Learn about the opera before you go! Oak Park Public Library and the River Forest Public Library have joined together to offer the Lyric Opera Lecture Series. The next lecture will be ”Aida” by  Guiseppe Verdi on  Wednesday, January 11 at 7 pm at the River Forest Public Library, 735 Lathrop Avenue.

The lectures are free and open to the public. All lectures have been scheduled to precede opening night performances at the Lyric Opera.

The remaining schedule for the Lyric Opera Lecture Series:

"Aida" by Guiseppe Verdi
Wednesday, January 11 at 7 pm
at River Forest Public Library, 735 Lathrop Avenue

"Show Boat" with music by Jerome Kern, based on the novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber
Sunday, January 29 at 2 pm
at Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake Street

With its classic hit songs and powerful homegrown drama, this 1927 masterwork changed the course of American musical theater! Moving from 1890s Mississippi to Chicago to “Roaring 20s” Broadway, Show Boat follows the lives of a company of theater folk — deeply involving us in their triumphs and sorrows, while illuminating the racial and social changes that were shaping the country.

"Rinaldo" by George Frideric Handel
Wednesday, February 22 at 7 pm
at River Forest Public Library, 735 Lathrop Avenue   

For more information or directions to the Oak Park Public Library, call 708-383-8200. For information or directions to the River Forest Public Library, call 708-366-5205. For more information about the Lyric Opera including music clips, sound files of interviews with artists, and production photos, visit the Lyric Opera website through the season at www.lyricopera.org [1].

Find more about what's happening at the Oak Park Public Library at oppl.org/events/calendar [2].