Fresh on the heels of a high-stakes digital season, Chicago Opera Theater returns with in-person performances for its 2021-22 Season. The company’s commitment to showcasing new voices, fresh takes, and different styles of opera will be on full display in a varied season of premieres and high-profile debuts.
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CARMEN
Music by Georges Bizét; libretto by Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halevy
Sung in French
Harris Theater for Music & Dance
Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 7:30pm
Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 3:00pm
Director: Joachim Schamberger
A concert performance of this classic grand opera comes with a COT twist; The legendary Stephanie Blythe, performing as her tenor alter ego Blythely Oratonio, will sing her first Don José.
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Though Bizet’s classic melodies are familiar to many opera-goers, COT audiences will have a truly rare opportunity to hear two world-class dramatic mezzo-sopranos debuting new roles opposite one another this September. Along with Blythe, Atlanta-based mezzo Jamie Barton, dubbed “opera’s nose-studded rock star” by The New York Times, will make her role debut as the titular femme fatale, while bass-baritone Michael Sumuel will play Escamillo. Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya conducts this concert performance, to be mounted at the Harris Theater in September 2021.
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BECOMING SANTA CLAUS
Music and libretto by Mark Adamo
Sung in English
New production
Chicago premiere
Studebaker Theater
Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 7:30pm
Friday, December 17, 2021 at 7:30pm
Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 3:00pm
Commissioned and premiered by The Dallas Opera in 2015, this charmingly inventive holiday opera by American composer and librettist Mark Adamo will receive its Chicago premiere in a new production by director and choreographer Kyle Lang.
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The witty and whimsical original story follows tenor Martin Bakari as the bratty Prince Claus, mezzo Nina Yoshida Nelsen as his mother Queen Sophine – both making company debuts – and Chicago-based mezzo Leah Dexter as Ib, the Prince’s head elf. Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya will conduct this family-friendly show at the Studebaker in December 2021. A bombastic orchestra, colorful orchestrations, energetic choreography, and a children’s bell choir – comprising students from COT’s education initiatives at Chicago Public Schools – will combine to bring audiences this magical story.
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QUAMINO’S MAP
Music by Errollyn Wallen; libretto by Deborah Brevoort
Sung in English
World premiere
Studebaker Theater
Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 7:30pm
Friday, April 29, 2022 at 7:30pm
Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 3:00pm
Conductor: Jeri Lynne Johnson
Director: Kimille Howard
Dramaturg: Cori Ellison
Commissioned by COT, this new opera follows Juba Freeman, a formerly enslaved man who is thrown headfirst into London society after fighting for the Crown in the American Revolution. Chicago-based tenor Curtis Bannister stars as the violinist Juba opposite two company debutants: soprano Flora Wall as Amelia Alumond, a member of the British Black gentry, and bass Damien Geter as Quamino Dolly, another recently freed man building a new life in London.
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This marks the Chicago operatic debut of Wallen, a major Belize-born British composer who has written more than a dozen operas. Wallen has partnered with librettist Deborah Brevoort and dramaturg Cori Ellison to explore an often-overlooked chapter of history introduced in the novel Incomparable World by S.I. Martin, who serves as Historical Consultant for the project.
Supporting cast members include Chicago-based artists Kimberly E. Jones, Joelle Lamarre, Cameo Hughes, and COT Young Artist Keanon Kyles. Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson and stage director Kimille Howard will make COT debuts leading this world premiere at the Studebaker in April and May 2022.
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THE BEEKEEPER
Music by Wang Lu; libretto by Kelley Rourke
Sung in English
Concert premiere
Studebaker Theater
March 4, 2022 @ 7:30pm
This story of magical realism brought to life in the colorful sound world of Wang Lu in collaboration with librettist Kelley Rourke and dramaturg Kate Pitt came about as part of the Vanguard Initiative. COT invests in expanding the American operatic canon by training the next generation of opera composers through a fully comprehensive two-year residency that culminates in the performance of their first opera. Composers are paired with accomplished librettists and dramaturgs, attend all COT activities, and receive mentorship from industry leaders, including Vanguard Artistic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya and Vanguard Composer Mentor Jake Heggie.
COT’s 2020/21 digital season included the concert premieres of the first two Vanguard Operas developed through the Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Residency: Stacy Garrop and Jerre Dye’s The Transformation of Jane Doe, an “unusual, alluring piece” which proved “immediately attractive and ripe with potential” (Chicago Tribune), and Matthew Recio and Royce Vavrek’s The Puppy Episode, a “ravishingly beautiful opera…of hope, promise, and love” (Hyde Park Herald).
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Chicago Opera Theater’s 2021/22 Season
for tickets, call 312.704.8414 or visit COT
early bird subscriptions purchased by July 15 are 30% off
single tickets on sale August 1, 2021
About Chicago Opera Theater
Chicago Opera Theater is a company laser-focused on living its values: expanding the tradition of opera as a living art form, producing high-quality works new to Chicago audiences, identifying top-tier casts and creative talent at the beginning of grand operatic careers, and following through on commitments to equity and access – behind the scenes, on the stage, and in the audience. Since its founding in 1973, COT has grown from a grassroots, community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT has staged over 149 operas, including 77 Chicago premieres and 44 operas by American composers. COT is led by Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson General Director Ashley Magnus and Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya, who is one of only two women to hold that title at a multimillion-dollar opera company in the United States. In addition to its mainstage season, COT is devoted to the development and production of new opera in the United States through its three-pronged Vanguard Initiative, launched in 2018. The Vanguard Initiative trains emerging opera composers, invests time and talent in new opera at various stages of the creative process, and opens up opportunities for Chicago audiences to become part of the development of new work, in dialogue with the creators themselves.