Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2015-16 season will feature nine new-to-Chicago productions, including the long-awaited world premiere of Bel Canto, an opera based on the award-winning 2001 novel by Ann Patchett. The season will open on September 26 with The Marriage of Figaro, to be followed by Cinderella, Wozzeck, The Merry Widow, Nabucco, Der Rosenkavalier and Gounod's Romeo and Juliet.
Shortly after Lyric announced their upcoming season, the Chicago Tribune reported that Kenneth Pigott, 71, president and CEO of Lyric's Board of Directors, passed away on February 13. Pigott led the international search for a new general director that resulted in Anthony Freud joining Lyric in 2011. He also was the individual most responsible for persuading star soprano Renée Fleming to become Lyric's first creative consultant in 2010.
A message on Lyric Opera's Facebook page from General Director Anthony Freud stated in part: "We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn and to share the news of the death of Ken Pigott, president and CEO of Lyric Opera. In the few hours since his passing, we have only begun to grasp the depth and breadth of this unimaginable loss. Ken was a truly unique man. He was a visionary whose wisdom and passion transformed the lives of everyone at Lyric, and at the many organizations with which he was associated. He is irreplaceable."
Lyric will close the 2015-16 season with the company premiere of The King and I, opening April 29, 2016. The King and I is the third in a series of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals that Lyric plans to perform as part of their American Musical Theater Initiative.
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