June 29, 2020
Lyric Music & More: June 30
For many Chicagoans, summer means getting outdoors and enjoying our beautiful city. Evenings spent with friends, picnic blankets, and wonderful live music of every genre are normally a summertime mainstay. In 2020, it’s considerably harder to come together, and when Millennium Park announced that their summer concert series—which featured our Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars concert on July 26—would not take place due to health concerns, we knew the music needed to go on, somehow.
Lyric has organized a free virtual concert for your enjoyment July 26, curated by world-renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Ryan Opera Center Music Director Craig Terry, which celebrates the depth and breadth of Black artistry.
We're also pleased to bring you the opportunity to watch Russell Thomas sing “Di quella pira” in Il trovatore, check out some of the Lyric staff’s favorite movie soundtrack picks, and in honor of the final day in Pride Month, read about Lyric's chamber opera premiere of Fellow Travelers (2018).
A free virtual concert on Sunday, July 26
Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter
In addition to Lawrence Brownlee, the July 26 virtual concert will feature prominent Ryan Opera Center alumni as well as three current 2020/21 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members.
Opera at the Movies
The music behind the movies: Lyric staff picks
Do you need some inspiration to find the next flick for movie night? The Lyric staff has pulled together some of our favorite films, with beautiful, fun or culturally significant soundtracks to add to your watch-and-listen lists.
A Verdi treat for your Tuesday
Tenor Russell Thomas sings “Di quella pira”
Tenor Russell Thomas—a Lyric favorite who has sung Pollione in Norma and Manrico in Il trovatore in recent seasons—was set to make his much-anticipated role debut as Canio in Pagliacci. While you may have to wait a bit longer to hear him as Canio, today you can listen to him sing Verdi’s incredible “Di quella pira” from Il trovatore.
Plus Lyric’s Fellow Travelers
Interview with Kevin Newbury on Fellow Travelers
Revisit Gregory Spears' wonderful chamber opera Fellow Travelers, which received its Chicago premiere at Lyric in 2018, in an illuminating interview with director Kevin Newbury.
The work of art is a scream of freedom.
Christo