Chicago Opera Theater

Happening this weekend: Revolution, Love, Freedom, an exciting conversation on the contrasting interpretations of Leonore’s story by two remarkable composers: Beethoven and Paër! Moderated by WFMT’s LaRob K. Rafael, the event will feature the artistic teams behind Lyric’s Fidelio and COT’s Leonora.

📅 Sat, Sept 21 | 1–2:30 PM
📍 First United Methodist Church, 77 W Washington
🎟 Free! RSVP recommended at cot.org/freedom
Lyric Opera of Chicago WFMT First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple

🎶 Tomorrow's the day! 🎶 Get up close and personal with the stars of Leonora at our Close-Up event! 🌟

Join Vanessa Becerra, Edgardo Rocha, Keely Futterer, Joo Won Kang, Matthew Pearce, and Alex Soare for an evening filled with music, conversation, and exclusive sneak peeks into this North American premiere! 💫🎭

Plus, don't miss the chance to hear from Leonora director Lawrence Edelson and opera expert Jesse Rosenberg, a specialist in 19th- and 20th-century Italian opera! Discover the fascinating history behind this Italian masterpiece! 🎶

📅 Tomorrow, Sept. 12 | 6:30-7:40 PM
📍 Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington Library

RSVP now at COT.org/closeupleonora

Get ready for an evening of fun at the Fine Arts Building's Second Fridays event!

🎉 On Friday, September 13 stop by the Chicago Opera Theater office 402 for an open house, and don't miss our guided tours through the costume shop where the magic of our productions comes to life!

Whether you're an opera lover or just curious, this is the perfect chance to get a behind-the-scenes look. 🎭✨

📚 School is back in session, and so is COT's Opera For All education program. We're thrilled to kick off the new school year by celebrating our incredible Opera For All teachers, who are now bringing the magic of opera to 24 classrooms across the Chicagoland area.

🎭 This school year, we're celebrating a big milestone! Our Opera For All program has expanded its reach by 33%, bringing our program to even more classrooms. We can't wait to see the creativity and passion our students will bring to the stage!

🎉 We're just TEN DAYS away from the Close-Up with Leonora! 🎉 Have you RSVP'd yet?

Head to https://www.chicagooperatheater.org/closeupleonora for all the details! Don't miss out! 👀✨
Chicago Public Library

We are very excited to announce our first collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago on a special panel discussion about the upcoming productions of FIDELIO at Lyric, and LEONORA at COT. We hope you will join us for this free event with conductors Enrique Mazzola and Dame Jane Glover, along with stage directors Matthew Ozawa and Lawrence Edelson, moderated by WFMT's LaRob K. Rafael. Advance registration is highly recommended: https://www.chicagooperatheater.org/freedom

Lyric Opera of Chicago & Chicago Opera Theater to Spotlight 'Fidelio' & 'Leonora' in Special Panel Discussion - OperaWire The Lyric Opera of Chicago Opera and Chicago Opera Theater are teaming up for a free panel event on Sept. 21, 2024.

Thank you OperaWire for shining a spotlight on our upcoming North American Premiere of LEONORA this October!

A Tale of 3 Operas & Their Unique Revival Stories - OperaWire Throughout time, many operas have been written which, due to the nature of things, distracts from their quality, instead leaving them behind for other, newer alternatives. However, thanks to opera’s dedicated fanbase, including everyone from laymen to academics to performers and beyond, many opera...

📅 Have you saved the date for our first Close-Up of the season? Join us at the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium on September 12 at 6:30PM to discover the fascinating history behind this Italian masterpiece!

🌟Get a sneak peek and hear musical excerpts of the opera with COT Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson moderating the evening. RSVP today at COT.ORG

🌟 Did you know that both Leonora AND She Who Dared will be gracing the recently renovated, historic Studebaker Theater stage this season? 🎭✨

The Studebaker Theater has been the jewel of Chicago theater since 1898 and has hosted legends like Eartha Kitt, Mae West, and Yul Brynner. Join us in this stunning space for two unforgettable productions. Check out COT.ORG for more info! 🎟️🌟
📸 Mikel Pickett
Fine Arts Building

Did you know the dynamic duo behind She Who Dared, Jasmine Arielle Barnes and Deborah DEEP Mouton, were also commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to create a 25-minute work called On My Mind for OTSL's New Works Festival?

You can stream it until the end of September—check out the link below🎶✨

The 2024 New Works Collective Brand new short operas chosen for St. Louis!

📅Save the date for the Close-Up with Leonora!

✍🏼 During the Close-Up on September 12th, you'll learn about Paër - who, in fact, wrote over 50 operas - and discover the fascinating history behind this unjustly neglected Italian masterpiece. In addition, you'll get an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming production and hear musical excerpts from the opera. This event will be led by COT's Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson!

Get your FREE tickets today at COT.ORG

🎶 Bringing to life Rocco and Marcellina are none other than Joo Won Kang and Keely Futterer!

The North American premiere of Leonora is not to be missed! Get your tickets today at COT.ORG

🎟️ Single Tickets Are Available Now! 🎟️

The wait is over! Get your tickets to our thrilling 2024/25 season today! 🎭✨ Don’t miss out on these AMAZING premieres:

🌟 Leonora (North American Premiere)
🌟 Boheme and Beyond: The Legacy of Puccini
🌟 Remedios Varios Para Las Aflicciones Del Cuerpo y El Espíritu (Vanguard Opera Concert Premiere)
🌟 She Who Dared (World Premiere)

Secure your seats now at COT.ORG and join us for a season full of unforgettable performances! Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture Fine Arts Building DePaul University American Lyric Theater

🌟Have you met our Leonora and Florestano?

✨Soprano Vanessa Becerra, soprano and tenor Edgardo Rocha make their debuts with Chicago Opera Theater this season in the North American Premiere of Ferdinando Paër's Leonora. You don't want to miss these highly anticipated debuts!

Get your tickets now to this North American premiere at COT.ORG!

COT's Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson has created critically acclaimed productions for opera companies across the country that have been called “ingenious” and “imaginative” by Opera News, and “stunningly touching and entertaining” by the Washington Post. We are so excited to see Larry's vision for Ferdinando Paër's Leonora come to life this fall on stage at The Studebaker Theater!

Get your Leonora tickets now at COT.ORG
Fine Arts Building

🚨Attention, opera lovers!🚨The Chicago Opera Theater website will be down for maintenance for the next 24-48 hours starting tonight at 9 PM. We're working hard to improve your browsing experience, so thank you for your patience! ✨🎶

But don't worry, single tickets to Leonora and She Who Dared are still available for purchase at fineartsbuilding.com/studebaker/. Subscriptions will be available for purchase again on Monday!! 🎟️🎶

✨Did you know that COT and Dame Jane Glover have a history spanning nearly 24 years? ✨

It all began in the 2000/01 Season when General Director Brian Dickie introduced this internationally acclaimed conductor to COT. In 2002, Dame Jane Glover was appointed Music Director of Music of the Baroque, and Chicago audiences have been so fortunate to have her on the podium so frequently not only at MOB, but also to lead a wide variety of repertoire at COT as a frequent guest conductor over the past two decades. Most recently, she conducted Albert Herring in the 2022/23 Season, and this fall, she'll be back to conduct the North American Premiere of Ferdiando Paër's 1804 opera Leonora in October!

Learn more about Leonora at COT.ORG/LEONORA

There is no opera without extraordinary singing, and we are thrilled to welcome an incredible array of acclaimed local and international artists to COT this season.
Meet the remarkable cast of Leonora:
✨ Vanessa Becerra, soprano makes her COT debut as LEONORA
✨ Edgardo Rocha makes his Chicago debut as FLORESTANO
✨ Keely Futterer makes her Chicago debut as MARCELLINA
✨ Baritone Joo Won Kang makes his Chicago debut as ROCCO
✨ Ian Koziara makes his COT debut as DON PIZZARRO
✨ Alex Soare returns to COT as GIACHINO
✨ Kameron Alston makes his COT debut as DON FERNANDO

Join us for this spectacular production and get ready to hear some truly phenomenal singing! 🌟 Single tickets and subscriptions are now available at COT.ORG

🎟️ Single tickets are now on sale... but the best seats will go quickly! From world premieres to rarely performed masterpieces, COT is your ticket to discovery, extraordinary singing, and visceral theatricality.

Join us - get your tickets today at COT.ORG

We apologize for the delay, but due to ticketing software upgrades single tickets will now go on sale on the 22nd.

Thank you for your understanding! 🎟️

🎉 The 2024/25 Season is incredibly special with the 6th Vanguard Opera concert premiere, but we're also welcoming the 7th Vanguard Composer this fall! 🎶 Let's give Aaron a warm welcome to the COT family! 👏❤️

The 2024/26 Vanguard Composer-in-Residence, Aaron, is an American composer whose music blends storytelling and drama with influences from American minimalism, European modernism, Jewish folklore, and Italian cinema. His compositions are performed by groups like the Aizuri Quartet and , and he's collaborated with artists in theater, dance, and film. Aaron co-founded Rattlebox Music and has showcased his work at venues like Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City, here in Chicago, and festivals such as Red Note festival and Source Song Festival.

🎶 Ready to soak in the sounds of summer? 🎶

Join us tomorrow for a magical evening with the incredible Keanon Kyles and Corinne Costell, accompanied by the fantastic Leo Radosavljevic on piano! Our summer session is from 7-8PM, Friday July 12th, but stick around for more Fine Arts Building fun with open studios throughout the building!
🎹

🎶 Meet the singers behind Remedios Varios, our next Vanguard Opera by Carlos Carrillo and Stephanie Fleischmann 🎶

Get ready to be mesmerized by our incredible cast as they bring this surrealist opera to life. Stay tuned for more updates on these talented singers and their captivating performances!

🎶Curious about the 2024/25 Season Vanguard Opera? 🎶 Vanguard Composer Carlos Carrillo and Librettist Stephanie Fleischmann are creating a surrealist new opera for us!

Inspired by the surrealist painter Remedios Varo, this opera is set in a world devoid of color. A lone tree holds the memory of music, poetry, and art. A herbalist struggles to heal a community afflicted by a siege of maladies, and a homesick boarding school student dreams of escape. An ancient medicinal, written in a forbidden language, may hold the key to transcendence or obliteration.

Discover more about the 2025 concert premiere of "Remedios Varios Para Las Aflicciones Del Cuerpo y El Espíritu" at COT.ORG 🌟

🎉 Exciting news! We're thrilled to return to Gannon Hall for Bohème and Beyond: The Legacy of Puccini! This amazing venue holds a special place in our hearts.

We previously had the honor of hosting the orchestral workshop for The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing there, and now we're back for another unforgettable experience. Get ready for an incredible evening celebrating Puccini's lasting impact on opera and musical theater.

Check out this heartwarming moment of composer Justine F. Chen and librettist David Simpatico from The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing orchestral workshop. Photo by Laura Smalley.

🎶 Join us Friday July 12th for the Fine Art Building's Second Fridays

Enjoy a free concert from 7 to 8 PM with refreshments in the courtyard as COT artists perform arias, art songs, and pieces that capture the sounds of summer

See you there!

🎶 Dive into a century of Puccini’s legacy with us in December! From timeless arias to vibrant scenes, our upcoming concert celebrates how Puccini shaped opera & musical theater.

Subscribe before July 15 & get FREE Bohème & Beyond tickets! Subscribe today at cot.org

Want to know more about the upcoming season and find out what opera, ice cream and movies have in common? General Director Lawrence Edelson shares all the details with Andrea Darlas during the most recent episode of "Show and Tell" -

Episode 109: Sunset Bus Tours, Glenwood Sunday Market, Rhino Fest, and the Opera - Show & Tell with Andrea Darlas This week on the show, we have your weekend planned! First we'll head to Streeterville to hop on Chicago's famed Big Bus to tour the city at sunset. Big Bus Chicago general manager John Curran joins us to talk about this incredible new bus tour seeing our gorgeous city at dusk. Then we head up north...

🎤 Don't miss out on your chance to shine in COT's 2025/26 Season Auditions.

Find out more at COT.ORG/AUDITIONS