Carnegie Hall

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra is regarded as one of the world’s finest orchestras. Since the Met’s inception in 1883, it has worked with leading conductors in both opera and concert performances, and has developed into an orchestra of enormous technical polish and style. The musicians maintain a demanding schedule of performances and rehearsals during the 33-week Lincoln Center season, with as many as seven performances per week in repertory that this season encompasses 23 operas. In addition to its opera schedule, the orchestra has a distinguished history of concert performances, including an annual series at Carnegie Hall.

The history of the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble goes back to 1998, when then–Music Director James Levine organized the group’s first performance at Carnegie Hall in an effort to showcase the artistry and virtuosity of the orchestra members, and to create an opportunity for the musicians to perform more intimate repertoire. The chamber ensemble gave performances until 2016, when the concerts were discontinued.

In 2021, the group returned in a new initiative of the Met, with an artistic committee of orchestra members planning its repertoire in collaboration with Met administration and music staff. All orchestra members have the opportunity to participate in the series, and the programs often feature guest singers from the Met’s roster. This season, the chamber ensemble presents six performances in Weill Recital Hall.

Visit metorchestramusicians.org to read bios for individual orchestra members.

Yamaha is the Official Piano of the Metropolitan Opera. The Met is grateful to Yamaha for providing the piano for this evening’s performance.

Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins most recently reprised his endearing portrayal of the bird catcher Papageno in the Met’s holiday presentation of The Magic Flute earlier this season, and in April, he returns to the company’s stage to sing Sgt. Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore. He made his Met debut as Ping in Turandot in 2009 and has since given memorable portrayals as Orpheus in the company premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice—a role that he created in the work’s 2020 world premiere at LA Opera—Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Schaunard in La Bohème, and Cecil in Maria Stuarda. In addition to his appearances at the Met, his 2022–2023 season includes Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role of Don Giovanni at Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Colorado Symphony, and Lieberson’s Songs of Love and Sorrow with the Monterey Symphony. He also recently collaborated with Jake Heggie and Margaret Atwood on the song cycle Songs for Murdered Sisters, which was conceived in remembrance of his sister, Nathalie Warmerdam.

Other notable performances include Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Santa Fe Opera and in Rouen, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro at Seattle Opera, Sgt. Belcore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Edinburgh International Festival, and Silvio in Pagliacci and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at Palm Beach Opera. He has also sung Athanaël in Thaïs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Figaro at the Glimmerglass Festival, Canadian Opera Company, and Norwegian National Opera; the title role of Billy Budd at Central City Opera; Don Giovanni at Utah Opera; Valentin in Faust at Washington National Opera and Houston Grand Opera; the Count at the Glyndebourne Festival and Houston Grand Opera; and Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place at New York City Opera.

Liev Schreiber’s repertoire of resonant, humanistic, and often gritty performances have garnered him praise in film, theater, and television. He can be seen in the upcoming Wes Anderson film Asteroid City, as Otto Frank in the National Geographic limited drama series A Small Light on Disney+, and alongside Helen Mirren in Nicholas Martin’s Golda, which will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. He most recently starred in Showtime’s Emmy-nominated drama Ray Donovan: The Movie, co-starring Eddie Marsan and directed by David Hollander. The movie is a spinoff of the Emmy-nominated series, in which Schreiber starred for seven seasons. His performance garnered five Golden Globe Award nominations in the category of Best Actor in a Television Series Drama and three Primetime Emmy nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. His portrayal of Orson Welles in Benjamin Ross’s RKO 281 earned him Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations. He has also been nominated for three Tony Awards: in 2005 for his performance in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, in 2007 for his performance in Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio, and in 2010 for his performance in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.

Through his production company, Illuminated Content, he recently starred in Marc Meyers’s Human Capital, alongside Alex Wolff. His other recent credits include the Ernest Hemingway adaptation Across the River and into the Trees directed by Paula Ortiz, Wes Anderson’s stop-motion-animated film Isle of Dogs, Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, and IFC’s Chuck, which he also co-produced and co-wrote.

His many other feature credits include Spotlight, The 5th Wave, Pawn Sacrifice, The Good Lord Bird, The Butler, Clear History, Fading Gigolo, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Salt, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Defiance, Repo Men, The Painted Veil, The Manchurian Candidate, The Sum of All Fears, Taking Woodstock, Kate & Leopold, Goon, Every Day, Hamlet, Spring Forward, The Hurricane, A Walk on the Moon, The Daytrippers, Mixed Nuts, and Wes Craven’s Scream trilogy. In 2005, he made his feature directorial debut with Everything Is Illuminated, which he adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s best-selling novel.