Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 1 - Medea

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 12 A Rare Gift Enrique Mazzola,Penelope Steiner,Sylvia Neil,and John Mangum celebrate onstage,with the Steiner Parquet in the background. Jaclyn Simpson Patrons seated on the main floor of the Lyric Opera House will henceforward find themselves on what is now called the Steiner Parquet — a new moniker in honor of an extraordinary $25 million gift from the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation. Here, a conversation with the force behind that transformational donation, Penelope Steiner — chair of the Enrique Circle, longtime subscriber, philanthropist,Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, and, perhaps above all, a true opera aficionado.