Can you believe there are only two months left in 2025? 🗓️ Neither can we! November brings cooler weather 🍂 and opportunities to connect with friends and family. 💞 But most importantly, it brings the second production of Lyric Opera’s 2025–2026 season and the return of one of the most popular operas of all time, Madame Butterfly. 🦋🚢
ICYMI, our 2024–2025 Annual Report is here! 📖 Take a look back at the season through powerful photography, reflections, and highlights from a year of extraordinary performances, community engagement, and learning initiatives. 🏆
This weekend, we present one of the most beloved operas of all time, Puccini's Madame Butterfly. Set in Nagasaki, Japan at the turn of the twentieth century, this story follows the arranged marriage of young Cio-Cio-San (called “Butterfly”) and the American naval officer, Lieutenant Pinkerton. He soon sails back to America, leaving Butterfly to grapple with what he left behind. The enduring power of Madame Butterfly lies in its ability to touch the deepest corners of the human heart, leaving audiences devastated.
We want you to connect personally and meaningfully to the art on our stage. Patrons who participate in our learning initiatives find themselves more engaged with the performance. Check out these opportunities to deepen your experience with Puccini's tragic opera, Madame Butterfly. 🎭
Opera Dives Deep
📅 November 10 at 6:00 pm: Join Madame Butterfly expert Dr. Kunio Hara for a talk on the creative tensions between fiction and history in the opera. Dr. Hara served as a cultural consultant for Houston Grand Opera’s 2024 production of Madame Butterfly and has lectured for The Metropolitan Opera, Portland Opera, and Opera Carolina. 🎶
Pre-Opera Talks
Attend our popular Pre-Opera Talks! Join Dr. Neal Long, Director of Learning at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, fifty minutes before the performance to learn the who, what, where, when, and why of Madame Butterfly.
Madame Butterfly Community Corner
Stop by the Community Corner in the lobby before performances and at intermission. For Madame Butterfly, join the Center for East Asian Studies at The University of Kansas to learn the Japanese art of origami and make your own paper butterfly.
As we reflect on this season of gratitude, we celebrate the incredible Lyric Opera Angels who make great opera possible in Kansas City year after year. We are thankful to those who were able to attend our Angel Appreciation event at the home of John and Karen Yungmeyer last weekend, and to those who celebrated with us from afar. Our Lyric Opera Angels’ enthusiasm, generosity, and passion for opera fuel each performance and make every season more meaningful.
Thank you for being part of the 2024–2025 season. In 2021, Lyric Opera revised its strategic vision and asked: Where will opera be in fifty years? This past season gave us a glimpse of that future—through outstanding performances, meaningful community engagement, and milestones that affirm a bright path ahead. Take a look at the 2024–25 Annual Report to learn more about some of the accomplishments that carried us through last season.
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Season Sponsors
With public support from the State of Missouri and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
This project is supported, in part, by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund.
Madame Butterfly is supported, in part, by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund and the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund.
