, April 3 & 10
10 a.m.
Lyric’s Civic Opera House
$15

Visiting tourists, architecture buffs and music fans alike are now able to experience a compelling behind-the-scenes look at the storied 1929 Civic Opera House during a one-hour interactive tour. Tour patrons begin their experience in the elegant “front-of-house” Rice Grand Foyer. From there, they are led by a Lyric docent who provides an up-close-and-personal view of theater highlights such as the orchestra pit where the acclaimed Lyric Orchestra plays, and a series of unique backstage destinations where skilled professionals bring operatic stagecraft to life.

Tour tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at lyricopera.org/backstagetours or the Civic Opera House’s Box Office at 9:30am on tour dates. Group tours may be arranged on these or additional dates by contacting our group sales department at 312-827-5927 or[email protected].

AN AFTERNOON OF CHAMBER MUSIC
Saturday, November 12
2 p.m.
St. James Cathedral, 66 E. Huron Street, Chicago

General admission seating $25

Members of the renowned Lyric Opera Orchestra will perform intimate works inspired by Lyric’s 2016/17 mainstage season. The program will include selections from THE MAGIC FLUTE for wind octet arranged by Joseph Heidenreich and Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

OPERA INSIDER SERIES
Winter session begins January 17, 2017
Tuesdays, 10 a.m.
Lyric’s Civic Opera Building Conference Center

$180 for four-class series

For each opera of Lyric’s upcoming season, music historian and opera expert David Buch hosts a session illuminating the work’s creation, its composer, its musical and dramatic highlights, and its particular magic. Each session will also welcome a special guest from Lyric’s Technical Department to share the inner workings of each production, including set and costume design insights, interpretation, stagecraft, and construction. Tickets for the winter series, which features sessions on NORMA, CARMEN, EUGENE OGIN, and CHARLIE PARKER’S YARDBIRD, are available now.

For more information on the Lyric Opera of Chicago visit www.lyricopera.org