2024/25 Season Brochure

Lawrence Edelson, Edlis Neeson General Director

WHY DO YOU GO TO THE OPERA?

SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

To hear great singing and beautiful music? For the visual spectacle? To be transported to another time and place? For a chance to see the world anew? For all of these reasons and more, we invite you to join us at Chicago Opera Theater.

We promise that COT subscribers always get the best price on their tickets, and we will not undercut your loyalty by offering last minute sales at lower prices. As a subscriber, you get:

This season we are taking you on a journey through a thrilling variety of musical and theatrical storytelling.

We open this Fall with a rarely performed, virtuosic Italian opera that not only influenced Beethoven, but that also tells a story about persecution, freedom and the power of love that is as powerful and relevant today as it was when it first premiered in 1804.

• The best prices we offer, period • Seating priority for every performance during the season • 10% off extra tickets for friends or family on all performances* • First right of refusal to keep your seats, and first-in-line to request a new location when you re-subscribe • Fee-free ticket exchanges from your performance into any other opera or concert, based on availability

Our December celebration of Puccini’s legacy will feature a passion-filled program that includes Italian, German, Czech and Spanish opera alongside musical theater favorites.

Subscriptions include tickets for all four performances that make up the 2024/25 season.

During the Spring, we get a taste of the future as we showcase work developed through our Vanguard Initiative; and we close the season with a world premiere by two of the most exciting artists writing for the opera stage today.

Subscribers get 20% off their tickets* PLUS free tickets to Bohème and Beyond — saving you up to 40% off the price of single tickets for all shows.

Of course, there is no opera without extraordinary singing, and we are thrilled to welcome an incredible array of acclaimed local and international artists to COT to bring all of these works to life.

JOIN US...SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND DON’T MISS A MOMENT OF THE 2024/25 SEASON!

BEFORE JULY 15TH:

AFTER JULY 15TH:

Subscribers get 20% off their tickets*. *Please note: A+ seats to Leonora and She Who Dared, are not discounted.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Call 312.704.8414 to subscribe over the phone.

Visit COT.ORG to subscribe securely online.

SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE JULY 15TH.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR LOVE? Leonora is inspired by a profoundly moving true story from the French Revolution, where a young woman disguised herself as a man to rescue her wrongfully imprisoned husband. One of four operas inspired by the libretto Léonore by Jean Nicolas Bouilly, the politically infused plot inspired not only Ferdinando Paër, but also composers Pierre Gaveaux, Simon Mayr and Ludwig van Beethoven, whose opera Fidelio is the most frequently performed. Chicago audiences will have the extremely rare opportunity to see Paër and Beethoven’s operas side by side, as Chicago Opera Theater’s three performances of Leonora have been scheduled to complement the fall run of Fidelio at Lyric Opera.

While you might not be familiar with the music of Ferdinando Paër, he was one of the most popular composers of the early 19th century, writing over 50 virtuosic operas in the late Classical style and playing an integral role in the musical life of Paris where he preceded Rossini as the director of the Théatre Italien. Dame Jane Glover returns to COT to lead the new production, which will be directed by Lawrence Edelson in his debut with the company. The cast features soprano Vanessa Becerra as Leonora, tenor Edgardo Rocha as Florestano, soprano Keely Futterer as Marcellina, tenor Ian Koziara as Don Pizzarro, baritone Joo Won Kang as Rocco, bass baritone Alex Soare as Giachino, and tenor Kameron Alston as Don Fernando.

Sung in Italian with English Supertitles

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Composer: Ferdinando Paër Librettists: Giuseppe Maria Foppa and Giacomo Cinti after Jean Nicolas Bouilly

Vanessa Becerra Leonora

Edgardo Rocha Florestano

Keely Futterer Marcellina

Joo Won Kang Rocco

Alex Soare Giachino

Kameron Alston Don Fernando

Dame Jane Glover Conductor

Lawrence Edelson Director

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1ST @ 7:30PM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4TH @ 7:30PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6TH @ 3PM

Ian Koziara Don Pizzarro

410 South Michigan Ave | Chicago, IL

Leadership support for COT’s production of Leonora has been provided by Julie and Roger Baskes and the COT President’s Council.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR? As companies around the globe celebrate the centennial of Giacomo Puccini’s death in 2024, COT presents a unique concert that highlights how Puccini’s work impacted the evolution of opera and musical theater. Despite facing criticism and mixed reactions from many of his contemporaries, Puccini’s operas are still among the most popular in the world – and for good reason.

He had a unique ability to capture complex human emotions and relationships, and his operas contain a wealth of beautiful, memorable melodies that linger in our hearts long after the curtain comes down… he was truly a master of musical storytelling.

This special event will feature beloved arias and ensembles from Puccini’s operas alongside a variety of scenes from operas and musicals by composers who were influenced by the great Italian composer, including Franz Lehár, Leoš Janacek, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Gian Carlo Menotti, Daniel Catán, Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Jonathan Larson.

Featured guest artists to be announced.

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW PUCCINI’S LEGACY? What opera by Janacek was inspired in part by Puccini’s Madama Butterfly?

In 1987 the Puccini estate filed a lawsuit against Andrew Lloyd Webber, accusing him of plagiarism, noting similarities between “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera and a recurring melody in which of Puccini’s operas?

In 1981, COT produced its first Puccini opera. Which opera was it?

What American opera, which was highly influenced by Puccini, won the Pulitzer prize for music when it premiered on Broadway in 1950 and has been performed by COT with the composer in attendance?

Visit cot.org/trivia for the answers!

CONCERT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7TH @ 3PM Gannon Concert Hall DePaul University 2330 N Halsted Street | Chicago, IL

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SAVE THE WORLD? Set in a world devoid of color and inspired by the imagery of surrealist painter Remedios Varo, a lone tree holds within its rings the memory and possibility of music, poetry, and art. An herbalist struggles to heal a community afflicted by a siege of maladies, and a homesick boarding-school student dreams of escape. An ancient medicinal, written in Spanish (one of countless forbidden languages), just may hold the key — to transcendence, or complete obliteration. Remedios Varios Para las Aflicciones del Cuerpo y el Espíritu (Various Remedies for the Afflictions of the Body and Spirit) is a searing new opera that looks at a culture rapidly strip-mining itself of its riches, and embraces the realm of the imagination as fertile ground for regeneration.

VANGUARD OPERA IN CONCERT WORLD PREMIERE

Composer: Carlos R. Carrillo Librettist: Stephanie Fleischmann

This concert premiere, which will be conducted by Eli Chen, is the culmination of composer Carlos R. Carrillo’s Vanguard Residency for emerging opera composers at COT. The cast features soprano Hayley Fox, mezzo soprano Leah Dexter, countertenor Ryan Belongie, tenor Alejandro Luévanos, and bass Stephen Clark.

Sung in English and Spanish with English Supertitles This performance will be enhanced by a festive Gala celebrating COT’s longstanding commitment to fostering the next generation of operatic artists. Additional information will be announced this Fall!

Hayley Fox The Girl

Leah Dexter The Herbalist

Alejandro Luévanos The Teacher

Stephen Clark The Tree / Father

Ryan Belongie The Student

Eli Chen Conductor

SATURDAY, APRIL 5TH @ 7:30PM The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture 2936 N Southport Ave | Chicago, IL

Leadership support for the Vanguard Initiative has been provided by the Mellon Foundation, with additional support from Orli and Bill Staley and Fred and Phoebe Boelter.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS? Everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, but she wasn’t the first to refuse to move. She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown — further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder v. Gayle. The highly melodic score liberally references musical idioms of the time, including soul, gospel, and protest music. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, She Who Dared demonstrates how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change — if only they dare.

She Who Dared will feature sopranos Jasmine Habersham, Jacqueline Echols, Lindsey Reynolds, and mezzo sopranos Chrystal E. Williams, Jazmine Olwalia, Leah Dexter, and Cierra Byrd. Conductor Michael Ellis Ingram and director Timothy Douglas make their COT debuts at the helm of the world premiere production. Sung in English with English Supertitles Leading up to the premiere of She Who Dared, COT is partnering with the Kehrein Center for the Arts in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side on a series of events in the Winter and Spring of 2025 that will include a free concert on February 22, 2025 that celebrates She Who Dared, the legacy of Black opera, and the intersection of Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Save the Date!

WORLD PREMIERE

Jasmine Habersham Claudette Colvin

Chrystal E. Williams Aurelia Browder

Jacqueline Echols

Jazmine Olwalia

Cierra Byrd

Lindsey Reynolds

Michael Ellis Ingram Conductor

Timothy Douglas Director

Jeanetta Reese / Classmate / Officer / Judge

Mary Louise Smith / Classmate

Rosa Parks / Ms. Nesbit / Prosecution Attorney

TUESDAY, JUNE 3RD @ 7:30PM FRIDAY, JUNE 6TH @ 7:30PM SUNDAY, JUNE 8TH @ 3PM Composer: Jasmine Arielle Barnes Librettist: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton

Commissioned by American Lyric Theater Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director Kelly Kuo, Associate Artistic Director

Jo Ann Robinson / Fred Gray

Leah Dexter

Susie “Mama Sue” MacDonald

410 South Michigan Ave | Chicago, IL

WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR LOVE?

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SAVE THE WORLD?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS? COT thanks Nancy Dehmlow and The Morse & Genius Reserve Fund for their generous support of the 2024/25 Season.

COT.ORG | 312.704.8414

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO THE 2024/25 SEASON

410 S Michigan Ave, Suite 404 Chicago, IL 60605