Lyric Theatre Receives $10,000 Grant From National Endowment For The Arts

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma has been approved for a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support Lyric's 2023 world-premiere production of CONCERTO.

Lyric's grant is among more than 1,000 projects funded across the country, totaling more than $31 million.

CONCERTO, written by Alan Olejniczak, will premiere live at Lyric's Plaza Theatre on September 13, with a three-week performance schedule.  Discover the man behind the music and one of the most celebrated composers of all time, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. CONCERTO reveals the story behind the creation of Tchaikovsky's infamous 1878 violin concerto, considered one of the most beloved concertos in music history. The play is produced in collaboration with Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

“I am truly honored and thankful that the NEA has chosen to support the creation of this world-premiere play,” said Lyric's Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron. “This dynamic new work reveals a Tchaikovsky few know, and these funds allow Lyric Theatre to produce the first full staging of this fascinating play, which features music by Tchaikovsky played on piano and violin throughout.”

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Baron notes that the play focuses on the artist's relationship with his financial patron, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck, pulling the curtain back on arts patronage in a golden age and the complications that could entice, while the play opens room for conversation about how art continues to be funded today.

“I'm thrilled Maestro Mickelthwate has chosen to open the OKC Philharmonic Classics Season with an evening of Tchaikovsky, featuring the concerto played by Ukrainian violinist Anastasiya Petryshak,” he said. “This funding will help give audiences a deeper portrait of Tchaikovsky's creation of the concerto, the patron who funded it and the young violinist who inspired it.”

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Olejniczak, a San Francisco opera librettist and playwright, is also a Playwright in Residence with The Proscenium, a London-based online theatre company. Additionally, he was the Artist in Residence for Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and the first playwright ever selected by the National Parks Arts Foundation. He is currently an Opera Committee member of the Dramatist Guild and an Advisory Board Member of Opera Parallele. 

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The Grants for Arts Project is the NEA's largest grants program. Lyric Theatre is among four Oklahoma organizations receiving funding from the NEA during this installment. Other recipients include the Greatest Stories Never Told of Broken Arrow, the Oklahoma Arts Council in Oklahoma City, and Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center of Oklahoma City.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects, including Lyric Theatre's CONCERTO, demonstrating the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture and design.”

Tickets to CONCERTO, which runs September 13 through October 1, are available online at LyricTheatreOKC.org or by calling Lyric's Box Office at (405) 524-9312.

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