Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Announces Auditions for 2026/27 Ensemble Singers and Pianists

CHICAGO (1/16/25) — The renowned Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, celebrated for its commitment to developing emerging operatic talent, announces that applications are now open for singers and pianists for its 2026/27 Ensemble.

Building on the excitement of the Ryan Opera Center’s 50th Anniversary Season in 2024/25, the program continues to provide transformative training and performance opportunities for gifted artists.

Artists from around the world are invited to submit an initial online application, which includes video recordings. Applications are free and must be submitted via YAP Tracker; free registration for a YAP Tracker account is available at yaptracker.com. Deadlines for submission range from March 3 through June 6, 2025, depending on audition dates and locations. For complete information, visit: lyricopera.org/ryanoperacenter/auditions.

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 will be invited to live Preliminary Auditions in New York or Chicago. Final Auditions for singers will be held on September 24, 2025, and include a hosted weekend in Chicago with coachings, interviews, and auditions on Lyric’s mainstage.

The approximate program dates for the 2026/27 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble are May 4, 2026, through April 25, 2027, with an option for renewal, as the positions are expected to have a two-year residency.

Recognized as one of the premier training programs for emerging operatic professionals, the Ryan Opera Center offers a uniquely comprehensive approach to artist development, focusing on advanced, post-collegiate-level artists. Ensemble members are immersed in rigorous training that includes voice lessons, language coaching, acting classes, and master classes with world-renowned artists. The program’s access to Lyric’s mainstage productions allows participants to understudy and perform alongside the world’s leading opera singers, conductors, and directors, orchestra and chorus.

For questions about Ryan Opera Center auditions, please contact Susanna McNatt, Ryan Opera Center Manager, at [email protected] or 312-827-3510. To learn more about the Ryan Opera Center, go to: lyricopera.org/ryanoperacenter.

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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.

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