Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 9 - Madama Butterfly

25 | Lyric Opera of Chicago ALEXIS PEART KATE PINKERTON Lyric debut A first-year Ryan Opera Center mezzo- soprano from Titusville, New Jersey, Peart will also appear at Lyric this season in El último sueño de Frida y Diego . A former Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, she appeared there as Arbate/ Mitridate , The Choreographer/ The Seasons , Mrs. Noah/ Noah’s Flood , Tisbe/ La Cenerentola , and Big Stone/ Eurydice , as well as in the company’s educational touring productions. Other recent roles include Dorabella/ Così fan tutte , Jo/ Little Women , Ruggiero/ Alcina , Taller Daughter/ Proving Up , title role/ Giulio Cesare , Der Trommler/ Der Kaiser von Atlantis , and Ada Lovelace in the world premiere workshop of Ruehr’s The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage . The mezzo can be heard on Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera’s Grammy-nominated recording of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and on several art song releases by PARMA Recordings. An Encouragement Award winner in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition New England Region, Peart is a two-time alumna of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio and has worked with the Princeton Festival, Chautauqua Opera Company (Studio Artist), Rochester Oratorio Society, Guerilla Opera, and Castle of Our Skins. Alexis Peart is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Blythe McGarvie and cosponsors Karen Petitte and the Thierer Family Foundation. CHRISTOPHER HUMBERT, JR. IMPERIAL COMMISSIONER Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2024/25, most recently Second Soldier/ Salome and Captain of the Guard/ Medea (both 2025/26). Last season at Lyric, the third-year Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone sang Ceprano/ Rigoletto , 2nd Prisoner/ Fidelio , and 3rd Policeman/ Blue . Other engagements this season include soloist in Haydn’s Creation with the Seattle Symphony, Messiah with Erie Philharmonic, and the Verdi Requiem with the Nashville Symphony. Originally from Akron, Ohio, he has performed widely throughout his home state, including appearances with Opera Columbus, Mid-Ohio Opera, and Nightingale Opera Theatre. Other engagements include Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Seagle Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Annapolis Opera. Recipient of the 2025 Sullivan Foundation Award, Humbert was invited for the 2025 Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival and is a former participant in the artist development programs at Palm Beach Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Humbert is recipient of a 2025 Luminarts Cultural Foundation Men’s Voice Fellowship and a 2024 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award. Christopher Humbert, Jr. is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Patricia Frank and cosponsors Maria C.Green & Oswald G. Lewis,Mary Houston,in loving memory of James Houston, and the Bill & Orli Staley Foundation. SANKARA HAROUNA OFFICIAL REGISTRAR Previously at Lyric: Three roles since 2023/24, most recently A Cappadocian/ Salome (2025/26) and Marullo/ Rigoletto (2024/25). A Chicago native, the Ryan Opera Center baritone appeared as Benny Paret and Benny Jr./ Champion in 2023/24. The summer of 2025 featured his debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House as well as with the Grant Park Music Festival to which he returns in 2026. He joined Portland Opera as a Resident Artist in the 2023/24 Season, where he was seen in Le nozze di Figaro and The Snowy Day . A former apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, he performed there as Moralès/ Carmen and Homecoming Soldier/ Redler’s The Falling and the Rising . Other previous engagements include Greensboro Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. In concert, Harouna performed Mozart’s Missa Brevis with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. The baritone has participated in the artist-development programs of Atlanta Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Dayton Opera. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music in Vocal Performance at Kentucky State University. Sankara Harouna is sponsored by Lead Sponsors Michael Steinberg and Salme Harju Steinberg and cosponsors Mary Ellen Hennessy and Virginia Tobiason. DOMINGO HINDOYAN CONDUCTOR Previously at Lyric: La Bohème (2018/19). Hindoyan is Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Designate of Los Angeles Opera, where he will begin his tenure as Music Director in the 2026/27 season. He appears regularly with leading orchestras across Europe and the United States, and this season returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, NewWorld Symphony Miami, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, and Paris Opera. He also makes debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Zurich Opera. Hindoyan has conducted productions at the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Teatro Real Madrid, Royal Swedish Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra du Rhin, Royal Opera House Muscat, and LA Opera. He continues to lead acclaimed ensembles worldwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest at international festivals, including the Menuhin Festival Gstaad and Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Domingo Hindoyan began his career as a violinist in the renowned El Sistema program and later joined Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. His discography with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic includes Verismo (2023), Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 and Venezuela! Music from the Americas! (2024), and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Souvenir de Florence (April 2025).