Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center announces applications for 2024/25 Ensemble Conductor, Stage Director, and Stage Manager positions

CHICAGO (10/10/23) — Considered one of the world's preeminent artist-development programs, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago announces that applications are now open for the 2024/25 Ensemble Conductor, Stage Director, and Stage Manager positions.

Artists from around the world are invited to complete an online application, to be received by November 28, 2023. Applications are free and must be submitted via YAP Tracker; free registration for a YAP Tracker account can be found at yaptracker.com.

The Ryan Opera Center is an equal-opportunity employer/program and encourages qualified artists from historically underrepresented groups, including but not limited to those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, to apply for its Ensemble.

Select applicants for the Conductor position will be invited to a live audition in Chicago on February 7, 2024. Select applicants for the Stage Director and Stage Manager positions will be invited to virtual interviews in January and February, 2024.

The 2024/25 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble program dates are May 6, 2024 through April 26, 2025, with an option for renewal, as the positions are expected to have a two-year residency.

To learn more about the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble applications, please visit lyricopera.org/ryan-opera-center/auditions. For questions, please contact Susanna McNatt, Ryan Opera Center Manager, at [email protected] or 312-827-3510.

Ryan Opera Center Final Auditions are generously made possible by Lead Sponsor Philip G. Lumpkin.
Finalists' airfares are generously provided by American Airlines as the Official Airline of the Ryan Opera Center National Auditions.

Lyric Opera's Season is presented by

About the Ryan Opera Center

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center is Lyric's preeminent artist-development program that nurtures the talents of some of the most promising operatic artists of each generation. The 2024/25 Season marks the Ryan Opera Center's 50th Anniversary. The program's Ensemble members earn their coveted spot by successfully auditioning among more than 500 artists worldwide. Its alumni are among the dominant names in opera today. Donor generosity ensures continued unparalleled training, performance experience, and professional readiness of Ensemble members. This highly competitive program, established in 1974, is honored to enjoy the support of acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming as Advisor at Large, along with full time staff Director Dan Novak, Music Director Craig Terry, and Director of Vocal Studies Julia Faulkner.

Learn More about the Ryan Opera Center

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 John Mangum and Music Director Enrique Mazzola, 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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For more information on Lyric's upcoming 2024/25 Season, visit lyricopera.org/newseason.