The Lyric Opera of Chicago will take part in the worldwide celebration of the Leonard Bernstein centennial with a presentation of West Side Story as part of its 2018–2019 season.

The production, directed by Francesca Zambello, will run May 3–June 2, 2019. The production will premiere at Houston Grand Opera this April before heading to Glimmerglass Festival in July. Zambello also helms the Kennedy Center’s concert presentation of the Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents musical, running February 14–17.

The season will kick off October 6 with Richard Jones' new production of Puccini’s La Bohème, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan. The staging, a co-production with the Royal Opera House and Teatro Real Madrid, will star Maria Agresta as Mimì Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo, Danielle de Niese as Musetta, Zachary Nelson as Marcello, and Adrian Sâmpetrean as Colline.

Additional highlights include Wagner’s Siegried (November 3–16) directed by David Pountney and featuring Christine Goerke, Eric Owens, and Burkhard Fritz, Laurent Pelly’s production Massenet’s Cendrillon (December 1–January 20) following a run at the Metropolitan Opera this spring, Nina Stemme and Elza van den Heever in Richard Strauss’ Elektra (February 2–22), and the Lyric premiere of Handel’s Ariodante in a co-production with Dutch National Opera and Canadian Opera Company (March 2–17).

Lyric Opera will also present events featuring two renowned sopranos: a recital from Anna Netrebko December 2 and a 25th anniversary gala headlined by Renée Fleming March 23.

For more information, visit LyricOpera.org.