Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 7 - A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness

33 | Lyric Opera of Chicago feature film Camp Wedding ; short films including Spell Claire , Bowes Academy (NC Gay + Lesbian Film Fest Jury award), Get the F K Outta Paris!, and Death by Omelette (SNCF Prix du Polar Finalist and Hong Kong Mobile Film Awards Silver Medalist); and music videos incuding Eating 4 Two and Butt Drunk (Friars Club Comedy Film Festival special Jury Award, iTVfest Best Director Award, with Amanda DeSimone). Emetaz created the behind-the-scenes documentaries for Julie Taymor’s The Tempest , Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark , and numerous productions at New York City Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. MICHAEL BLACK CHORUS DIRECTOR The Australian chorus director joined Lyric full time in the 2012/13 Season, after having served as interim director the season before. He was named Head of Music at Lyric, a new position, in the 2023/24 Season. Black was Chorus Director at Opera Australia in Sydney from 2001 to 2013, and has worked in this capacity for such distinguished organizations as the Edinburgh International Festival and Opera Holland Park (London), and, in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, the Cantillation chamber choir, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In Chicago, Black became the first chorus director to work with the choruses of Lyric, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Grant Park Music Festival, where he served for six seasons, including preparation of The Damnation of Faust chorus and Haydn’s Creation . Black has served as chorus director for close to 140 different operas on four continents, and his work has been recorded and/or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, for many HD productions in movie theaters, and on television. Michael Black is supported by the Howard A. Stotler Chorus Director Endowed Chair. JOHN METZNER WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER The designer first joined the staff of Lyric for the 2022/23 Season. He has previously collaborated with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Lookingglass Theatre, and Court Theatre. He served for nine years as Head of Wig and Makeup for Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts, and designed hair and makeup for more than 50 performances at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Other regional credits include work at The Muny, Great River Shakespeare Festival, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he designed for The Pirates of Penzance , among many other productions. His advanced training includes wig styling at the Wig Room Training Academy and London School of Wig Making. John Metzner is supported by The Marlys A. Beider Wigmaster and Makeup Designer Endowed Chair. CHRIS MARAVICH LIGHTING DESIGNER Lyric’s lighting director served in the same position from 2006 to 2012 at San Francisco Opera, where he created lighting for many productions including The Gospel of Mary Magdalene , Così fan tutte , Turandot , Cyrano de Bergerac , Il trittico , Tosca , Simon Boccanegra , Don Giovanni , Nixon in China , and Attila . He has collaborated on the lighting designs for Wozzeck (Finnish National Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève), Doktor Faust at Staatsoper Stuttgart, Tannhäuser for Greek National Opera, and La fanciulla del West , The Makropulos Case , The Daughter of the Regiment , Il trovatore , Samson et Dalila , and Macbeth for San Francisco Opera. Maravich has also designed lighting for LA Opera, Opera Colorado, San Diego Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Florida Grand Opera, Madison Opera, Cal Performances, and Opera San José. He currently serves as lighting supervisor for The Joffrey Ballet. Chris Maravich is supported by the Mary-Louise and James S. Aagaard Lighting Director Endowed Chair. PETE WIEJACZKA SOUND DESIGNER AND AUDIO MIX ENGINEER Previously at Lyric: Ten productions since 2013, most recently Fiddler on the Roof (2022/23) and West Side Story (2018/19). Wiejaczka is a frequent collaborator on Lyric’s musical theater productions, and provided sound design for The New Classics: Songs from the New Golden Age of Musical Theater (2020/21). Other notable productions include sound design for The Joffrey Ballet’s performances at Lyric and the Kennedy Center, the Ravinia Festival’s 2020 virtual Lawn Party, and a groundbreaking ceremony with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in honor of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Past projects include numerous special event broadcasts and product launches with live music performances. GREG EMETAZ VIDEO DESIGNER Previously at Lyric: Four productions since 2015/16, most recently Puccini Heroines (2024/25) and Champion (2023/24). In addition to Bel Canto at Lyric, the filmmaker and projection designer’s work includes many other important opera world premieres, including Dolores Claiborne at San Francisco Opera, Enemies: a Love Story at Palm Beach Opera, and Shalimar the Clown , “ 27 ”, Champion , and The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Emetaz is the director of the