Chicago Opera Theater’s 50th anniversary on horizon
Details for fall 2023 include a world premiere, tribute
The Chicago Opera Theater released details about its 2022-23 season, noting that it will officially launch a 50th anniversary season and celebration in the fall of 2023.
“With our 50th anniversary on the horizon — we are so proud to continue COT’s legacy of expanding the tradition of opera in Chicago, and championing new voices and work nationally,” said COT general director Ashley Magnus in a news release.
Next year, the COT will also celebrate the five-year anniversary of its Vanguard Initiative, a new-opera development program led by COT music director Lidiya Yankovskaya. The program’s newest emerging composers are Gillian Rae
Perry, who will start the first year of the program in the fall, and Carlos Carillo, who will start in 2023. Magnus and Yankovskaya have both renewed their contracts with COT through 2024.
“King Roger” (Nov. 18-20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E.
Randolph St.): The season kicks off with the Chicago premiere of this 90-minute Polish-language opera by Karol Szymanowski. The story explores the overlap of personal belief and public responsibility in places where multiple religions coexist. The cast features Iwona Sobotka and Mariusz Godlewski,
two internationally acclaimed Polish singers, as well as the Lira Ensemble and the Apollo Chorus.
“Albert Herring” (Jan. 26-29, 2023, at Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave.): The COT then revisits this opera, which was composed by Benjamin
Britten and will be conducted by Dame Jane Glover. The opera tells a coming-of-age story over 150 minutes and is sung in English with English surtitles.
“The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turin” (March 23-26 at the Harris Theater):
A world premiere by composer Justine F. Chen and librettist David Simpatico, the last opera of the COT’s 2022-23 season is about British computer scientist Alan Turing, who was chemically castrated for being in a homosexual relationship. The show is 110 minutes long and will be sung in English with English surtitles. The cast includes Jonathan Michie as Alan Turing.
“The Cook-Off”(spring 2023):
This comic opera in one act, which is by Vanguard Initiative Emerging Composer Shawn Okpebholo and librettist Mark Campbell, takes place during a televised cooking competition. The season add-on will include singers from Chicago Opera Theater’s Young Artist apprenticeship program.
“Music of Remembrance” (May 27-28, 2023, at the Athenaeum Center): The other season add-on option includes a world premiere by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer about a Vietnam War veteran who learns that he is the heir to a priceless art collection stolen by the Nazis. The work is based on a true story reported by former Tribune critic Howard Reich. The offering will be paired with Heggie and Scheer’s “Another Sunrise,” a monodrama about an Auschwitz survivor’s struggles.
Subscription packages are now available, with early bird options starting at $120 and available through June 15 at chicagooperatheater. org. Single tickets will go on sale on Aug. 1.