Lyric Opera of Chicago Appoints Orchestra Veteran as New Leader

John Mangum, a veteran orchestra manager who helped guide the Houston Symphony through the turmoil of the pandemic, will serve as the next general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago starting this fall, the company announced on Wednesday.

Mangum, 49, will take the reins of Lyric, one of the premier opera companies in the United States, as it faces a series of challenges, including rising costs, cuts to programming and changes in audience behavior.

Mangum said in an interview that he was joining Lyric because it is “one of the great opera companies in the country and really in the world.” He said he was confident that Lyric could find ways to expand its base of fans and donors.

“Opera is about storytelling,” he said. “We have to remind people that this is what opera is built from, and there are ways for them to connect.”

Mangum has not worked in opera before, but he is a veteran of the classical music industry. He has held posts at a number of institutions, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic. Since 2018, he has led the Houston Symphony, helping increase fund-raising and expand community programs.

Sylvia Neil, chair of Lyric’s board, said Mangum’s experience in the orchestral world would help the company as it works to broaden its audience.

“John’s very strong credentials as a C.E.O., as well as his artistic management background and music intellectualism, will bring vision, insight and a fresh perspective to Lyric,” she said in a statement.

Mangum succeeds Anthony Freud, one of the field’s most experienced hands, who is retiring this week after 13 years at Lyric Opera. He is leaving two years before the end of his contract, a decision he has described as “personally motivated.” (He intends to return to London, his hometown, with his family.)

Opera companies have had a particularly difficult time coming back from the pandemic. They have faced mounting costs and smaller audiences because of shifting habits and lifestyles; and the government aid that helped keep many alive during the pandemic is gone.

In New York, the Metropolitan Opera, the largest performing arts organization in the United States, has encountered serious fiscal challenges, withdrawing about $70 million in emergency funds from its endowment over the past two seasons to help cover costs.

Lyric, with a budget of about $81 million and an endowment of about $68 million, has reduced the number of performances to cut costs. In the 2018-19 season, before the pandemic, the company gave 55 performances of eight operas. In the 2023-24 season, there were 40 performances of six operas.

Mangum said he was eager to bring more contemporary opera to Chicago, mentioning the composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Jimmy López Bellido, Bryce Dessner, Julia Wolfe and Terence Blanchard.

He also said he would work to deepen Lyric’s ties to the community.

“It’s about helping people to connect and see themselves in these timeless stories,” he said. “We have to use every tool at our disposal to invite people into what we’re doing and make them feel connected, and to advocate for this wonderful art form.”