Annual Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park Concert to be Held 9/6

Lyric Opera of Chicago kicks off its 60th-anniversary celebration with the 14th annual Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion on Saturday, September 6, at 7:30 pm. The free outdoor performance attracts capacity crowds of 11,000+.

Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric's music director, will lead the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and an array of outstanding soloists: sopranos Andriana Chuchman, Ana María Martínez, and Marina Rebeka; tenor Antonio Poli; baritones Mark Delavan and Mariusz Kwiecie?; bass-baritones Kyle Ketelsen and Michael Sumuel; and bass Andrea Silvestrelli. Also performing will be current Ryan Opera Center ensemble members J'nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano, and John Irvin, tenor.

The Lyric Opera Chorus will beprepared by chorus master Michael Black.

"I'm delighted that our magnificent soloists, orchestra, and chorus-conducted by Sir Andrew-will be heard by an enormous and appreciative audience, both in the beautiful Pritzker Pavilion and Millennium Park grounds and on the radio broadcast," said Anthony Freud, Lyric's general director. "It's a great way to start Lyric's 60th-anniversary season, and also to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Millennium Park," he added.

During Lyric's Sept. 6 performance at Millennium Park, audience members will have access to surtitles on mobile devices, at lyricoperalive.org, so those seated on the lawn (or listening to the broadcast on wfmt.com around the world) will be able to see line-by-line translations in real time.

For the first time, members of the United States Air Force Band of Mid-America will perform a pre-concert set between 6:45 and 7:10 pm.

The Stars of Lyric Opera concert program is as follows:

• Wagner, Tannhäuser Overture (Dresden version)
  Lyric Opera Orchestra
• Verdi, Rigoletto, Act Three
  Mark Delavan/Rigoletto
  Marina Rebeka/Gilda
  Antonio Poli/Duke
  Andrea Silvestrelli/Sparafucile
  J'nai Bridges/Maddalena
• Mascagni, Iris, Hymn of the Sun: "Son Io! Son Io, la Vita!
  Lyric Opera Chorus
• Verdi, Macbeth, Act Three chorus, "Patria oppressa"
  Lyric Opera Chorus

• Puccini, Tosca, Act-One Te Deum Finale: "Tre sbirri, una carozza...Va, Tosca!"
  Mark Delavan/Scarpia
  John Irvin/Spoletta

• Mozart, Don Giovanni, Act Two, Final Scene
  Mariusz Kwiecie?/Don Giovanni
  Kyle Ketelsen/Leporello
  Ana María Martínez/Donna Elvira
  Andrea Silvestrelli/The Commendatore
  Marina Rebeka/Donna Anna
  Antonio Poli/Don Ottavio
  Andriana Chuchman/Zerlina
  Michael Sumuel/Masetto

The Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park free concert will be carried live on 98.7WFMT and wfmt.com. 98.7WFMT host Suzanne Nance and Roger Pines, Lyric's dramaturg, will co-host the Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park concert broadcast beginning at 7:15 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 6.

Additionally, Lyric will post live updates via Facebook and Twitter throughout the evening - facebook.com/lyricopera and @LyricOpera.

Lyric Opera of Chicago opens its 60th season on Saturday, September 27. The opera season continues through March 15, 2015, with 69 performances of eight operas: Mozart's Don Giovanni (Sept. 27-Oct. 29), R. Strauss's Capriccio (Oct. 6-28),Verdi's Il Trovatore (Nov. 5-29), Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Nov. 17-Dec. 20), Donizetti's Anna Bolena (Dec. 10-Jan. 16), Puccini's Tosca (Jan. 24-Feb. 5, Feb. 27-Mar. 14), Wagner's Tannhäuser (Feb. 9-Mar. 6), and Weinberg's The Passenger (Feb. 24-Mar.15). Following the opera season Lyric will present25 performances of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (April 10-May 3).

All of Lyric's regular-season performances take place at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive at Madison Street in Chicago. There are projected English texts for every opera. Subscriptions are still available, as are tickets for individual performances. Discounts are available for group tickets. For information on specific performance dates and ticket availability, please call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org.

Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park is a Lyric Unlimited event. Other Lyric Unlimited performance activities this season include the family presentation The Magic Victrola (Jan. 17, Civic Opera House); the world-premiere klezmer opera The Property at the Logan Center for the Arts (Feb. 25-27) and North Shore Center for the Arts (Mar. 4-5); and the world-premiere mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca Se Termina (Mar. 28-29, Civic Opera House), which also has preview performances at Benito Juárez Community Academy (Mar. 13-15) and the Genesee Theatre (Mar. 22). For more information, visit lyricopera.org/lyricunlimited.

Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park Lead Sponsor: closerlook, inc. Cosponsors: An Anonymous Donor, AT&T, Christine and Paul Branstad Family Foundation, Crain-Maling Foundation, Ernst & Young, Rhoda L. and Henry S. Frank, Greg and Annie Jones/The Edgewater Funds, and The Music Performance Trust Fund and Film Fund. Also presented in cooperation with the City of Chicago and Millennium Park.

Photo Credit: Robert Kusel / Lyric Opera of Chicagp

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