Verismo Opera Theatre Joins Forces with Lyric Opera & OPRF Public Libraries

Verismo Opera Theatre has announced a partnership with the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Community Lecture Series. Verismo Opera Theatre, an Oak Park based opera company, will provide musical accompaniment for the lecture on Giuseppe Verdi's Aida at the River Forest Public Library, 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 11. Artistic Director of Verismo Opera Theatre, Bradley Schuller, will be the featured tenor.

Each season, hundreds of Lyric Opera lecture presentations are given to more than 10,000 people at 90 different venues, including the Oak Park and River Forest Library locations.

Mr. Schuller, who will sing the famous tenor aria, "Celeste Aida," is an Oak Park resident who has been actively involved in the Chicago area opera scene for over a decade. After completing vocal performance studies at DePaul University, he has sung over 30 roles with more than a dozen opera companies. Most recently, he was seen as Rodolfo in Verismo's production of La Boheme. As founder and artistic director of Oak Park-based Verismo Opera Theatre, Mr. Schuller's vision has been to connect modern audiences to the true emotions and passion that lies within an opera score. The company seeks to engage audience members of all ages by producing relevant, truthful, and emotionally direct performances.

The January 11th presentation is part of an eight program series hosted at both the Oak Park Public Library and River Forest Public Library locations. The programs are given throughout the season preceding opening night performances of the operas at Lyric Opera.

More information on the Lyric Opera lecture series at the library can be found at http://www.rflib.org/lyric-opera-lecture or by calling 708-366-5205. For more information on Verismo Opera Theatre, please see: www.verismooperatheatre.com