VERDI LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO Table of Contents CORY WEAVER/SAN FRANCISCO OPERA FRANCISCO WEAVER/SAN CORY IN THIS ISSUE Rigoletto – pp. 20-34 6 From the General Director 21 Synopsis 40 Patron Salute 8 From the Chairman 23 Cast 43 Aria Society 10 24 Artist Profiles Board of Directors 52 Breaking New Ground 11 Women’s Board/Guild Board/Chapters’ 30 Opera Notes 53 Look to the Future Executive Board/Young Professionals/ 34 A Talk with the Director Ryan Opera Center Board 54 Major Contributors – Special Events 35 After the Curtain Falls 12 Administration/Administrative Staff/ and Project Support Production and Technical Staff 36 Musical Staff/Orchestra/Chorus 55 Lyric Unlimited Contributors 37 14 Juggling Act: Anthony Freud at Lyric – Backstage Life Part Two 38 Artistic Roster 57 Ryan Opera Center 20 Tonight’s Performance 39 Lyric and Social Media 58 Ryan Opera Center Alumni Around the World JUGGLING ACT: 59 Ryan Opera Center Contributors ROBERT KUSEL ROBERT ANTHONY FREUD 60 Planned Giving: The Overture Society AT LYRIC – 61 Commemorative Gifts PART TWO 62 Corporate Partnerships pp. 14-18 63 Matching Gifts, Special Thanks and Acknowledgements 64 Annual Individual and Foundation Support 71 Facilities and Services/Theater Staff Top of this page: Quinn Kelsey as Rigoletto at San Francisco Opera, 2017. On the cover: "La Mattinata Agonizante," painted in 1912 by Giorgio de Chirico. Credit: © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome. 2 | October 7 - November 3, 2017 Since 1991 www.performancemedia.us | 847-770-4620 3453 Commercial Avenue, Northbrook, IL 60062 Gail McGrath Publisher & President Sheldon Levin Publisher & Director of Finance A. J. Levin Director of Operations Account Managers Rand Brichta - Arnie Hoffman - Greg Pigott Executive Editor Southeast Michael Hedge 847-770-4643 Southwest Betsy Gugick & Associates 972-387-1347 Lisa Middleton East Coast Manzo Media Group 610-527-7047 Marketing and Sales Consultant David L. Strouse, Ltd. 847-835-5197 Editor Terry Luc Graphic Designer Roger Pines Lory Richards Graphic Designer Associate Editor Joy Morawez - Josie Negron Accounting Magda Krance Willie Smith Supervisor Operations Earl Love Operations Administrative Offices: Wilfredo Silva Operations 20 North Wacker Drive Steve Dunn Web & Internet Development Suite 860 You can view this program on your mobile device at performancemedia.us. Chicago, Illinois 60606 For advertising information call 847-770-4620. To see our Terms and Conditions relating to advertising orders, visit our website at www.performancemedia.us. All contents copyrighted. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced in any manner without written permission. © 2017 Performance Media & Gail McGrath & Associates, Inc. is a Woman Owned Business LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO From the General Director Is there any composer who invigorates an opera audience more than Giuseppe Verdi? No Verdi score is graced more abundantly with unforgettable melodies than one of the greatest masterpieces of his “middle period,” Rigoletto. Whether you’re hearing this opera for the first or the hundredth time, you’ll have “La donna è mobile,” “Caro nome,” and all the other gems in your memory for days after the performance – they’re simply irresistible. STEVE LEONARD STEVE Like all the most popular Verdi works, Rigoletto has always been part of my operagoing life. From my very first experience of it to today, I’ve never failed to be riveted by the story of the hunchbacked court jester. It’s impossible to remain unmoved as we witness how this man’s desperate need to protect his innocent daughter and his overwhelming desire for revenge lead to tragic catastrophe for them both. Few characters in the repertoire make such a devastating impact as Rigoletto, and certainly there are few tenor cads as dangerously charming as the Duke of Mantua or ingénues more sweetly appealing than Gilda. Only a truly extraordinary performer can make Rigoletto his signature role in the major opera houses of the world, and Lyric's Ryan Opera Center alumnus Quinn Kelsey has been doing just that for the past six seasons. In performances from Oslo and Zurich to London, Toronto, and San Francisco, Quinn has sung and acted Rigoletto with both a power and a finesse that recall the greatest interpreters of this hugely challenging role. Many critics have placed him in the “royal line” of American Verdi baritones, from Lawrence Tibbett and Robert Merrill to Cornell MacNeil and Sherrill Milnes. Joining Quinn onstage at Lyric is fellow Ryan Opera Center alumnus Matthew Polenzani, world-renowned as one of today’s most distinguished tenors, from whom we can anticipate a matchlessly elegant Duke of Mantua. A very eagerly awaited debut this season is that of our Gilda, the young Italian soprano Rosa Feola, who enchanted Chicago’s opera lovers in Falstaff for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s performances two seasons ago. I know hers will be one of the most impressive international careers of her generation. I’m also delighted at the prospect of two other exceptional debuts – the charismatic Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Sparafucile) and the captivating young Latvian mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde (Maddalena). Any Verdi production is immeasurably enhanced when it’s conducted by a musician whose affinity for the style is his birthright. That is certainly true of one of today’s most sought-after opera conductors, Marco Armiliato, who has been demonstrating his excellence in Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera for more than two decades, while also making his presence felt in Vienna, Zurich, Munich, and many other major houses. His collaboration with director E. Loren Meeker (who gave Lyric a dazzling Fledermaus a few seasons ago), enhanced by the strikingly original stage designs by Michael Yeargan, will yield a production in the great Lyric tradition – a classic Rigoletto for Lyric audiences to savor. Anthony Freud General Director, President & CEO The Women's Board Endowed Chair 6 | October 7 - November 3, 2017 LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO From the Chairman On behalf of the Board of Directors, I’m delighted to welcome you to Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season is a particularly varied and distinctive one, launched with great anticipation by our opening production. Following Gluck’s exquisite Orphée et Eurydice in John Neumeier’s historic new production, our audiences can look forward to masterpieces of Italian opera in Verdi’s powerful Rigoletto, Puccini’s spectacular Turandot, and Bellini’s captivating I Puritani; French opera, with two highly contrasting works, Bizet’s exotic The Pearl Fishers and Gounod’s romantic ROSENBERG TODD Faust; a gem of the Mozart repertoire, Così fan tutte; and one of the most thrilling of all Wagner operas, Die Walküre, the second installment of Lyric’s monumental new Ring cycle. Speaking personally, one of the most rewarding aspects of Lyric – not only as chairman, but as a longtime subscriber and patron – is my joy in introducing family, friends, and business colleagues to the company and the art form. I hope you’ll consider doing the same! When I receive out-of-town visitors during the opera season, I always try to include an evening at Lyric. It’s inevitably a major highlight of their stay. A Lyric performance isn’t only an opportunity to dress up and go out with your significant other or with close friends for an elegant evening – it’s also an unforgettable and rewarding experience of timeless stories set to some of the world’s greatest music and performed by many of the top artists of our day. Lyric’s mainstage productions are, of course, the core of every season we present. I also encourage you to explore the unique activities of Lyric Unlimited, our initiative focused on community engagement and education. It is one of the ways that the company stays relevant as a cultural service provider to all of Chicago, whether with newly commissioned works, community-created performances or the special programs presented in dozens of public schools all over Chicago every year. The level of creativity at work in Lyric Unlimited presentations has been truly inspiring, and it has exposed the art form of opera to tens of thousands of students across Chicagoland. By presenting opera in new and non-traditional ways, Lyric Unlimited helps to grow and expand our audiences. I invite you to join me at one of the Lyric Unlimited performances of Fellow Travelers in March or Family Day at Lyric on April 7. At Lyric, we truly cherish our donors and patrons. We consider each one of you as members of the Lyric family. It can sometimes be trite to declare, “Every gift counts,” but at Lyric it’s true: you’re going above and beyond what you’re paying for the ticket price. You’re investing in Lyric, entrusting that we will turn your gift into great art. We take that responsibility very seriously and are constantly imagining new ways to enhance your personal experience at Lyric, build new audiences for opera, and do it all in the most cost-effective way we can. Many thanks to all of you who play a vital role in ensuring that our great art form and our great company continue to serve Chicago and the world of opera today and in the years to come. David T. Ormesher 8 | October 7 - November 3, 2017 LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO Board of Directors OFFICERS LIFE DIRECTORS Michael T. Foley Don M. Randel The Honorable Bruce Rauner Edgar Foster Daniels Anthony Freud*+ Elke Rehbock The Honorable Rahm Emanuel Richard J. Franke Mary Patricia Gannon Anne N. Reyes* Honorary Chairmen of the Board Edgar D. Jannotta Kristine R. Garrett J. Christopher Reyes Edgar D. Jannotta George E. Johnson Ronald J. Gidwitz William C. Richardson, Ph.D.° Co-Chairman Emeritus Robert H. Malott Ruth Ann M.