Lyric Opera of Chicago's mission is to express and promote the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great opera. Lyric exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to Chicago and the nation, and to advance the development of the art form. Founded in 1954, Lyric is dedicated to producing and performing consistently thrilling, entertaining, and thought-provoking opera with a balanced repertoire of core classics, lesser-known masterpieces, and new works; to creating an innovative and wide-ranging program of community engagement and educational activities; and to developing exceptional emerging operatic talent.

"Lyric Unlimited is thrilled to be presenting this recent work by Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce," said Cayenne Harris, director of Lyric Unlimited. "The story and themes explored, while set in the recent past, have meaning and resonance with current political and social issues."

Tenor Jonas Hacker and baritone Joseph Lattanzi will sing the lead roles of Timothy Laughlin
and Hawkins Fuller, two men who fall in love during the height of the McCarthy era in 1950s
Washington D.C. Devon Guthrie will sing the role of Mary Johnson, Hawkins's assistant, and
Timothy's confidante. The cast also features Vanessa Becerra as Miss Lightfoot, Marcus
DeLoach as Senator McCarthy, Amy Kuckelman as Lucy, Will Liverman as Tommy McIntyre,
Reginald Smith, Jr. as Senator Charles Potter, and Sam Handley as Potter's Assistant. Design
team members are Vita Tzykun (sets), Paul Carey (costumes), Thomas C. Hase (lighting), and
James Geier (wigs and make-up). Marcus Shields is assistant director.

Sung in English with projected English texts, Fellow Travelers runs March 17-25 for four performances at the Athenaeum Theatre.

Daniela Candillari, a native of Slovenia, is a sought-after conductor, composer and pianist having worked with preeminent artists around the world. She has worked at the Slovenian National Opera as Assistant Conductor, Chorus Master, and Principal Coach for over twenty productions. She has served as Assistant Conductor for the European Opera Centre in partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Sarasota Opera. As a collaborative pianist, she performed at Carnegie Hall with Julian Wachner and Novus NY, has worked with artists including Sir Bryn Terfel, Dame Felicity Lott, Håkan Hagegård, Carol Vaness, Martina Arroyo, and has recorded for NPR, Austrian Radio Broadcast Television, Slovenian National Radio and TV, and Serbian National TV. Highlights during the 2016/17 season include serving as music director for Extraordinary Measures, a play by Eve Ensler, covering Julian Wachner on his new opera, Rev. 23, during the Prototype Festival, and joining the music staff at The Chautauqua Opera as Assistant Conductor to Steven Osgood. Future engagements include her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut leading performances of Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers , conducting Acquanetta at the 2018 PROTOTYPE Festival, with Bang on a Can All-Stars as the orchestra, and leading the Manhattan School of Music Philharmonia in a concert including Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 . Ms. Candillari is a Fulbright Scholar, a TED Fellow, and holds a Ph.D. from Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna.