Announcing Verdi Voices concert on February 6

A celebration of Verdi's best

CHICAGO (11/18/2021) —Three of the world's most accomplished Verdians—soprano Tamara Wilson, tenor Russel Thomas, and conductor and Lyric Opera of Chicago Music Director Enrique Mazzola—will marshal their powerful musical forces alongside the Lyric Opera Orchestra for a special concert event: Verdi Voices on Sunday, February 6, 2022.

Tickets are on sale now.

The concert features a comprehensive survey of Verdi's musical genius, from his shimmering overtures to La forza del destino and La traviata, to favorite arias from Nabucco and Simon Boccanegra, to mesmerizing duets from Aida and Otello, and more. Continuing Lyric's seasons-long exploration of Verdi's early masterworks, the program also spotlights music from the composer's Ernani.

Chicago-area native Tamara Wilson, winner of the 2016 Richard Tucker Award, made her Lyric debut as Leonaora in Verdi's Il trovatore during the 2018/19 Season. She recently performed the towering role of Odabella in Verdi's "Attila Highlights in Concert," which is available for free streaming.

Russell Thomas made his Lyric debut as Pollione in Bellini's Norma in the 2016/17 Season and has quickly become an audience favorite, returning for Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore in the 2018/2019 Season and as Canio in the recently released filmed version of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which is available for free streaming. He returns later this season to star as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca.

Enrique Mazzola began his tenure as Lyric's third Music Director by conducting the 2021/22 Season-opening performances of Verdi's Macbeth and Donizetti's The Elixir of Love to great critical and audience acclaim. During Lyric's 2019/20 Season, as music director designate, he led Verdi's Luisa Miller to launch the company's Early Verdi Series. His work at Lyric during the 2020/21 Virtual Season included several explorations of Verdi's work, from "Attila: Breaking Down the Score" to "Attila: Highlights in Concert," to "The Great Verdi Chorus Showdown," all still available for streaming.

For more information on the Verdi Voices concert, visit lyricopera.org/verdivoices

Please utilize Lyric Opera's online press room, where you can easily access the latest images, artwork, and video files, plus press releases—all in one place. We've introduced a password-protected area within the press room to enable media access to images.

Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by the following members of the Enrique Circle

About Lyric

Lyric Opera of Chicago is committed to redefining what it means to experience great opera. The company is driven to deliver consistently excellent artistry through innovative, relevant, celebratory programming that engages and energizes new and traditional audiences.

Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO Anthony Freud, Music Director Enrique Mazzola, and Special Project Advisor Renée Fleming, Lyric is dedicated to reflecting, and drawing strength from, the diversity of Chicago. Lyric offers, through innovation, collaboration, and evolving learning opportunities, ever-more exciting, accessible, and thought-provoking audience and community experiences. We also stand committed to training the artists of the future, through The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center; and to becoming increasingly diverse across our audiences, staff, programming, and artists—magnifying the welcoming pull of our art form, our company, and our city.

Through the timeless power of voice, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus, theater, dance, design, and truly magnificent stagecraft, Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down.

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