Lyric Opera of Kansas City

The Lyric Opera performs everyone’s favorites with fantastic new staging possibilities

Opera lovers will be awed by classic and contemporary operas performed in the Kauffman Center’s Muriel Kauffman Theatre, which promises to be one of the most acoustically perfect opera venues in the world. Audiences will love seeing classic favorites such as Madame Butterfly and Carmen as well as contemporary and lesser-performed works by musical geniuses. 

Recent artistic highlights for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City include the critically acclaimed productions Aida, The End of the Affair, Of Mice and Men and The Turn of the Screw, as well as the world premieres of John Brown (2008) and Coyote Tales (1998). Nationally acclaimed artists who have recently appeared on the Lyric Opera stage include Donnie Ray Albert, Daniel Belcher, Joyce DiDonato, Ana Maria Martinez, Marie Plette, Peter Kazaras, James Maddelena, John Packard, David Pomeroy, Gary Simpson and Jianyi Zhang. The company presents a broad range of operatic repertoire, including many early performances of works by major American composers, and has achieved national and international recognition.

The Kauffman Center's 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre offers amazing new opportunities for the company. The flexibility of the stage allows equal justice to be paid to an intimate Mozart opera and to a grand Wagnerian spectacle. The new theatre will provide the company with a larger orchestra pit and expanded backstage facilities,  including 74 feet of fly space above the stage that will improve the technical quality of the productions.

Founded in 1958, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City is one of the nation's premier regional opera companies, with almost 100 different productions (30 of which are American operas) to its credit. The Lyric Opera is the oldest performing arts organization in Kansas City.  The season includes five performances of four works, scheduled in September, November, March and May. All operas are sung in the original language with super titles provided in English. In the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, a Figaro system will provide super titles on an individual screen, in the back of each seat.