Modern Maestro

CS Modern Luxury Magazine

Chicago, IL

Patty Wetli

Lidiya Yankovskaya is on a mission to create an operagoing culture in the United States, on par with that of Europe and her native Russia. “I think opera is still considered a foreign art form here,” says Yankovskaya, who is kicking off her third year as music director of Chicago Opera Theater. The trick, she says, is creating an experience that feels thoroughly American, whether by performing modern – and homegrown – works, or digging deeper for little-known gems. “It’s about having a culture of our own. We’re at the start of a golden age of American opera,” the conductor says. In line with that mission, COT’s 2019-20 season commences this month with a double bill of Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Joby Talbot’s Everest (which chronicles the events made famous in Into Thin Air), which are both making their Chicago premieres. Yankovskaya has also revamped the theater’s young artist program and introduced the Vanguard Initiative, which includes a composer-in-training project. Add that to her conducting responsibilities – and, oh yeah, being mom to a toddler – and her schedule is head-spinning. “When I describe it, it sounds overwhelming,” she says. “But when I do it, I love all this work; I don’t notice it.”