DON GIOVANNI, LA TRAVIATA and More Set for Lyric Opera of Chicago 2026/27 Season

Lyric Opera of Chicago has unveiled its 2026/27 Season — a landmark lineup of seven operas spanning centuries and continents, three unique concerts, two Academy Award–winning films performed with live orchestra, and the much-anticipated return of the Lyric summer musical. Music Director Enrique Mazzola conducts five major works, anchoring a season of exceptional musical breadth with his signature artistry.

From the drawing rooms of 18th-century Vienna to the McCarthy-era American South, from the biblical courts of ancient Jerusalem to the backstreets of Broadway, the 2026/27 Season celebrates the full depth and diversity of the operatic canon while continuing to appeal to new audiences and expand the Lyric experience in every direction. The season also marks a significant new chapter for the company with the appointment of internationally acclaimed soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Artistic Advisor.

“This season is a celebration of excellence, discovery, and bold storytelling,” says John Mangum, General Director, President & CEO of Lyric Opera of Chicago. “We have assembled one of the most robust and diverse seasons in recent memory — seven operas ranging from Mozart and Verdi classics to the Pulitzer Prize–winning Omar and the beloved American folk opera Susannah. And we are thrilled to bring the Lyric summer musical back to our stage with a spectacular new production of Guys & Dolls. There is something here for everyone, and this season shows how Lyric is evolving opera by pushing the boundaries of the art form through new works, bold reinterpretations, and new audience experiences. Everything we do will be brought to life by extraordinary casts, alongside our magnificent Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus.”

Music Director Enrique Mazzola — “Chicago’s maestro-around-town” — will conduct five works next season, an eclectic and wide-ranging portfolio that spans Mozart, Donizetti, Haydn, Massenet, and Verdi. “This is a season of extraordinary musical journeys,” says Maestro Mazzola. “Opening the season with Don Giovanni is deeply meaningful to me — it is one of those operas that has the entire world of opera inside it: comedy, drama, philosophy, and singular musical architecture. And in Verdi’s La traviata, everything is truth. These are works that speak directly to the heart. I am also thrilled that we will be bringing Haydn’s magnificent The Creation to Lyric audiences — a piece that reminds us how music can express awe and beauty in the most direct and universal way. And I cannot wait to share Massenet’s rarely heard gem Hérodiade with Chicago — a score I know deeply, having recorded it in Berlin, and one that deserves to be heard at the highest musical level.”

The season also brings a milestone partnership: the appointment of beloved soprano and “Chicago’s hometown diva” Sondra Radvanovsky as Lyric’s Artistic Advisor for the next five seasons. In addition to a mainstage appearance each season — including a concert with tenor SeokJong Baek in the 2026/27 Season — Radvanovsky will work closely with The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center through masterclasses, mentorship, and career guidance. “Lyric is my artistic home, and I am honored to deepen that bond in this very special new role,” says Radvanovsky. “Supporting the next generation of singers through the Ryan Opera Center is one of the most meaningful things I can imagine doing. I look forward to sharing everything I have learned on the world’s great stages with these remarkable young artists — and to performing for the Chicago audiences I love so deeply. We have some magnificent surprises in store!”

Don Giovanni

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2026/27 Season opens October 10 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, running through November 1, 2026 — eight performances that complete Lyric’s exploration of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy that began with The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte over the past two seasons. High drama, sharp humor, and an exquisite score intertwine in this thrilling fable of deceit and retribution, conducted by Maestro Mazzola and directed by Chicago theatrical legend Robert Falls. Ryan Opera Center alumnus and Lyric veteran Christian Van Horn stars as the legendary seducer, leading a stellar ensemble that includes the return of Lawrence Brownlee as Don Ottavio and Mané Galoyan as Donna Anna alongside the Lyric debuts of Nina Solodovnikova as Donna Elvira and Tommaso Barea as Leporello. Kyle Ketelsen sings the title role for two performances.

Omar

Overlapping with the final performances of Don Giovanni is the Lyric premiere of Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’s Pulitzer Prize–winning opera Omar, playing October 23, 25, and 28, 2026. A Lyric co-commission, Omar is inspired by the memoir of 19th-century Islamic scholar Omar ibn Said — an African Muslim whose diaries preserve a firsthand account of the experiences of those enslaved — and tells a fundamentally American story of survival, faith, and identity. The score weaves together hymns, spirituals, and bluegrass in a tapestry as emotionally direct as it is musically breathtaking. Issachah Savage returns in the title role of Omar alongside Kearstin Piper Brown as Julie and Lyric favorites Zoie Reams as Fatima and Kyle Ketelsen as the two Masters, Johnson and Owen. Conductor Kazem Abdullah, who led Lyric’s world premiere of Proximity, returns to the podium. Director Kaneza Schaal, who helmed the opera’s world premiere, creates a new theatrical presentation exclusively for Lyric in her company debut.

Don Pasquale

November brings a rich trio of offerings. Donizetti’s sparkling comic masterpiece Don Pasquale returns to Lyric for the first time in more than a decade, for six performances November 12 through 27, 2026. The opera’s vibrant score animates the story of an aging bachelor whose disowned nephew and sharp-witted fiancée orchestrate an elaborate series of dupes and double-crosses — all in the name of true love. Maestro Mazzola conducts this lively Glyndebourne production (which he conducted at its premiere and its subsequent revival) directed by Mariame Clément in her Lyric debut. Misha Kiria makes his Lyric debut in the title role, joined by Ying Fang as the irrepressible Norina, Alberto Robert in his Lyric debut as Ernesto, and Ryan Opera Center alumnus Ian Rucker as Dr. Malatesta.

Wagner: Myth & Music

For two performances only, November 20 and 22, the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus take center stage for Wagner: Myth & Music, an electrifying concert program of overtures and choruses conjuring valiant heroes, ghostly figures, and golden sunrises over majestic mountaintops — the fantastical world of Richard Wagner brought thrillingly to life. Conductor Alexander Soddy — a noted Wagnerian who recently led acclaimed performances of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at La Scala — makes his Lyric debut. At these performances, Lyric will introduce its new David W. & Orit K. Carpenter Concert Shell, a specially designed acoustic shell that will bring audiences an even richer listening experience for Wagner’s thrilling music.

Encanto in Concert Live to Film

2026 concludes with the return of Movie Nights at Lyric and a spectacular family event: Disney’s Academy Award–winning Encanto in Concert Live to Film on November 28 and 29, with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s beloved songs and Germaine Franco’s score performed live by the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

Amadeus LIVE

The new year begins with another Movie Nights at Lyric event: Amadeus LIVE on January 15 and 16, 2027, in which the eight-time Academy Award–winning film is accompanied live by the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus — the first time the full Chorus joins the Orchestra for Movie Nights at Lyric. The riveting story of Antonio Salieri’s envy and Mozart’s divine genius unfolds on screen as Lyric’s full musical forces bring the film’s extraordinary music to glorious life.

The Creation

The new year continues with Haydn’s awe-inspiring oratorio The Creation on January 22 and 23, 2027, conducted by Maestro Mazzola with the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus and three star soloists: Erin Morley in her Lyric debut, Ryan Opera Center alumnus David Portillo, and Michael Sumuel. Featuring an English libretto drawn from Genesis, the Psalms, and Milton’s Paradise Lost, Haydn’s astonishing oratorio renders the creation of all things in brilliant musical detail — from humankind to the infinite cosmos itself.

Hérodiade

February brings a long-awaited Lyric premiere: Jules Massenet’s rarely performed Hérodiade: An Opera in Concert, February 23 through 28, 2027. Massenet’s grand French opera treatment of the story of Salome — inspired by Gustave Flaubert’s literary retelling — combines the grandeur of French opera with moments of extraordinary intimacy. Maestro Mazzola, who conducted and recorded the opera at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, leads a score rich with haunting choral chants, sultry dances, and vivid evocations of first-century Jerusalem. An all-star cast of soloists — including Clémentine Margaine, Federica Lombardi, Igor Golovatenko, and Piero Pretti in his Lyric debut — brings this rarely heard gem to life alongside the video designs of Greg Emetaz.

Ariadne auf Naxos

In March, Richard Strauss’s witty and vocally spectacular Ariadne auf Naxos returns in John Cox’s beloved production for six performances, March 11 through 26, 2027. The opera pits classical melodrama against commedia dell’arte in a brilliantly self-referential collision of high and low art, featuring the Lyric debut of Leah Hawkins as Ariadne/Prima Donna alongside Erin Morley as Zerbinetta, Samantha Hankey as the Composer, and Russell Thomas in his role debut as Bacchus/Tenor. Conductor Oksana Lyniv makes her Lyric debut leading the Lyric Opera Orchestra through one of Strauss’s most beautiful scores.

La traviata

Running concurrently and extending deep into April is one of opera’s most beloved masterworks: Verdi’s La traviata, March 24 through April 25, 2027, in an expansive 11-performance run. Few operas speak as directly to the human heart as La traviata — and few conductors know Verdi's score more intimately than Maestro Mazzola, who leads this revival of Arin Arbus’s production with a fresh ensemble of debut artists, including Yaritza Véliz as Violetta Valéry, Liparit Avetisyan as Alfredo Germont, and Amartuvshin Enkhbat as Giorgio Germont. Tess Jackson conducts the final four performances in her Lyric debut.

Susannah

April also brings Carlisle Floyd’s iconic American opera Susannah to the Lyric Stage for the first time since 2002, for five performances April 11 through 23, 2027. Conducted by Daniela Candillari and directed by acclaimed soprano Patricia Racette — herself a legendary interpreter of the title role — this Appalachian fable of innocence on trial moves at a brisk cinematic pace. Gabriella Reyes stars as Susannah alongside the Lyric debuts of Ryan Speedo Green as Olin Blitch and Matthew Cairns as Sam. Notably, Susannah holds a special place in Lyric history as the opera in which both Renée Fleming and Sondra Radvanovsky made their Lyric debuts.

Sondra Radvanovsky & SeokJong Baek in Concert

The spring opera season concludes with Sondra Radvanovsky & SeokJong Baek in Concert on April 30 and May 2, 2027 — an evening of showstopping arias and duets by opera’s leading composers featuring the Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Frizza, and the first mainstage appearance of Ms. Radvanovsky in her new role as Lyric’s newly appointed Artistic Advisor.

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