STARS OF LYRIC OPERA Concert Plays Millennium Park Tonight

Tonight, September 7, at 7:30 p.m., Lyric Opera of Chicago will present its annual gift to the city, a free outdoor concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The concert annually attracts capacity crowds of 11,000+.

American conductor Ward Stare will lead the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and an array of outstanding soloists: sopranos Ana María Martínez and Albina Shagimuratova; tenorJames Valenti; and bass-baritone Evan Boyer. Also performing will be current Ryan Opera Center ensemble members Laura Wilde, soprano, and Anthony Clark Evans, baritone.

The Lyric Opera Chorus will be prepared by the company's returning chorus master, Michael Black, who previously served as Lyric's chorus master in the 2011-12 season.

"I'm delighted that our magnificent chorus can be so prominently featured in this concert," saysAnthony Freud, Lyric's general director. "Along with our exceptional orchestra and soloists they will be heard by an enormous and appreciative audience, both in the beautiful Pritzker Pavilion and Millennium Park grounds and on the radio broadcast."

The evening will open with the overture from Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict. Several selections from Puccini's Madama Butterfly follow: "Un bel dì" (Ana María Martínez/Cio-Cio-San), "Addio, fiorito asil" (James Valenti/Pinkerton), the humming chorus (Lyric Opera Chorus), and "Bimba, bimba non piangere" (Martínez, Valenti, and Laura Wilde/Suzuki).

Following intermission, the chorus will be featured in the Preludeto Act Three and Bridal Chorus of Wagner's Lohengrin, "Fuoco di Gioia" from Verdi's Otello, and the Anvil Chorus from Verdi's Il trovatore. The concert will close with Act Three, scene two of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, the famed "Mad Scene," performed by Albina Shagimuratova/Lucia, Evan Boyer/Raimondo, Anthony Clark Evans/Enrico, and the Chorus.

The September 7 free outdoor concert is Lyric's thirteenth. It will take place in Millennium Park'sJay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry.

The Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park free concert will be carried live on 98.7WFMTand wfmt.com. Peter Van de Graaff, 98.7WFMT's program director and "Through the Night" host, and Roger Pines, Lyric's dramaturg, will host the Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park concert broadcast beginning at 7:15 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 7.

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

Lyric Opera of Chicago opens its 59th season on Saturday, October 5. The opera season continues through March 23, 2014, with 67 performances of eight operas: Verdi's Otello (Oct. 5-Nov. 2), Puccini's Madama Butterfly (Oct. 15-30, Jan. 11-26), Wagner's Parsifal (Nov. 9-29), Verdi's La traviata (Nov. 20-Dec. 20), J. Strauss's Die Fledermaus (Dec. 10-Jan. 18), Rossini's The Barber of Seville (Feb. 1-28), Dvo?ák's Rusalka (Feb. 22-March 16), and Mozart's La clemenza di Tito (Mar. 5-23). Following the opera season Lyric will present 17 performances of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music (April 23-May 11).

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, call (312) 332-2244 or go to www.lyricopera.org.