Calendar
Bohème with Lyric Opera of Chicago
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Lyric Opera presents the enduring, passionate masterpiece La Bohème. Puccini brings unique beauty and sensitivity to this tale of young lovers in 19th-century Paris. With the famous arias of the ardent poet Rodolfo, the fragile seamstress Mimì, and the good-hearted party-girl Musetta, matched perfectly to the romance and heartbreak of this universal story, La Bohème is operatic perfection. At Lyric, two dazzling sopranos, Ailyn Pérez and Gabriella Reyes, are paired with the shining-voiced tenor Pene Pati (in his Lyric debut) and the vibrant baritone Will Liverman, in a production that will be a truly memorable moment in the company’s longstanding tradition of great La Bohème performances.
Language: Sung in Italian with projected English titles
Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes, including 1 intermission
Shows will be on the following days:
Saturday, March 15, 7:30p
Wednesday, March 19, 2p
Saturday, March 22, 7:30p
Tuesday, March 25, 7p
Friday, March 28, 7p
Monday, March 31, 7p
Thursday, April 3, 2p
Sunday, April 6, 2p
Wednesday, April 9, 7p
Saturday, April 12, 2p
Adia will cover the phenomenal Gabrielle Reyes in the role of Musetta for the entire run of the show.
Purchase tickets here.
The Listeners with Lyric Opera of Chicago
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago presents The Listeners, expected to be one of the most significant operatic events of the 2024/25 Season. Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, the renowned composer/librettist team, tell the story of Claire, who is driven nearly mad by an unending, low-frequency hum that she hears. In desperation, she joins a community organization, “The Listeners,” formed to discover the origin of the noise and destroy it. The group becomes frighteningly cult-like, ultimately leading to catastrophic consequences. Lyric’s vocally and dramatically brilliant cast will be conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola and directed by one of the most gifted theater artists of her generation, Lileana Blain-Cruz.
Language: Sung in English with projected English titles
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 intermission
Shows will be on the following days:
Sunday, March 30, 2p
Wednesday, April 2, 7p
Saturday, April 5, 7:30p
Tuesday, April 8, 7p
Friday, April 11, 7p
Adia will play Theresa Alvarez for the entire run of the show.
Purchase tickets here.
Rising Stars in Concert
Location: Lyric Opera House
Celebrating its 50th anniversary season, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago's premier artist-development program, is proud to announce its 2024/25 Ensemble. Dedicated to cultivating exceptional operatic talent, the Ryan Opera Center provides comprehensive training and extensive performance opportunities, including the chance for members to participate in Lyric’s mainstage season.
The Ryan Opera Center hosts its annual Rising Stars in Concert on April 25, 2025 on Lyric's mainstage. This special-edition showcase features the 2024/25 Ensemble with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola and directed by Chief Artistic Administration Officer Matthew Ozawa. The concert celebrates 50 incredible years of nurturing the talents of many of opera’s brightest stars, and some familiar faces will also be in attendance to pay tribute to the Ryan Opera Center’s half-century legacy. Following the concert will be the Ryan Opera Center's 50th Anniversary Gala to raise funds in support of the program's work for the next five decades.
Blue with Lyric Opera of Chicago
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Blue is destined to become an American classic. Co-produced by Lyric, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Washington National Opera, the opera presents the moving story of a Black middle-class family in Harlem whose hopes and dreams for their teenage son are shattered when he is shot by a white police officer. Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s magnificently moving music is matched by Tazewell Thompson’s probing, deeply sensitive libretto. The vocally and theatrically formidable bass Kenneth Kellogg (Lyric debut), who scored a triumph in the world premiere and in productions around the world, plays opposite two outstanding American artists – mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams and baritone Norman Garrett – in this anticipated Chicago premiere.
Language: Sung in English with projected English titles
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 intermission
Shows will be on the following days:
Saturday, November 16, 7:30p
Wednesday, November 20, 7p
Friday, November 22, 7p
Tuesday, November 26, 7p
Sunday, December 1, 2p
Adia will play Girlfriend #2 for the entire run of the show.
Purchase tickets here
WFMT Recital: Evans & Banwarth
Our recital features first-year Ryan Opera Center soprano Adia Evans along with second-year pianist Michael Banwarth. Together they will perform the music of Richard Strauss, Amy Beach, Robert Owens, and more.
30th Anniversary Gala - Mercy Women's Health Center
Mercy has begun a year-long celebration in 2024 recognizing the 30th anniversary of The Weinberg Center for Women’s Health & Medicine. Under the direction of nationally recognized gynecologic oncologist Dr. Neil B. Rosenshein, The Center first opened on Sept. 23, 1994 with ceremonies led by CBS-TV “60 Minutes” anchor/reporter Leslie Stahl. In 2003 led by Dr. Rosenshehin, Sr. Helen Amos, RSM, and Mercy president/CEO Thomas R. Mullen, Mercy would cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art, 6-floor facility—The Weinberg Center at Mercy at 227 St. Paul Place—bringing all the women’s centers such as breast cancer, gynecologic oncology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, mammography, etc., under a single roof. Mercy will celebrate key women’s health milestones throughout the year.
Evans will be featured as a guest artist performing with string quartet at the Weinberg Center for Women’s Health.
Recital: Mapping Ancestral Discoveries
Join us for an afternoon of poetry, art songs, and discussion, entitled Mapping Ancestral Discoveries From The Eastern Shore to New York in Poetry and Song, as composer, poet, and scholar Toni Lester shares her journey of discovery about ancestors who migrated from Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia to New York to form one of the oldest, continuous free Black communities in the North. This event will feature baritone Brandon Bell, soprano Adia Evans, and pianist/percussionist Bill Solomon.
Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of Chicago
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Join Lyric Opera of Chicago for Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto, a powerfully dramatic work based on a play by Victor Hugo. The composer brings astounding intensity to the court jester Rigoletto, who is tragically obsessed with avenging his daughter Gilda’s dishonor. The score’s highlights are unforgettable, from Rigoletto’s hair-raising denunciation of the Duke of Mantua’s courtiers, “Cortigiani,” to the immoral, philandering Duke’s “La donna è mobile,” to Gilda’s ecstatic “Caro nome.” Conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola, a much-acclaimed Verdian, Lyric’s visually sumptuous production stars the sensational baritone Igor Golovatenko. He's joined by two other international luminaries making eagerly awaited company debuts: Mané Galoyan, the exquisite Armenian soprano, and Javier Camarena, the spectacular Mexican tenor.
Language: Sung in Italian with projected English titles
Running Time: 2 hours and 35 minutes, including 1 intermission
Shows will be on the following days:
Saturday, September 14, 7:30p
Wednesday, September 18, 2p
Sunday, September 22, 2p
Wednesday, September 25, 7p
Saturday, September 28, 7:30p
Tuesday, October 1, 7p
Sunday, October 6, 2p
Adia will play Countess Ceprano for the entire run of the show.
Purchase tickets here
Ryan Opera Center: 2025/26 Ensemble Final Auditions
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Join us to watch over 20 finalists representing the world’s finest emerging artists audition for a spot in the Ryan Opera Center’s 2025/26 Ensemble. This is a unique opportunity to hear opera’s future stars and participate by voting for the Audience Favorite Award.
Sunday in the Park with Lyric
Location: Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E Randolph St, Chicago
Join us for an evening of beautiful music as artists from The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center perform a variety of favorites from the 2024/25 Season accompanied by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and conducted by Lyric Music Director Enrique Mazzola. Bring a blanket, your favorite snacks, your fellow music lovers, and those you can’t wait to introduce to opera for this free, fun, and friendly can’t-miss summer delight that always ushers in a new cultural season on a high note.
Seating is first-come, first-served for this free event and no tickets are required.
Learn more here
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | Dekelboum Concert Hall | 8270 Alumni Drive, College Park MD, 20742
Sunday, June 30, 2024 | Washington National Cathedral | 3101 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20016
The University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute + Festival brings together aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country for a month of dynamic music-making and professional exploration. Chosen through a rigorous, cross-country audition process, these young artists present passionate and awe-inspiring performances of adventuresome repertoire at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and in the College Park, MD community. In 2019, conductor David Alan Miller and the NOI+F Philharmonic received a Grammy nomination in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category for their Naxos recording “Ruggles, Stucky, Harbison.”
Ryan Opera Center & Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s renowned artist development program join the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for a glamorous evening featuring selections from operatic favorites, including Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Puccini’s La Bohème and Offenbach’s La Grand-Duchesse de Gérolstein. Roberto Kalb leads the assembled forces in this grand finale to the Civic Orchestra’s 2023/24 Season. Conducted by Roberto Kalb.
Pay what you wish, starting at $5, for this concert. By paying for your ticket, you demonstrate the value music plays in your life and help make this performance available to all. Seating is general admission.
Learn more here.
La Bohème at Borderland Arts Foundation
May 3 at 7:30p and May 5 at 2p | Atkinson Recital Hall | 1075 North Horseshoe Street, Las Cruces, NM, 88001
Maestro Jorge Martinez-Rios conducts the Borderland Arts Opera Orchestra in this concert version of Puccini's tragic opera, La Bohème. The orchestra will be joined by a nationally recognized cast of up-and-coming opera singers who have performed in some of the most prestigious venues in the United States including the Santa Fe Opera and the Utah Opera.
Ms. Evans will play the role of Mimi.
Purchase tickets here!
Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition
Winspear Opera House | 2403 Flora Street, Dallas Texas 75201
See and hear the best-of-the-best young talent compete on the Winspear stage for a chance to be discovered. Finalists will perform with The Dallas Opera Orchestra as they compete against singers from across the country, many of whom are already appearing with national opera companies. Attendees are invited to join the action by voting for the “People’s Choice Award” winner of the evening!
Performers and program details will be released in January 2024.
Purchase tickets here!
UMSO February Concert
UMSO February Concert | Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall | 8270 Alumni Drive, College Park MD 20740
Join the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra for their first concert of the new year! This special performance will feature guest and faculty vocalists, as well as guest conductor and Maryland Opera Studio Director Craig Kier.
ABOUT THE UMD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (UMSO)
Through its committed and polished performances under the baton of David Neely, UMSO is dedicated to the power of musical communication. In its repertoire, the orchestra explores the intersection between traditional symphonic masterworks and marginalized works from various eras, with many programs featuring composers of diverse backgrounds.
Ms. Evans will be a featured guest artist for this concert. Livestream available.
Purchase tickets here
George and Nora London Foundation Competition Finals
The George and Nora London Foundation for Singers offers substantial awards to the most promising performers through its 52nd annual juried competition for outstanding young North American opera singers. This year's judges will be Harolyn Blackwell, Susan Quittmeyer, Susanne Mentzer, Dimitri Pittas, and James Morris. Michael Fennelly is the event’s pianist for the final round, which will be followed by the awards announcement.
Click here for more information and here to purchase tickets.
Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition: Midwest Regionals
Stella Boyd Smith Concert Hall, University of Arkansas - Little Rock | 2801 S. University Avenue Campus Drive, Little Rock, AK
In recognition of a generous gift from the Laffont family, the Met’s nationwide vocal competition—known since its founding in 1954 as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions—begins a new chapter as the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Mrs. Laffont, an Advisory Director on the Met Board, has spent many hours volunteering with the auditions over the last 20 years, and she and her late husband, Eric, have long been among the program’s most dedicated supporters.
The competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers, and is sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, including members and hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Some of today’s greatest singers got their start in the auditions, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.
Ms. Evans was named a winner of the Tulsa District and will advance to the Midwest Regional Competition.
Recital: Puccini Society of Dallas
The Puccini Society invites you to attend our first program of the New Year presenting Adia Evans, soprano, 1st Place Winner of the 2023 Dallas Opera Guild Lone Star Biennial Vocal Competition on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at 3:00 pm. Members $30 | Guests $40. Valet Parking is provided. Please RSVP to PucciniSociety@gmail.com for the address and details.
Find out more here.
Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition: Tulsa District
Location: Cascia Hall Performing Arts Center, 2520 S. Yorktown Ave, Tulsa, OK 74114
In recognition of a generous gift from the Laffont family, the Met’s nationwide vocal competition—known since its founding in 1954 as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions—begins a new chapter as the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Mrs. Laffont, an Advisory Director on the Met Board, has spent many hours volunteering with the auditions over the last 20 years, and she and her late husband, Eric, have long been among the program’s most dedicated supporters.
The competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers, and is sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, including members and hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Some of today’s greatest singers got their start in the auditions, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.
Adia will compete in the Tulsa District of the competition.
Handel’s Messiah with Dayton Philharmonic
Location: Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, 1 W 2nd St, Dayton, OH 45402
Escape from the holiday hustle and bustle with the Dayton Philharmonic and Chamber Chorus and immerse yourself in one of the most glorious oratorios of all time, Handel’s Messiah. With powerful and, at times, heartbreakingly beautiful music, Messiah and its popular “Hallelujah Chorus” has become a beloved holiday tradition featuring orchestra, chorus, and soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass soloists.
Adia will be featured as the soprano soloist.
Opera Crown International Vocal Competition
OPERA CROWN, Tbilisi International Voice Competition takes place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi every two years, each time offering contestants from all over the world the best and most welcoming atmosphere to perform at their very best.
The Competition is open to opera singers at the start of their professional careers and aims at discovering and facilitating the promotion of young talented singers by giving them the opportunity to be heard by a panel of top opera professionals – artistic and casting directors from the world's best opera houses.
The 3rd Competition took place from November 20 to November 25, 2023, at the Tbilisi Opera House. Ms. Evans will represent the USA in the final round on November 25.
Jake Heggie Recital at the Cliburn
Location: Kimble Art Museum Renzo Piano Pavilion Fort Worth, TX
“Arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer” – The Wall Street Journal
Composer Jake Heggie is best known for the operas Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick, It’s a Wonderful Life, Three Decembers, Two Remain, and If I Were You. He is currently at work on his 10th full-length opera, Intelligence, as well as new works for violinist Joshua Bell, New Century Chamber Orchestra, the Miró Quartet, and Music of Remembrance. The operas and his nearly 300 art songs have been performed extensively on five continents, championed by some of the world’s most beloved artists. With a libretto by the late Terrence McNally, Dead Man Walking has become “the most celebrated American opera of the 21st century” (Chicago Tribune). It has received nearly 80 international productions since its San Francisco Opera premiere in 2000.
And this season, one of the most iconic living American composers makes his first Cliburn Concerts appearance in 15 years, in a dynamic evening at the Kimbell, featuring performances of his works by locally based artists (as well as the composer himself) and an insightful conversation with the Cliburn’s Buddy Bray.
https://cliburn.org/?performance=jake-heggie-composer-piano
The Magic Flute
Friday, October 27, 2023 at 7:30 PM & Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3 PM
Location: Maryland Hall - 801 Chase Street, Annapolis, MD
Annapolis Opera presents a fantastical adventure about a prince and a bird-catcher on their quest to find true love!
Follow the harrowing journey of Prince Tamino and his quirky comrade Papageno on an expedition to rescue his true love Pamina from the wrath of dark mystical forces. Armed only with a magical flute and bells, they join together to triumph over powers beyond their understanding. Featuring some of Mozart’s most recognizable melodies, The Magic Flute will bring joy to audiences of all ages.
Evans will be featured as the 1st Lady.
https://annapolisopera.org/event/the-magic-flute/
Mahler Symphony No. 4
Location: 7995 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910
Avanti Orchestra
Shun Yao, conductor finalist*
Adia Evans, soprano
Program:
Unsuk Chin: Subito con forza
Mahler: Symphony No. 4.
*The Avanti Orchestra is featuring four conductor finalists this season, after an extensive search and review of more than 50 applicants. Orchestra and audience members will have an opportunity to appraise each finalist!
https://fmmc.org/event/avanti-orchestra-concert-2/
Bravo! Dallas Opera Season Opening Celebration
Location: Private Invitation in Dallas, TX
To kick off the first day of fall, Bravo! is hosting a party of firsts! Join us for the first fall party of the season with the first presentation by Ian Derrer, including an opportunity to meet and hear a performance by the phenomenal Adia Evens, the recent winner of the Dallas Opera Lone Star Vocal Competition. It’s a party of many firsts!
Ryan Opera Center: 2024/25 Ensemble Final Auditions
Location: Lyric Opera House, Chicago IL
Join us to watch more than 20 finalists representing the world’s finest emerging artists audition for a spot in the Ryan Opera Center’s 2024/25 Ensemble. This is a unique opportunity to hear opera’s future stars and participate by voting for the Audience Favorite Award.
https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/lyric-opera/ryan-opera-center-final-auditions/
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Scenes
The Next Generation…Center Stage
The opera’s singing and technical apprentices take the mainstage spotlight for two unique evenings of staged scenes. These evenings are fun-filled “sampler boxes” of operatic styles. They are a great introduction to opera and a great value for families to enjoy an evening out. They are the perfect opportunity to experience the future of opera – now.
The opera’s singing and technical apprentice programs have launched numerous distinguished careers, including singers William Burden, Joyce DiDonato, Michael Fabiano, Brandon Jovanovich, Kate Lindsey, Samuel Ramey, Susanna Phillips, and technicians Ruth E. Carter, Alex Davila, B.R. Delaney, Jennifer Good, Rupert Hemmings, Aja Jackson, and Jeffrey Mace to name a few.
Ms. Evans will be featured on the first evening of apprentice scenes as Eva in Die Meistersinger Quintet scene.
Masterclass with Elza van den Heever
Location: Santa Fe Opera House, Stieren Orchestra Hall
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Masterclass with Elza van den Heever, star of this season’s production of the Flying Dutchman.
Santa Fe Apprentice Artist
The Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers is internationally recognized as one of the finest programs of its kind. An apprenticeship at “America’s premier summer opera festival” offers unmatched opportunities for professional experience and international exposure. Evans will be featured in the following productions during the summer festival: Pelléas et Mélisande,Tosca, Der fliegende Holländer, and Rusalka. Evans will also cover Mary Elizabeth Williams in the role of Foreign Princess in Rusalka.
Washington International Competition Finals
The Washington International Competition (WIC), established in 1950, is held for singers, pianists, string players, and composers. WIC competitions for singers, pianists, and string players are held each spring in annual rotation. The WIC composers’ competition, established in 1976, is held every 3 years for the composition of a string quartet, piano quartet, piano quintet, piano trio, or string trio. Through the authority of its judges, high musical standards, and the quality of young artists attracted, the WIC offers—both in the United States and abroad—a significant opportunity for young artists to step upward from the ranks of talented students to recognition as professionals. Prize-winners of these competitions have gone on to win other important contests and achieve distinction on concert and opera stages around the world.
Winners receive substantial cash awards and the opportunity to perform in recital or as soloist with orchestras in prestigious Washington venues. The winner of the WIC piano competition is invited to perform a solo recital in the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC (Alice Nagle Fund) and a concerto performance with the FMMC Avanti Orchestra during the following season.
George Shirley Vocal Competition Finals
The George Shirley Vocal Competition: African American Vocal Repertoire (GSVC) is an annual competition, held at The University of Michigan. The competition offers singers and composers the opportunity to work with and receive feedback from world-renowned judges, including George Shirley. More than $30,000 in prizes are awarded annually. The competition is open to singers and composers of all races and ethnicities, ages 14-32 for vocalists and 18-35 for composers.
Evans will compete in the semi-finals of the competition this year in the Pre-Professional Division.
Fort Worth Opera Resident Artist Showcase
Fort Worth Opera Resident Artists take the Stage in a self-produced Recital at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. This concert will feature scenes from beloved standard and thrilling contemporary operas: La Bohéme by Giacomo Puccini, L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti, Les pêcheurs des perles by George Bizet, The Crucible by Robert Ward, and Fellow Travelers by Gregory Spears. Not only do these selected scenes chronicle times of persecution in history—one during the Salem Witch Trials, another during the Lavender Scare, for instance – they also examine fractured interpersonal relationships as these characters grapple with grief, abuse, and heartbreak. The title, Love Quarrels, is a tribute to universal human struggles. Through this curated concert, audiences can experience the artistry of their Resident Artists, Adia Evans, soprano, Nathaniel Catasca, tenor, and Malcolm Payne Jr., baritone.
Aida at Fort Worth Opera
First presented by FWO in 1958, and last seen in 1999, Giuseppe Verdi’s grandest opera AIDA, performs as a concert production with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. This larger-than-life concert production will feature Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago star Michelle Bradley in the title performance that earned her great acclaim in Prague, and the American operatic tenor Ben Gulley will sing the role of Radames. Grammy Award-winning American mezzo-soprano Tichina Vaughn, who has established an important presence among the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and theaters will sing the role of Amneris. Grammy and Emmy-Award winning baritone Reginald Smith Jr. will sing the role of the Amonasro. Also in the cast are basses Kevin Thompson as the King, Kenneth Kellogg as Ramfis, soprano Adia Evans as the High Priestess, and Nathanial Catasca as the Messenger. Two performances are available Fri. April 14, 2023 @ 7pm and Sun. April 16, 2023 @ 2pm.
Evans will also have the honor of covering Michelle Bradley in the title role of Aida.