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February 2 - 22, 2019
P A T R O N S A L U T E | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
Hands together, seated in
the same seats that held
over 60 years of memories,
Kip Kelley shared a
performance of
e Sound
of Music
with his grand-
daughter, Ferrill. As the
story unfolded onstage,
Kip also shared the story
of his family with her, a
story intertwined and
weaved into the life of
Lyric. Timeless as the
operas presented onstage,
the Kelley family’s rela-
tionship with Lyric has
seen the passing of
decades, milestones come
and gone, and memories
forged in the walls of this
great place.
In 1955, Kip Kelley
began coming to Lyric.
Single, young, and intel-
lectually driven, he came
to the opera to try to
expand his horizons. Soon
he started to bring a date, Sherry Ferrill, and the
couple quickly thereafter fell in love, not only
with each other, but also with opera. ey spent
their honeymoon in the birthplace of opera, Italy,
seeing as many performances as they could at the
Teatro alla Scala in Milan. As the couple became
a family with the birth of Kimberly and then Kip
II, they became a part of a bigger family, the
Lyric family.
“I remember the first opera my dad took me
to,” Kimberly recalls, “it was
I puritani
, and
although I slept through Act Two, I was wide
awake for Acts One and ree.” Kimberly, who
now works on Broadway as a company manager,
came to her first opera at the age of seven. “My
parents would have Kip and me study up before
the opera so that we would appreciate it more.
We would sit at the kitchen table and learn about
the plot and the music with our parents.”
In 1973, Kimberly and Kip II became super-
numeraries, playing the parts of pageboys, altar
boys, and many other characters as needed. eir
father soon joined them and was often put in
scenes with his children. Kip II, who now serves
on Lyric’s Board of Directors and is Chief
Executive Officer of Aon Affinity US, smiles as he
talks about sharing the stage with his parents.
“We were put into the procession scene as altar
boys in the first act of
Tosca
,” Kip II recalls. “My
dad was all of a sudden in the procession with us,
and he told us after rehearsal, ‘I am going to be in
this scene with you guys because they need some
one to drive you there and back home.’” Sherry
also joined the supernumeraries, and often audi-
ences would see the entire Kelley family onstage.
Kip became best known for his role as the
Cardinal in
Tosca
, which he first played in the
mid-’80s and for many years thereafter.
In the fall of 1996, Sherry Kelley died of
cancer. “When Ardis Krainik died shortly after
my mom’s death,” Kimberly remembers, “my
dad and I attended Miss Krainik’s celebration
concert in the opera house and it seemed that in
life or death, Lyric was always there.” Kip passed
away 20 years later in the fall of 2017.
Over their time at Lyric, Kip and Sherry
gave back in many ways, joining the Guild Board
in 1959, and subsequently each serving as
president, lecturing through Lyric’s Lecture
Corps, and joining the Ryan Opera Center Board
where they sponsored a singer every year. If the
doors were open, chances were good that Kip and
Sherry were in the house. Kip was a subscriber for
62 years, and he was Lyric’s greatest cheerleader.
e Kelley family’s heart was at Lyric. It still
is today.
“I came back because of Aon’s relationship
with Lyric. It created an opportunity for me to
become involved again,” Kip II states. “Aon has
been a supporter of Lyric’s Opening Night for 34
years, and my wife, Sarah, and I have attended
the last 10 openings to wave the Aon flag. When
Greg Case (Aon’s CEO)
and I had a chat about the
possibility of my joining
the Lyric board, I jumped
at the opportunity. I for-
got how much I love
opera. I loved it as a kid
through my parents’ pas-
sion for opera, but I was
away from opera for about
25 years.”
Lyric is honored to
have Kip Kelley II serve on
its Board of Directors and
the Nominating and
Governance Committee.
“I’m proud that my dad
was able to see me join the
Lyric Board. Every time
we got together he’d ask,
‘So, son, what’s the latest
Lyric Board news?’ It
became another point of
connection between my
dad and me. I was able to
share in his lifelong
passion. I started with an
appreciation and a good understanding of the art
form, and now I have an appreciation for the
business side as well. is is where it ties togeth-
er for me. I so admire the leadership of Anthony
Freud, David Ormesher, and the entire Lyric team.”
For Kimberly, she attributes her growing up
backstage at Lyric to her becoming a company
manager on Broadway. “I learned to love the
theater here.” Kimberly says. When they were
finished onstage, Kimberly and Kip II would
walk through Peacock Alley and join their par-
ents in their row AA subscription seats to watch
the rest of the show the way Kip and Sherry
wanted it, as a family.
Kip II says, “Lyric is something that has run
through my life in different ways, starting as a
kid, moving into my involvement on the Board,
and now bringing my daughter to the opera. It’s
more than just something that I enjoy, it has
become a part of me.”
In honor of the Kip Kelley Family’s great
generosity and years of support, Lyric is proud to
name Peacock Alley the Kip Kelley Family
Peacock Alley. Kimberly and Kip II can now
walk through the hallway named for their family
and sit in the same row AA seats and know that
the legacy of their parents lives on.
—
Zachary Vanderburg
Kip Kelley Family:
Together Onstage and Off
Kip Kelley (far right, in red robe) onstage at Lyric in one of his
many performances as the Cardinal in
Tosca.
ROBERT KUSEL