Welcome to Boston Lyric Opera’s 47th Season! On behalf of all of us at Boston Lyric Opera, I extend a hearty welcome to the beginning of our 2023/24 season. This season, we embark on a journey of love – exploring the idea “All I have, I give for love.” This quote comes from our closing opera of the season, Eurydice, a new work by Boston-born composer Matthew Aucoin, based on the famous play by Sara Ruhl, and has become a theme that has resonated as we prepare these productions for the stage. Each story this season asks the question, [...]

Amid the familiar sounds of Puccini, we are taken from the nightlife of San Francisco's Chinatown to the fallout from Pearl Harbor, as told through voices and perspectives of Asian Americans during a critical time in American culture and history. The Chinese American nightclub scene peaked during World War II when Asian Americans of all backgrounds were commanding nightclub stages while defying racial and cultural barriers. Many performers presented publicly as Chinese American due to growing anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States. In this new production, Butterfly works as a singer in a nightclub while contributing to the war [...]

Our new Madama Butterfly is directed by choreographer, dancer, author, and co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface Phil Chan. This new production moves the story to 1940s San Francisco on the eve of Pearl Harbor. When Butterfly, a nightclub performer contributing to the war effort, meets Pinkerton, a young soldier, an unstoppable series of events is set in motion. Through the eyes of Butterfly, audiences will follow her journey from San Francisco to a Japanese incarceration camp, a journey many Japanese Americans lived during a critical moment in U.S. history. Today's deeper dive focuses on Japanese incarceration during WWII. [...]

Welcome to CODA! Coda comes from the Latin word for “tail,” and in music, it indicates an additional passage at the end of a piece of music, a final flourish that compliments what’s come before. CODA goes beyond the curtain call to explore this unique and astonishing art form. Whether you’re a first-time opera-goer or a seasoned audience member, CODA is for you. Attention parents: enrollment in our annual Opera Camp has begun! In collaboration with our friends at VOICES Boston, Opera Camp is designed for rising 3rd-9th graders who have an interest in all things music, singing, and [...]

Summer is finally here, and BLO has lots of excitement ahead. After a season filled with new highs and artistic successes, we kick off the summer with the world premiere of The Wanderer’s Tethering, a BLO commission from City of Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola and Boston-based composer Mason Bynes. What excites me about this project is the intersection between art forms - poetry and music; spoken word and sung performance; chamber ensemble and narrative - and the powerful impact they make when telling a story. This project, our second partnership with the Boston Poet Laureate program, embodies and builds [...]

[EXCERPT] Joseph Bologne, “Chevalier de Saint-Georges” (ca. 1739-1799) was a Parisian celebrity, acclaimed swordsman, composer, violin virtuoso, and conductor of one of the best orchestras in Europe. He also fought in at least one, perhaps two revolutions. Bologne was born to a teenaged enslaved woman, Anne “dit Nanon” on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. There is no record of his baptism, and primary sources have conflicting information regarding his date of birth. Bologne’s father, a wealthy plantation owner, brought the boy and his mother to Paris and introduced the young “Chevalier de Saint-Georges” into French society while ensuring he [...]

Let's Take a Quick Trip to the Salon.... And No, We're Not Talking About Getting Your Hair Done Join us at the salon before Bluebeard’s Castle | Four Songs! No, we’re not talking about getting your hair done, we’re talking about salon concerts!  Salons became popular in 17th and 18th century France, and it was a place where people could gather to discuss literature, poetry, philosophy, theology, and ideas, often accompanied by food and drink. The French word “salon” literally means “large room,” suggesting a spacious room where people might withdraw after a meal for entertainment or conversation. [...]