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 18 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.

Canadian-born conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the Metropolitan Opera’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director with the beginning of the 2018–2019 season. He made his company debut in 2009 with a new production of Carmen and has since returned every season, conducting more than 150 performances of 20 operas, as well as numerous galas and concerts with the Met Orchestra. During the 2023–2024 season, he takes the podium to conduct the Met premieres of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, a new production of La Forza del Destino, a revival of Roméo et Juliette, Verdi’s Requiem, and concerts with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

He has been music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012 and held the same position with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra—where he now serves as honorary conductor—between 2008 and 2018. Since 2000, he has served as artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. From 2008 to 2014, he was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also enjoys close collaborations with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and has led performances at La Scala, Covent Garden, Dutch National Opera, Vienna State Opera, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and the festivals of Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Grafenegg, Lanaudière, Vail, and Saratoga.

Recent recordings include his first solo piano album, Introspection: Solo Piano Sessions, as well as albums with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, winning most recently for conducting the Met’s recording of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones and collaborating with Renée Fleming on Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene.