Lyric 101: What is the Ryan Opera Center?

Throughout Lyric's 2020/21 digital season, one group has popped up more than any other: The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. Hard at work from their homes across the city and with strict safety precautions at the opera house, this talented group of artists represents the future of opera. Selected annually from more than 400 artists from around the globe, Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members are in residence for nearly twelve months. Over the course of the year these exceptionally talented emerging artists receive comprehensive training and advanced instruction in numerous aspects of operatic performance, including voice lessons and coachings, language and acting training, and master classes with some of opera's most renowned artists.

Since 1974, the Ryan Opera Center has trained nearly 300 artists and has helped launch countless major international careers. While its mission has always been to train the most promising emerging artists, the program has grown and evolved over the years. When Lyric's "Apprentice Artist Program" was first incorporated, it was renamed the Lyric Opera School of Chicago and was led by tenor/conductor Herbert Handt before conductor Lee Schaenen took over as director in 1977. In 1981, the program was renamed once again as the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. Its goal was to find and nurture the best and brightest American opera singers, who previously would have had to travel to Europe for post-graduate professional development programs. Master classes have always been provided to young artists by stars from Lyric's main stage productions. In the 1970s and 80s, that meant working with internationally renowned artists like Luciano Pavarotti, Alfredo Kraus, Evelyn Lear, Sherrill Milnes, and more. Today, artists benefit from master classes with Ryan Opera Center Advisor Renée Fleming, Lyric's longtime music director Sir Andrew Davis, and other celebrated visiting artists.

In addition to extensive training, the program has always placed a major emphasis on professional singing experience. Current Ensemble members have the opportunity to cover principal roles and perform supporting roles in nearly every main stage production. In the 1980s and 90s, artists also performed leading roles in fully-staged, semi-staged, and concert versions of operas at smaller venues around Chicago. One of these titles was Hugo Weisgall's Six Characters in Search of an Author which was recorded in 1990 by New World Records.

When Lyric made a bold commitment to producing modern opera with its "Toward the 21st Century" initiative (focusing on the creation of new works and presenting significant works of the 20th century), the emerging artists of the 1980s and 1990s benefited greatly from the launch of the Brenna and Lee Freeman Sr. Composer-in-Residence program (the first of its kind in the opera world). Between 1984 and 2000, the Lyric Opera Center artists had the chance to perform leading roles in six world premiere operas in addition to their work on Lyric's mainstage: William Neil's The Guilt of Lillian Sloan, Lee Goldstein's The Fan, Bright Sheng's The Song of Majnun, Bruce Saylor's Orpheus Descending, Shulamit Ran's Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk), and Michael John LaChiusa's Lovers & Friends: The Chautauqua Variations.

Lee Schaenen stepped down in 1991 and the role was briefly held by renowned bass-baritone Andrew Foldi. In 1995, stage director Richard Pearlman was named director of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists following his 19-year tenure as director of the Eastman Opera Theatre at Rochester University's Eastman School of Music. Pearlman was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of opera. This appointment was a sort of full-circle moment, as Pearlman's directorial career began at Lyric. While serving as assistant director for an absent Franco Zeffirelli in 1962, he ended up directing his first opera, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. From that point, his career took off and he went on to direct at major houses across the United States including The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, and more. William Mason, Lyric's General Director at the time, noticed a remarkable change in the program following Pearlman's appointment, saying, "Richard, I think more so than anybody, really went out and beat the bushes...he scoured the country, knowing that we hadn't done it before, for talent."

Another important component to the success of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists was the addition of celebrated soprano Gianna Rolandi, who was named director of vocal studies in 2001. This new position allowed Rolandi to focus full-time on the vocal progress of the singers. She would later become director of the program following Richard Pearlman's death in April 2006. The following fall, Lyric's artist training program was renamed a final time as The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center in recognition of a personal gift of unprecedented generosity.

In 2012, Dan Novak was appointed director and Craig Terry was appointed music director of the Ryan Opera Center. Renowned soprano Julia Faulker would later join the leadership of the Ryan Opera Center in 2015 as director of vocal studies. This small but mighty team manages everything from repertoire selections to tracking the progress of trainees; but perhaps most importantly, they act as career advisors and mentors for current Ensemble members as well as those who have moved on to professional careers around the world. Artists who pass through the Ryan Opera Center become part of the Lyric family and the support they receive while in the Ensemble lasts long after their final bow at Rising Stars in Concert, the Ryan Opera Center's annual artist showcase.

Since 2012, Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members have had a home on the airwaves of Chicago's classical music station, 98.7WFMT. The Ryan Opera Center Recital Broadcast Series — the only series of its kind in the United States — can be heard on the first Sunday of every month. The following season, the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble was expanded to include a pianist, who receives advanced training and performance opportunities throughout the year. In addition to cultivating American-trained singers, over the past decade the Ryan Opera Center has also identified exceptional talent from around the globe, with multiple international artists joining the Ensemble. Their unparalleled training includes master classes and private coachings with celebrated artists; voice lessons, acting, movement, and audition classes with distinguished instructors; intensive language instruction; and repertoire coaching from acclaimed resident staff.

As part of Lyric's ongoing commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA), the Ryan Opera Center has established three fellowships in an effort to increase the pipeline of artists from historically underrepresented groups, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color. These additional positions will be for Conductor/Pianist, Director, and Stage Manager. For nearly five decades, the Ryan Opera Center has nurtured the talents of a diverse range of emerging singers and pianists. Building on that legacy, the program is well-suited to expand its Ensemble to include the finest emerging conductor/pianists, directors, and stage managers. Each of the new positions will be offered a comprehensive array of training activities and performance experiences that will be tailored to the individual artists and provide them with the skills, expertise, and professional network needed to launch successful careers. Through this important pipeline initiative as well as others in support of IDEA, Lyric aims to permanently reshape the operatic art form and industry to better reflect the vibrant diversity of our city and our country.

Around the world, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center is known to be one of the top operatic training programs. As the program continues to grow and evolve, its mission stays the same: to discover and train the next generation of opera's biggest stars. We hope you'll join us in cheering them on.

Click here to learn more about notable alumni and the current Ensemble.