Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s enduring influence on composers, the concert will explore the wide range of operatic adaptations and art song drawn from his plays stories and poetry—highlighting both the wit and darker lyricism that define his work, and offering a rich contextual companion to COT’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Chicago Opera Theater brings a “trivial comedy for serious people” to Chicago audiences with the Chicago premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a sparkling operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s beloved play and a joyful tribute to the history of classical music itself.

Chicago Opera Theater brings a “trivial comedy for serious people” to Chicago audiences with the Chicago premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a sparkling operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s beloved play and a joyful tribute to the history of classical music itself.

Chicago Opera Theater brings a “trivial comedy for serious people” to Chicago audiences with the Chicago premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a sparkling operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s beloved play and a joyful tribute to the history of classical music itself.

Complementing The Juniper Tree, this concert will explore the enduring role of fairy tales in opera, tracing how different artists have drawn on folklore and myth—from familiar childhood stories to more haunting and psychologically complex narratives—to create some of the repertoire’s most evocative works.

Dark, haunting, and deeply poetic, The Juniper Tree is one of the most striking—and unsettling—stories from the Brothers Grimm. In its Chicago premiere, COT brings this moving fairy tale to life in a mesmerizing operatic adaptation by composers Philip Glass and Robert Moran, with a libretto by playwright Arthur Yorinks.

Dark, haunting, and deeply poetic, The Juniper Tree is one of the most striking—and unsettling—stories from the Brothers Grimm. In its Chicago premiere, COT brings this moving fairy tale to life in a mesmerizing operatic adaptation by composers Philip Glass and Robert Moran, with a libretto by playwright Arthur Yorinks.

Dark, haunting, and deeply poetic, The Juniper Tree is one of the most striking—and unsettling—stories from the Brothers Grimm. In its Chicago premiere, COT brings this moving fairy tale to life in a mesmerizing operatic adaptation by composers Philip Glass and Robert Moran, with a libretto by playwright Arthur Yorinks.

Inventing Oz is a fantastical exploration of how L. Frank Baum’s imagination was ignited during his years living in Chicago, leading to the creation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It illuminates how America’s most beloved fairyland was shaped by Baum’s life in Chicago, including the spectacle of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, how Oz’s good witches were inspired by Baum’s suffragist mother-in-law, and the way Dorothy’s search for home echoes that of her creator. Full of brains, heart and courage, Inventing Oz throws back the curtain to reveal a rapidly changing America, and one man’s struggle to find the right story.

Written by composer Stacy Garrop and librettist Sam Norman, Inventing Oz is projected to premiere in 2029. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience the work’s development firsthand through a piano-vocal workshop and concert of the work-in-progress, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this exciting new opera while furthering COT’s commitment to expanding access to the artistic process.