Lyric Opera of Chicago Presents RISING STARS IN CONCERT, 3/31

The singers of the Ryan Opera Center will conclude a year of study and performance with the end-of-season Rising Stars in Concert for Lyric Opera donors Saturday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ardis Krainik Theatre of the Civic Opera House. Tickets for this concert are a benefit available only to Lyric Opera donors of $75 and above. It is not open to the public.

Rising Stars in Concert will be broadcast locally on 98.7WFMT and streamed on www.wfmt.com on Sunday, April 1, the day after the performance, starting at 4 p.m. The broadcast is generously sponsored by the Donna Van Eekeren Foundation, which is also the concert’s lead sponsor. The classical station’s afternoon drive-time program host George Preston and Lyric’s dramaturg Roger Pines will serve as host and commentator respectively.

Emily Birsan, Kiri Deonarine, and Jennifer Jakob (sopranos), Emily Fons and Cecelia Hall (mezzo-sopranos), René Barbera, Bernard Holcomb, and James Kryshak (tenors), Paul La Rosa, Joseph Lim, and Paul Scholten (baritones), David Govertsen (bass-baritone), and Evan Boyer (bass) will perform in works of Adams, Bellini, Berlioz, Bernstein, Bizet, Delibes, Donizetti, Gounod, Mozart, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Rossini, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi. There will be projectEd English translations for all the selections performed. The singers will be accompanied by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Ward Stare.

Rising Stars in Concert is generously sponsored by the Donna Van Eekeren Foundation, Lead Sponsor, and Accretive Health, Julie and Roger Baskes, Ann M. Drake, Sue and Melvin Gray, EveLyn Greene, Howard Family Foundation, Chauncey and Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation, Frank B. Modruson and Lynne C. Shigley, J. Christopher and Anne N. Reyes Foundation, and SXC Health Solutions Corp., with additional support from Heidi Heutel Bohn, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Drebin, and Molex Incorporated.

Of the 13 singers in the 2011-12 ensemble, seven will return to the program for 2012-13: Emily Birsan, Evan Boyer, Kiri Deonarine, David Govertsen, Cecelia Hall, Bernard Holcomb, and Joseph Lim. Four new ensemble members will join them: soprano Tracy Cantin, mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges, tenor John Irvin, and baritone Will Liverman (a finalist in the recent Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) have been accepted into the world-renowned program beginning in May 2012.

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago was established in 1974 as the professional artist-development program for Lyric Opera of Chicago. Since its inception, the Ryan Opera Center has been recognized as one of the premier programs of its kind in the world. That standing is maintained by providing the finest up-and-coming singers with unparalleled training and experience. Gianna Rolandi is director of the Ryan Opera Center, and Dan Novak is manager.