The Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the United States? best opera house and Opera Company. The Lyric Opera began in 1952 with the help of Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly. The Lyric Opera was originally known as the Lyric Theatre of Chicago before it was changed in 1956.

The Lyric Opera Company boasts of the standard operatic repertoire together with more contemporary choices from recent works including ?The Great Gatsby? and ?Street Scene? to plays and operatic pieces like ?Susannah? and Steven Sondheim?s ?Sweeney Todd?.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has been housed in Chicago?s Civic Opera House ever since the company was started. Visitors and tourists alike can enjoy the opera or contemporary plays within the 3,563 seating capacity auditorium. The Lyric Opera and the Civic Opera House is the second largest opera auditorium within the United States with the first in the list being New York?s Metropolitan Opera House.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has also been known as the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center when it comes to dealing with new and unsigned talents. The Ryan Opera Center side of the Lyric Opera of Chicago has been one of the most elite and prestigious vocal programs in America. The Center has produced a lot of great talent in the past including performers like Susanna Philipps, Joseph Kaiser, Andriana Chuchman and Nicole Cabell.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago?s Patrick G. training program continues to look for new talent every year. The program selects more than a dozen young singers from a flock of 400 hopefuls.