Queer tenor Jonas Hacker is humming his way into the Lyric Opera this March in The Listeners. He is playing the part of Kyle, a high school student in a suburban town under the influence of a cult centered around the ability to detect a strange low-frequency sound.
The story is told in English and written by Canadian author Jordan Tannahill. The music was composed by Missy Mazzoli and the libretto was created by Royce Vavrek. Hacker currently lives in Norway where The Listeners premiered at the Norwegian National Opera in 2022.
Jonas graduated from the Academy of Vocal Arts and has performed with orchestras around the world. He was a 2016 Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and he received the Robert Jacobson Award at the George London Foundation competition in 2017.
The talented tenor took time out to talk backstage at the opera house at the beginning of rehearsals.
Read more about The Listeners at https://windycitytimes.com/2025/03/26/theater-audible-cult-the-listeners-marks-lyric-opera-debut-of-gay-librettist-royce-vavrek/
Windy City Times: Did you grow up wanting to perform in the opera, Jonas?
Jonas Hacker: Well, that idea came a little later. I was always in choirs as a kid and I came from a musical family. My dad sang all the time at weddings and funerals. He was supposed to be in the Robert Shaw Chorale with a lead tenor position, but he turned it down after meeting my mom to start a family.
I learned a lot from him at home and I went to school for computer science. I took general music classes there to keep music in my life, but it became apparent that I was bad at computer science, so around my sophomore year, I started focusing on opera.
WCT: Is a certain type of voice necessary to break into the opera world?
JH: My dad is a tenor and so are both of his brothers, so I was cursed from the get-go. There was no escaping it! [laughs]
My dad used to play recordings of Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. Once YouTube became a thing I would go down the rabbit hole and just devour recordings of tenors. I fell in love with the art form after that.
WCT: Do you have a favorite opera?
JH: The Tales of Hoffmann.
WCT: How many languages do you speak?
JH: I was sort of conversational in German when I lived in Munich, but right now I am learning Norwegian because I live in Oslo.
WCT: How did you become involved with The Listeners?
JH: I was in Fellow Travelers in 2018 with the Lyric, and I was hired for this because they liked what I did with that show. I have a voice that fits modern opera well, so that’s how I ended up here.
WCT: How is opera different than musical theater?
JH: The main difference is that we are not mic’d. It is just us pumping out sound over an orchestra in a hall.
WCT: How is projecting in the Lyric’s space?
JH: Oh, it’s fun and its own challenge. I’ve sung in the hall a little bit this past week, so I have noticed the acoustics are forgiving to sing in. It’s constructed very well, and I don’t have to try as hard as some might think.
WCT: How far along are you in the rehearsal process?
JH: We just finished tech rehearsals yesterday and we have our sitzprobe tomorrow, which is German for “sitting rehearsal.” After the first sit-down read with the orchestra we have a piano run on Friday and then a full week of working with the orchestra the week after that.
WCT: This sounds like a lot of work for five performances.
JH: Yeah, that’s another difference from musical theater. In opera, we don’t do as many shows in general, and we don’t do back-to-back nights because we need to rest our voices after competing with an orchestra and filling a hall.
WCT: How do you protect your voice?
JH: It’s all part of the training and comes down to breathe support. It really all boils down to breathing and projecting the sound out with air.
WCT: Describe The Listeners to our readers.
JH: It’s a cult thriller and a modern opera. It’s very beautiful and spooky in places. The subject matter will resonate particularly well nowadays. People from this town are hearing a hum and come together to become a cult. There is a charismatic leader of the cult who leads it from his home. One of the members comes to him and suggests scientifically studying the hum, but the cult insists it’s a spiritual matter. Ultimately it is up to the audience to decide what they believe.
WCT: Talk about your character Kyle.
JH: He’s an 18-year-old kid and his family moves around a lot. They arrive in this town and Nicole Heaston’s character, Claire, is his teacher. Although he’s a very good student, she notices that recently his grades have been declining. He seems distracted and it’s because of his hum. He has to deal with this situation and eventually, someone else hears the hum and reassures him that he’s not crazy.
WCT: Do you think Kyle is gay?
JH: No, he falls in love with his teacher.
WCT: What are your plans after The Listeners leave the building?
JH: I will return to Oslo for a bit then I go to Des Moines in May to perform in The Rake’s Progress. I did the show in graduate school, so I’m excited to do it justice at this time in my career.
WCT: Where would you like to see your career go?
JH: I’m really happy with the track it’s on to be honest. I’m not like a grade-A singer, but I work consistently, and I have a life outside of my job. I would like to go farther of course, but I also like where I am at.
WCT: Some people think opera singers have attitudes and can be divas. Have you experienced that?
JH: There are some, but it’s not tolerated like it used to be. They got away with it for a long time, but there’s no need for it. Part of it stems from insecurity and being in a very stressful profession. It can be incredibly stressful singing in front of thousands of people with your body as your instrument. The body is not always a reliable thing. You wake up in the morning and you don’t know how your body’s going to be.
The pressure can affect people in a variety of ways, and that can be the root of creating a diva, along with having an ego.
WCT: What would you like to tell people about The Listeners to encourage them to see it?
JH: It’s an interesting show and well-paced. The characters are wonderful because they are human and everyone is flawed. The music is amazing, and modern opera can sometimes be associated with unusual sounds, but Missy Mazzoli writes these gorgeous lyric lines mixed with horror aspect at points within the script.
There’s really wonderful choral writing as well where all of the cult members sing what they are hearing. It all blends together to create an incredible sound.
WCT: What advice do you give to an opera singer just starting out?
JH: They should only pursue opera if they can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s a tough path. It can be lonely, with a lot of pressure and criticism. Opera singers have to be confident with themselves, but at the same time not be a diva!
The Listeners sound off at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., starting with a March 30 matinee and four more shows on April 2, 5, 8 and 11 with a running time of two and a half hours. Listen to a free opera history lesson facilitated by Dr. Justin Vickers an hour before every show on the main floor. For tickets visit lyric lyricopera.org/listeners or call 312-827-5600.