LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO MADAMATHE THREE BUTTERFLY QUEENS 2019|20 SEASON In this issue Dan Rest Madama Butterfly | pp. 16-32 6 WELCOME TO YOUR LYRIC 40 RYAN OPERA CENTER 8 From the Chairman and the 42 Ryan Opera Center General Director alumni around the world 10 Board of Directors 42 Program staff 12 The power of opera 43 Ryan Opera Center contributors 16 PERFORMANCES 44 THANK YOU FOR 18 Title page and cast YOUR SUPPORT 19 Introduction 46 Production sponsors 20 Artist profiles 47 Aria Society 24 Orchestra & Chorus 59 Supporting our future — Todd Rosenberg Todd 28 Opera notes endowments at Lyric The power of opera | pp. 12-15 32 After the curtain falls 60 Faces of Lyric 63 Gift planning 34 BEYOND THE STAGE 66 Corporate partners 36 Lyric Unlimited – 68 Annual individual learning & creative engagement and foundation support 74 Commemorative gifts 76 THE COMPANY 76 Artistic roster 78 Lyric staff 80 Backstage life Lyric Opera of Chicago | 2 Paid ad Lyric Opera of Chicago | 3 Since 1991 Gail McGrath Tahira Merchant You can view this program Publisher & President Graphic Designer on your mobile device at Sheldon Levin lyricopera.org/programs Publisher & Director Joy Morawez of Finance Accounting For advertising information LISA MIDDLETON A. J. Levin Willie Smith call 847-770-4620. To see Executive Editor Director of Operations Supervisor Operations our Terms and Conditions Earl Love relating to advertising ROGER PINES Rand Brichta Operations orders, visit our website at Editor Arnie Hoffman Wilfredo Silva performancemedia.us. Account Managers Operations All contents copyrighted. MAGDA KRANCE Michael Hedge Steve Dunn All rights reserved. Associate Editor Southeast | 847-770-4643 Web & Internet Nothing may be reproduced Betsy Gugick & Associates Development in any manner without Administrative Offices Southwest | 972-387-1347 written permission. © 2020 20 North Wacker Drive Manzo Media Group Suite 860 East Coast | 610-527-7047 Performance Media & Gail Chicago, Illinois 60606 McGrath & Associates, Inc. lyricopera.org is a Woman Owned Business. SAMETZ BLACKSTONE ASSOCIATES performancemedia.us | 847-770-4620 Visual direction 3453 Commercial Avenue, Northbrook, IL 60062 Lyric Opera of Chicago | 4 Lyric Opera of Chicago | 5 At Lyric, you’ll be amazed, replenished, and inspired with must-see, must-hear live experiences. Through the timeless power of voice, acting that brings characters to life in triumph and tragedy, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus – coupled with theater, dance, design, and truly magical stagecraft – Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down. We’re so glad you’re here. Kyle Flubacker Lyric Opera of Chicago | 6 Welcome to your Lyric Lyric Opera of Chicago | 7 From the Chairman and the General Director Opera at its best takes the universal themes of humanity and brings them to life in the space and time of a live performance. Few universally popular operas have had as harrowing a premiere as Madama Butterfly, which met with a disastrous reception on its 1904 opening night in Milan. The public, believing Giacomo Puccini was borrowing music from his own La bohème, hooted with derision. Frequently the singers could barely hear the orchestra, the noise in the theater was so overwhelming. Throughout the performance, that audience found every possible reason to ridicule the music and what transpired onstage. Just a few months later, everything changed when Puccini’s revised version was introduced in Brescia, launching the work on a conquest of opera houses worldwide. Indeed, over the past 116 years Madama Butterfly has become one of the best-loved operas in the repertoire. And yet, in today’s world, this work prompts a range of issues and questions, to which any company producing the opera must respond. We want to strongly encourage you to read the articles in this program by Prof. Martha C. Nussbaum of The University of Chicago and soprano Ana María Martínez. Their views provide illuminating insight as we consider Madama Butterfly with today’s lens, while at the same time continuing the Lyric tradition of captivating audiences with Puccini’s breathtaking music and heartbreaking characters. It’s a pleasure to welcome two remarkable singing actresses, Lyric favorite Ana María Martínez and, in the March 4 and 7 performances, Lianna Haroutounian in her Lyric debut. They’ve both triumphed repeatedly in major houses portraying Cio-Cio-San, one of the most formidably challenging of all leading soprano roles. Each soprano will be partnered at Lyric by an exceptional tenor portraying Lt. B. F. Pinkerton, with Ana María appearing opposite Brian Jagde and Lianna opposite Brandon Jovanovich. With the crucial support of Deborah Nansteel as Suzuki and Ryan Opera Center alumnus Anthony Clark Evans as Sharpless, the interpretive insights of returning conductor Henrik Nánási on the podium, and the exquisitely sensitive production of Michael Grandage (revived at Lyric by Louisa Muller) – so successful when we first presented it in 2013|14 – this will certainly be a memorable occasion for all who experience one of these performances. As we present Madama Butterfly, we’ve just passed the midpoint in a season of exciting transition and transformation. Like so many arts organizations nationwide, Lyric is addressing the growing competition for audience attention and donor investment. We’re working diligently, and creatively, to expand our audience base, grow ticket sales, secure new sources of revenue, and engage the communities we serve – and we’ve seen significant success from these endeavors. Our ability to fill the house for grand-opera performances is, in fact, unusually high among large American opera companies, which we help accomplish through our season-planning process and adoption of innovative marketing strategies. Our community programs devoted to learning and creative engagement now reach more than 86,000 people each season in schools and neighborhoods throughout Chicago and the suburbs. As we look ahead, all of us at Lyric, onstage and behind the scenes, will continue to build on this progress. We’re confident that we’re on the right path, and we thank you for your support of everything we do. In closing, we welcome you to Madama Butterfly. We know it will be an unforgettable highlight of your operagoing this season. DAVID T. ORMESHER ANTHONY FREUD Chairman General Director, President & CEO The Women’s Board Endowed Chair Lyric Opera of Chicago | 8 Paid ad Lyric Opera of Chicago Board of Directors OFFICERS LIFE DIRECTORS Renée Fleming+ Gregory J. O’Leary The Honorable J.B. Pritzker Edgar Foster Daniels Sonia Florian+ Sharon F. Oberlander The Honorable Lori Lightfoot Richard J. Franke Steven L. Fradkin John W. Oleniczak* Honorary Chairs Edgar D. Jannotta Anthony Freud*+ Olufunmilayo I. Olopade of the Board George E. Johnson Mary Patricia Gannon David T. Ormesher*+ Edgar D. Jannotta Robert W. Lane Ruth Ann M. Gillis+• William A. Osborn+ Co-Chair Emeritus James J. O’Connor Brent W. Gledhill Matthew J. Parr Allan B. Muchin Gordon Segal Ethel C. Gofen Jane DiRenzo Pigott+ Co-Chair Emeritus Robert E. Wood II Howard L. Gottlieb+ Richard Pomeroy David T. Ormesher Melvin Gray Jose Luis Prado Chair of the Board DIRECTORS Vikram Karnani Don M. Randel Sylvia Neil Katherine A. Abelson• Karen Z. Gray-Krehbiel Elke Rehbock+ Chair-Elect of the Board Whitney W. Addington+ Maria C. Green* Anne Nelson Reyes+ Lester Crown James L. Alexander+ Dietrich M. Gross+ William C. Richardson• Chair of the Executive John P. Amboian Dan Grossman Brenda Robinson Committee Paul F. Anderson Elliot E. Hirsch Collin E. Roche Anthony Freud Larry A. Barden Eric L. Hirschfield Joseph O. Rubinelli, Jr.+ General Director, Julie Baskes+ J. Thomas Hurvis Richard O. Ryan President & CEO James N. Bay• Gregory K. Jones Shirley Welsh Ryan+ Sir Andrew Davis Gilda R. Buchbinder Stephen A. Kaplan• E. Scott Santi+ Vice Chair Allan E. Bulley, III Kip Kelley II Claudia M. Saran Renée Fleming John E. Butler Susan Kiphart Rodd M. Schreiber Vice Chair Marion A. Cameron+ Lori Ann Komisar Christine Schyvinck James L. Alexander David W. Carpenter Fred A. Krehbiel• Marsha Serlin Vice Chair Jane Chu Josef Lakonishok+ Brenda M. Shapiro+ Shirley Welsh Ryan Richard W. Colburn* James W. Mabie+ Richard W. Shepro* Vice Chair Michael P. Cole Daniel T. Manoogian Eric S. Smith+ William C. Vance Vinay Couto Craig C. Martin+ Kevin Smith Vice Chair Scott Cozad Robert J. McCullen Pam F. Szokol Donna Van Eekeren Lester Crown+ Blythe J. McGarvie Franco Tedeschi Secretary Marsha Cruzan+ Andrew J. McKenna Nasrin A. Thierer Ruth Ann M. Gillis Sir Andrew Davis+ Mimi Mitchell Cherryl T. Thomas+ Treasurer Joseph Dominguez Frank B. Modruson*+ Olivia Tyrrell Elizabeth Hurley Gerald Dorros• Robert S. Morrison Donna Van Eekeren+ Assistant Secretary Ann M. Drake Allan B. Muchin+ William C. Vance+ Roberta Lane Dan Draper* Linda K. Myers Roberta L. Washlow Assistant Treasurer Allan Drebin* Jeffrey C. Neal Miles D. White Charles Droege* Gael Neeson William Mason Chaz Ebert Amélie Négrier-Oyarzabal General Director Lois Eisen Sylvia Neil+ Emeritus James E. Fellowes John D. Nichols• Matthew A. Fisher Kenneth R. Norgan * Audit Committee + Executive Committee • National Member Lyric Opera of Chicago | 10 Lyric Opera of Chicago | 11 The power of opera… …and how it can change your life By Doug Peck “True drama results from the collective impulse of all the arts to communicate in the most immediate way with a collective public. In this Drama, each separate art can only bare its utmost secret to their common public through a mutual connection with the other arts; the purpose being that each separate branch of art can only be fully attained by the reciprocal agreement and co-operation of all the branches in their common message.” Richard Wagner, The Art-Work of the Future “Work, work, work, work, work, work.” Rihanna, ANTI Opera has conjured images of grandeur from its very beginnings in late-16th-century Florence, but it’s worth remembering that the word “opera” itself simply means “work” in Italian.