Lyric Opera of Chicago has received a $20 million gift from the Illinois-based Negaunee Foundation, which will be used to expand educational programming and make Mozart a more permanent fixture on the Downtown stage.
The gift comes as Lyric President and CEO John Mangum completes his second year at the helm of the company. It also arrives in a time when the arts have seen an overall decline in philanthropic support and a significant shift in government funding. Another major opera company, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, which is the nation’s largest performing arts organization, has faced steep financial issues recently.
Negaunee, which also gave $21 million to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2024, is the philanthropic organization of suburban investor Richard W. Colburn and his wife, Robin Colburn.
Half of the gift to Lyric will be used to support the company’s education program, which will be renamed for Negaunee. Lyric says it will expand its in-school and family programming and work more closely with Merit School of Music. The funds will also support a recently announced collaboration with the Music Institute of Chicago. Mangum said in a statement that engaging with young people is key to developing future opera audiences.
The remaining $10 million will be used to establish the “Negaunee Fund for Mozart,” which will guarantee one Mozart opera will be produced annually at Lyric. In a statement, Lyric said the funds will be used for “both the revival of existing works and the development of new productions” and will ensure “the enduring presence of Mozart’s work at Lyric at the highest artistic level.”
It comes as Lyric prepares to open its next season with Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in October. That production completes Lyric’s presentation of the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy, which began with “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Così fan tutte” over the past two seasons.
In a statement, Mangum said the gift “deepens our commitment to one of the greatest composers in the operatic canon.”
“Colburn’s vision aligns perfectly with our ambition to expand both the reach and relevance of opera in America,” Mangum said.
The Negaunee gift comes about a year after Lyric also received a $25 million gift from philanthropist Penelope Steiner.
“Colburn’s gift comes at a pivotal moment for Lyric as we look toward an exciting future,” Craig Martin, the incoming chair of Lyric’s board of directors, said in a statement. “This gift and the long-term vision that has made it possible are fitting, especially at a time when the arts can bring so much to so many.”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.