Upcoming Talks and Events
June 1 | immediately following the matinee performance of La Bohème
The Sybil B. Harrington Auditorium at the Metropolitan Opera
Directly following the matinee performance of La Bohème, you're invited to remain in your seat for a post-show discussion with members of the cast. This discussion is for ticket holders of the April 13 performance. No RSVP needed.
Past Events
May 5 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Event
Verse to Voice: The Musical World of Antony and Cleopatra
Anspacher Theater at the Public
Join us at the Public Theater for Verse to Voice: The Musical World of Antony and Cleopatra. This captivating conversation, hosted by Robert Marx, brings together composers John Adams and Michael Thurber (Goddess, Othello, Twelfth Night) with actor Chukwudi Iwuji (Othello, Hamlet, Guardians of the Galaxy) to explore how music elevates the drama of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpieces. Registration will open mid-April. Free; registration required.
April 28 | 7PM Event
Works & Process at the Guggenheim: John Adams’s Antony & Cleopatra
Peter B. Lewis Theater
Preeminent American composer John Adams returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the company premiere of his latest opera—a glorious adaptation of Shakespeare’s immortal drama. Groundbreaking director Elkhanah Pulitzer brings a new production to the Met stage, transporting the story of troubled romance and political strife from ancient Rome to the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. Ahead of the historic premiere, Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with the creative team, and members of the cast will perform highlights from the score. Tickets required.
April 27 | immediately following the matinee performance of Aida
The Sybil B. Harrington Auditorium at the Metropolitan Opera
Directly following the matinee performance of Aida, you're invited to remain in your seat for a post-show discussion with members of the cast. This discussion is for ticket holders of the April 27 performance. No RSVP needed.
April 13 | immediately following the matinee performance of Le Nozze di Figaro
The Sybil B. Harrington Auditorium at the Metropolitan Opera
Directly following the matinee performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, you're invited to remain in your seat for a post-show discussion with members of the cast. This discussion is for ticket holders of the April 13 performance. No RSVP needed.
April 10 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Event
BOMB’s Spring Issue Launch with the Metropolitan Opera & Missy Mazzoli
The Atrium at Ace Hotel Brooklyn
Celebrate BOMB’s Spring Issue with an exclusive preview from Lincoln in the Bardo, an opera featuring music by BOMB contributor Missy Mazzoli. Mazzoli and Vavrek’s Lincoln in the Bardo, based on the book by George Saunders, premieres at the Metropolitan Opera in October 2026. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz joins Composer Missy Mazzoli in conversation after the performance. This event is a part of BOMB’s ANALOG/DIALOG series—a partnership with Ace Hotel Brooklyn through which BOMB Magazine invites artist/s for an intimate dialogue and performance to explore what inspires them, what challenges them, where they are, and where they want to go. Tickets required.
March 25 | 6PM Doors, 6:30PM Event
List Hall at the Metropolitan Opera House
For Melville enthusiasts, we’re pleased to offer a preshow lecture by literary scholar Sheridan Hay. Join us in List Hall before the curtain to explore how this great American tale found its way onto the operatic stage. Free for ticket holders to the March 25 performance. RSVP required.
February 28 | 5:30PM Doors, 6PM Event
Metal, Melville, and the Metropolitan Opera: Mastodon’s Leviathan meets Heggie’s Moby-Dick
BRIC
Alternative metal band Mastodon meets opera composer Jake Heggie—whose Moby-Dick has its Met premiere March 3—in this special event celebrating the power of Melville’s art to bridge musical genres. Following the 20th anniversary of their landmark album Leviathan, members of Mastodon come together with Heggie to discuss Moby-Dick as a source of mutual inspiration. Brooklyn composer and rocker Tamar-kali joins the conversation and metal aficionado and opera composer David T. Little moderates. Free; registration is required. This event is partially seated and standing room will be available once capacity is reached.
February 26 | 7PM Event
LIVE from NYPL: Moby-Dick, from Sea to Stage
Celeste Bartos Forum at The New York Public Library
The Met returns to LIVE from NYPL for an evening of performance and discussion with writers and members of the creative team inspired by the opera’s literary origins. The New York Public Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division holds an unparalleled repository of literary manuscripts and correspondence by and about Melville. Tickets are free and registration is required.
February 20 | 7PM Event
A Panel Discussion with Gene Scheer, Leonard Foglia, and Sheridan Hay
The Center for Fiction
The Met returns to the Center for Fiction to discuss how this great American novel became a drama for the operatic stage. Jake Heggie’s stunning 2010 adaptation of Herman Melville’s sea-faring epic novel brings together a cast of standouts to tell the timeless tale of Captain Ahab’s maniacal quest for vengeance against the enigmatic white whale. Author Sheridan Hay, resident instructor of the Center for Fiction’s Moby-Dick reading group, joins librettist Gene Scheer and director Leonard Foglia in conversation. The evening will also feature a performance from the opera and will be available to live stream.
October 3 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Event
Fast and Furious at the Opera: The Art of Flamenco Meets the Legacy of Lorca
Judson Memorial Church
Highlighting the flamenco energies in Ainadamar, the Metropolitan Opera and Judson Arts present an evening of dance, music, and conversation about Lorca’s enduring influence on contemporary artists. Join composer Osvaldo Golijov, director and choreographer Deborah Colker, performers from the Met’s production of Ainadamar, and legendary artist Joan Jonas for a singular celebration of one of Spain’s greatest voices.
September 20 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Event
Taking Flight: Adapting Grounded for the Met Stage
The Public Theater
The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2024–25 season with Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s new opera, Grounded, based on librettist George Brant’s harrowing one-woman play, which thrilled audiences when it appeared at the Public Theater a decade ago. Centering on a female fighter pilot turned drone operator, the work explores the psychological costs of modern warfare and the challenges of balancing service, family, and a sense of self. Join the Met at the Public on September 20 for an evening of performance from both the play and the opera, as well as a conversation between Tesori and Brant about adapting Grounded for the operatic stage, moderated by Oskar Eustis.
September 19 | 6PM Event
Film Works Alfresco with Inwood Arts
Hispanic Society Museum & Library
Inspired by The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Ainadamar which dramatizes the life of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca, the Hispanic Society and Inwood Art Works co-presents a screening of the 1987 film La Casa de Bernarda Alba based on the 1945 Lorca play of the same name. The film will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles and will feature a pre-show performance from the opera. Free; registration is required.
September 16 | 7PM Doors, 7:30PM Event
Grace Under Fire: Moth stories inspired by the Met’s Grounded
Mercedes T. Bass Grand Tier
The Moth Mainstage is coming to the Metropolitan Opera. Join us on September 16 to experience a night of vibrant true stories in this quintessential Moth experience at one of the world’s most iconic arts institutions. Four storytellers will share tales connected to Jeanine Tesori’s new opera Grounded, followed by a special sneak-peek performance by mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo.
September 13 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Event
A History and Innovation Series: Women in the Military
Intrepid Museum, Lutnick Theater
This month, the Intrepid Museum and the Metropolitan Opera have teamed up for a behind-the-scenes program featuring its newest opera, Grounded. A special performance begins the evening, followed by a panel discussion featuring decorated female officers and artists reflecting on how work affects their domestic life, the roles of service to one’s country and one’s home, and the challenges of volleying identities between service and domestic life.
September 9 | 7PM
Works & Process
The Guggenheim Museum, Peter B. Lewis Theater
See highlights from two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s newest opera Grounded, with a libretto by George Brant, author of the original play. Wrestling with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare, this Met commission focuses on Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot whose unplanned pregnancy takes her out of the cockpit and lands her in Las Vegas, operating a Reaper drone halfway around the world. As she struggles to adjust to this new way of doing battle, she fights to maintain her sanity, and her soul, as she is called to rain down death by remote control. Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with Met’s Music Director and Grounded Conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Director Michael Mayer, Tesori, and Brant. Emily D’Angelo, Ben Bliss, and Kirsten MacKinnon perform selections from the opera.
September 8 | 1–2:30PM
Second Sundays
Pioneer Works, Brooklyn
Join composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist George Brant in conversation around the ethics of drone warfare, the gamification of remote piloting, and the psychological toll of 21st-century warfare, as depicted in their opera, Grounded. Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo portrays Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot whose unplanned pregnancy takes her out of the cockpit and lands her in Las Vegas, where she operates a Reaper drone halfway around the world. The opera explores the mental health challenges that follow combat experience and the morality of death rained down by remote control. D'Angelo and Tesori will perform excerpts from the opera, and Tesori and Brant will discuss how Brant's 2014 play became a Met-commissioned opera. Free; registration is required
May 20 | 7PM
Story/Teller Arts: The Hours
The Center for Fiction
The Met partners with the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn for an evening focused on Kevin Puts’s The Hours. Michael Cunningham, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning novel inspired the opera, joins librettist Greg Pierce and mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti in conversation with Anne Fernald, author of Virginia Woolf: Feminism and the Reader. Free with code METOPERAMEMBER; registration required.
May 6 | 7PM
The Metropolitan Opera Celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage with WQXR The Greene Space
The Met and WQXR celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a concert in the Greene Space, featuring AAPI artists singing favorite repertoire and musical selections that reflect their heritage. Met Radio Host Debra Lew Harder also moderates a conversation with soprano Ying Fang, countertenor Siman Chung, and Tony Award–winning set designer Mimi Lien. Complimentary pre-performance light bites will be provided courtesy of Pearl River Mart. Free, registration required.
April 18 | 7:30PM
The Divine Feminine in El Niño: An Evening of Latinx Poetry, Music, and Dance
Judson Memorial Church
The Met and Qween Jean of Judson Memorial Church present an evening of Latinx poetry, music, and dance, with a special focus on the work of Rosario Castellanos. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz and Choreographer Marjani Forté-Saunders joins Ghanian artist JOJO ABOT in conversation, and a diverse lineup of women artists present performances of opera, multi-media art, dance, and poetry curated by CantoMundo’s Deborah Paredez. Free; registration required.
April 9 | 7:30PM
Opera Evolved: Revival of New Work by Living Composers
National Sawdust
The compelling conclusion to this three-part series unveils the forefront of operatic innovation, offering a deep dive into the symbiosis of traditional support and cutting-edge creation in opera. This event compares the Metropolitan Opera’s groundbreaking initiative of presenting 17 contemporary works over the next five seasons with National Sawdust’s visionary plan to commission five new pieces in their 2024–25 season. The discussion will center on the transformative impact of these artistic endeavors by exploring the Met’s dedication to works by living composers and examining the pivotal role a burgeoning institution like National Sawdust can play in supporting this progressive shift.
April 3 | 7:30PM
Leading Ladies: Kamilah Forbes and Lileana Blain-Cruz in Conversation
The Apollo Stages at the Victoria
The Apollo and the Metropolitan Opera join forces to highlight the dynamic careers of two of New York’s boldest theater and opera directors. Kamilah Forbes, executive producer at The Apollo, and Lileana Blain-Cruz, director of the Met premiere of John Adams’s El Niño, conduct an intimate conversation centered on directing in different genres, scales, and subjects.
April 1 | 7PM
Works & Process
The Guggenheim Museum, Peter B. Lewis Theater
Prior to the April 23 company premiere of John Adams’s El Niño, Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with members of the creative team, and cast members perform highlights from the powerful score. Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Metropolitan Opera after a decade-long hiatus with his acclaimed opera-oratorio, an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day. El Niño brings together some of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.
February 22 | 7:30PM
Opera Evolved: Genre Fluidity
National Sawdust
The second installment of this three-part series celebrates artistic convergence by investigating the intersection of innovation and tradition at National Sawdust. This event brings together a diverse array of multi-faceted artists, including Paola Prestini, esteemed composer and co-founder and artistic director of National Sawdust, and dynamic theater and opera director Lileana Blain-Cruz. Attendees will be treated to rich discussions and captivating performances that highlight genre-blending compositions and illustrate the transformative power of opera.