Welcome to the Met Chorus Artists website, managed by members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus! You’ll find articles, photos, roster information, and other delightful sundries here. We’re pretty stoked that you stopped by!
It's always bittersweet when a beloved production closes after many successful years. Mezzo-soprano Annette Spann-Lewis, a member of the Met Chorus for over 25 years, was present for all 247 performances of Frisell’s Aida, and was asked by the Met to give a chorister’s perspective on the evening of the production’s closing night.
No, this is not a Recipe Corner from Dan Smith, the ubiquitous guitar teacher whose visage graces the community bulletin boards of countless Manhattan establishments. We're talking about one of our own, chorister Daniel Clark Smith, who will walk you through mastering his favorite blueberry scone recipe!
Most opera fans vividly remember their first encounter with opera. It’s not something one easily forgets. So you can imagine how excited the Met Chorus Artists were to introduce a sold-out audience of kids and adults to the inspiring, electrifying world of opera!
What exactly is The Metropolitan Opera Club? Chorister Daniel Clark Smith introduces us to this generous group of opera aficionados who have a long history at the Met.
Being a full-time member of the Met Chorus is exactly how it sounds: a FULL TIME job. So it may surprise you that, after singing Monday through Saturday, many members of the Met Chorus wake up early on Sundays to sing again!
Enjoy a sweet article from the Des Moines Metro Opera blog about our very own Met chorus tenor Greg Warren and his wife, extremely talented freelance stage manager Hester Warren-Steijn, and how they navigate the opera performance world as a team (even if it means not seeing each other for months at a time!).
In these fraught days of political upheaval and polarization, it’s nice to know there’s something in this world that most people can agree on, and that is the fact that kittens are undeniably cute. Met chorus soprano Laura Fries gives us the skinny on her favorite pastime (other than singing at the Met), which is fostering needy kittens and cats.
Frank Colardo has been a staff performer at the Met since the 1990s, so you've most likely seen him in many of your favorite operas. He's famously known for playing the cowboy in Fanciulla del West who takes a tumble off the balcony during a bar brawl, and is playing the challenging role of Buoso Donati (yes, the dead guy) in Gianni Schicchi. Get an even closer look at one of the Met’s most accomplished staff performers!
In which Lianne Coble-Dispensa, the Met Artists Newsletter Editor-in-Chief, emerges from her tenure spent hiding behind bylines and furtively checking punctuation to reluctantly share her favorite Christmas cookie recipe, an uncommonly delicious (and simple) holiday shortbread.
While we have enjoyed working with Maestro Nézet-Séguin since his debut conducting Carmen in 2009, this year is full of even more excitement and promise, as Maestro has stepped into the role of Music Director with gusto, and the palpable energy felt in the opera house these days is an auspicious beginning to a long, productive musical and artistic collaboration.
In this edition of “Where Are They Now?”, tenor Daniel Clark Smith sits down with Melanie Spector, a former Met children's chorister, who took her experience on the greatest stage in the world and brought it to the Manhattan School of Music!
What beverages would you pair with your favorite Met operas? In the first of four volumes, Resident ersatz sommeliers Scott Dispensa & Lianne Coble-Dispensa share their pairing choices for the opening shows of the Met's 2018-2019 season.
After weeks of musical rehearsals and staging, the Met Chorus is looking forward to a treat to get us through the rest of pre-season! Soprano Laura Fries, one of our resident bakers, is pleased to share with us an easy (and extremely tasty) recipe for a perennial favorite: Red Velvet Cake!
The Metropolitan Opera Chorus is back in action after a rejuvinating summer break. We’re ready for 8 weeks of music, memorization, and maybe just a touch of mayhem. (Not surprising since we have 23 shows to learn this season!)
Between scenes in an opera, Met choristers can sometimes have a bit of time on their hands. For some of us, this time was spent reading, and discussing, some great literature. Now we'd like to open up our Met Opera Chorus Book Club to all of YOU! Bass chorister (and Met Chorus Committee Chair) Ned Hanlon will get you up to speed on what we're reading at the beginning of the season.
Check out a day in the life of Anne Dyas, a beloved member of the full-time Staff Performer roster, and you'll find out why the Met Chorus isn't the only group of performers with a claim to the craziest schedule in the opera house!
In our first of many profiles, we meet Bryan Zaros, a former children's chorister who took the lessons he learned from his time at the Met and applied them to a career in music!
School’s in sesson! Met Chorus tenor Dr. Jeremy Little (who just got his doctorate in musical arts at SUNY Stonybrook) shares with us the story of how Giuseppe Verdi emerged from retirement to transition from a formal compositional style to a more through-composed form, which you'll witness when you join us for Otello and Falstaff next season...
When Met Extra Choristers Megan Pachecano & Tom Mulder aren’t performing on the Met stage, they’re molding young minds with an organization called ArtSmart, which was founded by Met Opera favorite Michael Fabiano. Read on to hear about all the wonderful work they’re doing to provide private vocal instruction (and much more) to kids in the metro area!
All of us at the Metropolitan Opera may be dreaming of our future vacations, daytime naps, sandy beaches, and maybe a frosty tropical beverage or two, but you can bet our eyes are already set on the operatic gems we'll be presenting next season! If you're trying to figure out what shows to include in your subscription package, then click here to see what members of the Met Chorus are looking forward to performing!
