Loading...
Loading...
Featured
A Season of Emotion and Elegance: Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2025-2026 Lineup
As the curtain rises on the Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2025-2026 season, audiences are in for a spectacular journey through a diverse array of performances. From the timeless drama of 'Medea' to the vibrant 'Coco in Concert Live to Film,' and the haunting refrains of 'Carmina Burana,' each production promises to captivate and inspire. With an impressive lineup of international talents, including soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the legendary Renée Fleming, this season is a testament to the enduring power and versatility of the operatic and musical arts.
May 4, 2025
Share1. Medea
Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Medea, a tale of infidelity and revenge like no other. Euripides’s millennia-old tragedy comes to life — and gruesome death — in this presentation of acclaimed director Sir David McVicar’s iconic, grand-scale production.
Featuring Lyric’s own Music Director Enrique Mazzola on the podium, this intense spectacle stars international powerhouse soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in one of the fiercest, most demanding roles ever written. She shares the stage with equally formidable tenor — and Lyric favorite — Matthew Polenzani.
11 - 26 Oct, 2025
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
2. Coco in Concert Live to Film
Join Lyric for Disney and Pixar’s Coco in Concert Live to Film, the story of Miguel, a young boy who dreams of being an accomplished musician, despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music. When Miguel finds himself on an extraordinary journey in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead, he learns about the strength of family bonds, finding yourself, and the power of music. Experience this Oscar®-winning film for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me,” with its vibrant musical score by Oscar® and Grammy®-winning composer Michael Giacchino performed live!
16 - 18 Oct, 2025
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
3. Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci
This duo of passionate one-act operas explores the depths of spurned lovers’ grief and the lengths they’ll go to in avenging betrayal. Deadly love triangles unfold against starkly contrasted backdrops of an idyllic Sicilian countryside and a chaotic urban center.
Music Director Enrique Mazzola leads a a world-class cast that includes Lyric favorites Russell Thomas, Quinn Kelsey, and Gabriella Reyes in Elijah Moshinsky’s original production.
1 - 23 Nov, 2025
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
4. Carmina Burana
For three performances only, Enrique Mazzola leads the celebrated Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus in Carmina Burana, the sweeping cantata based on 24 medieval poems. Lyric’s talented musicians bring this masterpiece to life in all its visceral dimension, from sotto voce choral staccatos to bombastic crashes of brass.
As the music envelops you, contemplate the whims of fickle fortune — or simply enjoy an extended spooky season with its lush, melancholy, and oh-so-familiar strains.
14 - 18 Nov, 2025
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
5. A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness
Billy Corgan achieved stratospheric fame as the founder, frontman, and creative force behind the legendary Smashing Pumpkins. A Grammy winner whose powerful songwriting, commanding vocals, and inventive melodies were the foundation for the massive, decade-defining double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan now teams up with Lyric Opera of Chicago, his hometown company, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this groundbreaking album with his signature boundary-pushing, innovation, and imagination.
21 - 30 Nov, 2025
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
6. Salome
Based on Oscar Wilde’s one-act play, Salome has been thrilling and fascinating audiences for more than a century. Lyric Opera of Chicago brings Sir David McVicar’s decadent production — which is set in 1940s fascist Italy and sheds a harsh light on the timeless greed and entitlement of the elite — to Chicago.
This gory thrill ride returns to Lyric for the first time in 20 years starring Elena Stikhina in the demanding title role of a teenage femme fatale whose infatuation has fatal implications, alongside Lyric favorites Brandon Jovanovich and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner.
Jan 25 - Feb 14, 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
7. Così fan tutte
Two officers, convinced all women are fickle in love, hatch a plan to switch places and woo each other’s fiancées in disguise — but the women know exactly what they’re up to from the start.
Hilarity and dazzling arias ensue in a 1930s-era seaside country club, where frothy costumes and splashy sets belie an undercurrent of distrust and deception on par with a binge-worthy reality show.
1 - 15 Feb, 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
8. Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene
International superstar Renée Fleming makes her much-anticipated return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago stage with a program based on her 2023 Grammy-winning Best Classical Vocal Solo Album. Created in partnership with the National Geographic Society, Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene blends classic Romantic Era works and contemporary works in a program that captures the evolution of the human experience in nature.
Feb 5, 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
9. Madama Butterfly
Meet Cio-Cio-San — known as Madama Butterfly — a faithful but doomed geisha in love with B.F. Pinkerton. Everyone but Butterfly knows the Navy lieutenant will break her heart and ruin her life.
Opera newcomers will be swept away by the familiar melodies, gorgeous costuming, and colorful sets — and seasoned opera fans will thrill at this beautiful, thoughtful production from Lyric Opera’s own Matthew Ozawa that brings new dimension to an age-old story.
Mar 14 - Apr 12, 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
10. El último sueño de Frida y Diego
On the Day of the Dead, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo crosses over from the underworld for 24 short hours with Diego Rivera, who remains in the living world, alone and grieving her loss.
Lyric Opera of Chicago presents El último sueño de Frida y Diego, which had its critically acclaimed world premiere in 2022 and brings the legendary marriage — and revolutionary art — of Frida and Diego to the stage with vivid colors, surrealist touches, and lush, evocative music sung in Spanish and inspired by Mexican folk music traditions.
Mar 21 - Apr 4, 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Lyric Opera House
Conclusion
The Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2025-2026 season offers an incredible array of performances that celebrate the power of music and storytelling. From classic operas to contemporary recitals and innovative collaborations, each event is a testament to the artistic excellence and creative vision that define the Lyric Opera. As audiences gather at the Lyric Opera House, they are invited to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of emotions, cultures, and histories that these performances embody. This season is not just a showcase of talent but a celebration of the enduring impact of the arts on our lives.
Share