Eleanor Robson News

The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced that it will wind down its operations later this year due to financial setbacks.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced that soprano Ailyn Pérez has joined the organization's Artists' Council. Comprised of a distinguished group of Met artists from both past and present, all of whom share the Guild's mission to support the Metropolitan Opera and enhance the public's appreciation of the art form, the Artists' Council serves in an advisory capacity to the Guild board and staff, and, when possible, works actively on its programs.

Tonight, the Metropolitan Opera Guild continues its series of tributes to legendary singers with a celebration of two unforgettable opera icons who passed away last summer. 'INCOMPARABLE: A Celebration of Licia Albanese and Carlo Bergonzi' will take place at New York City's Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College tonight, March 13 at 7:30pm, and will be hosted by Opera News Award-winning soprano Patricia Racette.

This Friday, the Metropolitan Opera Guild continues its series of tributes to legendary singers with a celebration of two unforgettable opera icons who passed away last summer. “INCOMPARABLE: A Celebration of Licia Albanese and Carlo Bergonzi” will take place at New York City's Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College on March 13 at 7:30pm, and will be hosted by Opera News Award-winning soprano Patricia Racette.

Today, November 21, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 80th Annual Luncheon presents 'Brava, Jessye!' to salute the legendary Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir titled Stand Up Straight and Sing!

On Friday, November 21, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 80th Annual Luncheon presents "Brava, Jessye!" to salute the legendary Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir titled Stand Up Straight and Sing!

The Metropolitan Opera Guild's School Programs department is one of just four arts organizations selected to receive a maximum Art Works grant of $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, in the Arts Education discipline. Awarded to support public engagement with art that meets the highest standards of excellence, lifelong learning in the arts, and the enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts, the Art Works grant will help the Guild to provide its Students Compose Opera and Teaching Through Opera programming to schools throughout New York and New Jersey.

On Monday, November 11, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 79th Annual Luncheon presents "Welcome Home, Jimmy!" to salute music directorJames Levine on his triumphant return to the Met podium. A perennial highlight of the opera season, the luncheon will bring together a host of artists who have collaborated with the preeminent conductor over the course of his long and celebrated Met tenure, as well as opera fans and an array of New York's society, business, and civic leaders. "Welcome Home, Jimmy!" will feature musical tributes by Dolora Zajick, "a mezzo in a class by herself" (New York Times); Thomas Hampson, "America's foremost baritone" (International Herald Tribune); and Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Eric Owens, all accompanied by the Met's Director of Music Administration, Craig Rutenberg. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Guild's education programs in New York City and throughout the country.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, with a new installment in its "Mastersingers" series.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News, the award-winning magazine published by the Guild since 1936, will present two notable events this spring. On Tuesday, March 22, the Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, in its "Met Mastersingers" series at New York City's Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The great American baritone - who is making his company role debut as Verdi's Macbeth at the Met this month - will engage in an informal conversation with Paul Gruber, the Guild's Executive Director of Program Development. The evening program will also showcase video excerpts of Hampson's most celebrated performances; a new video biography created for the occasion; and the honoree performing songs by Liszt, Barber, and Porter (program subject to change). On Sunday, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented in a gala celebration in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News, the award-winning magazine published by the Guild since 1936, will present two notable events this spring. On Tuesday, March 22, the Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, in its "Met Mastersingers" series at New York City's Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The great American baritone - who is making his company role debut as Verdi's Macbeth at the Met this month - will engage in an informal conversation with Paul Gruber, the Guild's Executive Director of Program Development. The evening program will also showcase video excerpts of Hampson's most celebrated performances; a new video biography created for the occasion; and the honoree performing songs by Liszt, Barber, and Porter (program subject to change). On Sunday, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented in a gala celebration in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, with a new installment in its "Mastersingers" series.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild pays tribute to the legendary American mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne, on Monday, October 31

On Monday, October 31, the Metropolitan Opera Guild pays tribute to the legendary American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, one of the greatest singers of our time, at the Guild's 77th annual luncheon, a perennial highlight of the opera season.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced its Lectures and Community Programs for the 2011-12 Season: an extensive - 20 events in October alone! - and wide-ranging calendar of individual events and courses of study designed to deepen the love and appreciation of opera by fans and performers alike, at every level of engagement and expertise.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild pays tribute to the legendary American mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne, on Monday, October 31

The Metropolitan Opera Guild will celebrate revered soprano Renata Scotto at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse on Sunday, February 27, sharing video clips of her remarkable performances and engaging in an illuminating, far-ranging conversation about her life and venerable career.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild will celebrate revered soprano Renata Scotto at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse on Sunday, February 27, sharing video clips of her remarkable performances and engaging in an illuminating, far-ranging conversation about her life and venerable career.

It is a season of momentous anniversaries for the Metropolitan Opera Guild: the Guild began the season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary this fall; as publisher of Opera News, the Guild celebrates the magazine's own diamond anniversary in 2011; and the January issue of Opera News marks the 40th anniversary of James Levine's Metropolitan Opera debut (which was June 5, 1971, conducting Tosca). The cover feature sees Scott Rose take on the difficult task of choosing 40 highlights from Levine's 40 storied years at the Met.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild's season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary reaches a high point on December 7 when stars and fans of opera, as well as an array of New York's society, business and civic leaders, assemble in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria for the Guild's annual luncheon.