As opera houses around the country warily resume indoor performances, two of the biggest are ushering in new leadership — along with a heightened commitment to building new audiences.

Is it luck? Preparation? Skill? David Govertsen thinks it’s a little bit of each that has guided him to some of the city’s biggest stages.

A month ahead of opening night, Lyric Opera of Chicago announces that all audience members will have to show proof of their full vaccination against COVID-19.

Rolandi retired from performance in the 1990s, then joined the Ryan Opera Center first as the director of vocal studies (the program’s first), and then the program’s director from 2006-2013.

A Verdi and bel canto expert, Lyric’s new music director Enrique Mazzola will open the season with Verdi’s Macbeth and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, while also conducting contemporary opera Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli later in the season.