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 32-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.

A graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno made her company debut in 2022 as Flora Bervoix in La Traviata, returning later that season as Sister Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmélites. During the 2024–2025 season, she makes her Carnegie Hall debut alongside the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble and also sings Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Giovanna in Rigoletto at the Teatro Regio di Torino, where she is a member of the ensemble; Perry’s Stabat Mater with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Flora Bervoix at the Dallas Opera; and a gala with tenor Michael Spyres at Austria’s Grafenegg Festival.

In recent seasons, she has also appeared as the mezzo-soprano soloist in the world premiere of Simon Steen-Andersen’s Don Giovanni’s Inferno at the Royal Danish Opera and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Saratoga, and taken the concert stage for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Camerata Notturna, Haydn’s Theresienmesse and Mozart’s “Sparrow” Mass with the New Choral Society, Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and Mozart’s “Coronation” Mass at Cape Town’s St. George’s Cathedral, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Dar Choral Society.

As a member of the young-artist program at Cape Town Opera, her roles included Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte. She was twice the recipient of the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Performance in an Opera (Female Division) for her performances as Dorabella and Romeo. Additionally, she was a finalist in the 2023 Operalia competition, was honored with the Rising Star Award in the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup, and received both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Audience Choice Award at Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition in 2017.

Born in Johannesburg, Gareth Lubbe has performed as a violist, violinist, pianist, and overtone singer with leading orchestras and chamber ensembles around the globe. He was principal violist of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly from 2007 to 2014, and since then, he has held a post as professor of viola at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. As a chamber musician, he has shared the stage with renowned artists, including Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, and Evelyn Glennie, and he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, and Suntory Hall, among other venues. In 1994, he performed at the presidential inauguration of Nelson Mandela before pursuing his musical studies in Germany.

As an overtone singer, he has traveled the world as a performer and teacher. He has given workshops for groups that include the St. Thomas Choir and was invited by the Goethe Institute to perform at an overtone singing festival in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. Various composers have written works for his voice, and he continues to promote this ancient art in a contemporary context. As a singer, he has appeared as soloist with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin and Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others, and produced recordings on the Naxos, Signum, and BIS labels. He met Denis Goldberg in 2011 and started collaborating with him on a cultural level in Germany and South Africa, specifically supporting projects for the youth of his home country. This led to the formation of the Denis Goldberg House of Hope in Hout Bay, Cape Town, of which he was appointed international ambassador. The center provides access to art, dance, music, and other activities for children and youth from the different communities within and around Hout Bay.