The 2020|21 Season We All Need

Feeling stir-crazy? Craving great live performances? You aren’t alone. Everyone at Lyric has been working to send you weekly content through email and social media platforms that includes beautiful music, moments of theater that audiences have loved, and fun, behind-the-scenes interviews and commentaries to help feed your soul. 

But we know that nothing can substitute for the thrill of being together with other music lovers to watch a gorgeous production and hear artists perform a really sublime piece of music with absolute perfection. We hope you’re looking forward to the 2020/21 Season, when live performances will be back. 

So what’s in store for 2020/21? A traveling Italian comedy troupe that’s more ominous than funny, a riveting new political thriller, enchanting romance, a fiery diva, and glamorous 1920s Hollywood drama, just for a sampling.

If you love the classics, big drama, and music that will blow your hair back, look no further than opera’s most famous double bill, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, which opens the season. There’s also Puccini’s fiery Tosca, Verdi’s rarely performed Atilla, and Saint-Saëns’s passionate epic Samson and Delilah.

Do you relish discovering something new? You won’t want to miss the North American premiere of Sir George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s political thriller Lessons in Love and Violence, the highly anticipated Midwest premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue, or Stravinsky’s quirky English-language masterpiece The Rake’s Progress, with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.

­­­­­ Are you looking for the perfect date night or group trip to Lyric? You will be delighted — and given the happily-ever-after we all need right now — when you join us for Donizetti’s bubbly romantic charmer The Elixir of Love, Mozart’s wise comedy The Marriage of Figaro, and the hit musical Singin’ in the Rain.

Of course, no season is complete without unforgettable musical recitals — after her triumphs as Brünnhilde in Die Walkure and Siegfried, plus the title role of Elektra, Christine Goerke returns next March for a thrilling vocal recital. Then join us next April to celebrate Sir Andrew Davis’s magnificent two-decade tenure as music director at A Knight to Celebrate, featuring Beethoven’s mighty Symphony No. 9, never previously performed at Lyric.

There are so many ways to enjoy our new season as a subscriber. Here are just a few:

• Nearly 20 curated series that include from 4 to 8 shows and make it easy to choose.
• A Create Your Own Series where you tailor the titles and dates that best work for you.
• 8-Opera Value Series that allows you to save up to 50% over individual show prices

No matter what type of season ticket package you choose, you’ll get custom benefits including free exchanges, priority seating for add-on events, plus additional event invitations, parking discounts, and priority reservations for dining or the opera bus. 

New this season: Join our subscriber family and secure your seats with as little as $25 down and opt-in to an easy payment plan for the rest. 

We know these are challenging times. It's a great time for hope, though...  and we hope that you’ll cast a bold vote of confidence in the future of opera in Chicago and our surrounding communities by subscribing to the 2020/21 Season. Give yourself great performances to look forward to this fall and beyond!