SCHOOL PROGRAMS (for students, educators, and school administrators):

Met School Membership gives students and teachers the tools they need to understand and appreciate opera at the Met. Member schools are entitled to 15 tickets to an evening performance, 25 to a pair of Met Stages rehearsals, or 44 to a final dress rehearsal. All member schools receive study materials on the opera and production to help prepare students for their opera-going experience.

The Research and Professional Development Opera Institute is a long-term school partnership network, designed to help teachers develop and implement a comprehensive opera education plan tailored to the unique experiences in their classrooms. This is not a regimented “one size fits all” concept, but a practical approach shaped through inquiry, reflection and discovery. Teachers from Institute schools participate in frequent professional development sessions, as well as a week-long summer residency.

In-Class Arts Partnerships pair Guild teaching artists with classroom teachers to help students explore the arts while learning different combinations of scriptwriting, composition, design and language acquisition. Students develop strong language skills by participating in vocal and theater exercises and writing, editing and staging an original work.

Urban Voices partners Guild-trained choral directors and classroom teachers to introduce choral singing to students throughout the New York City and Boston areas. Students are introduced to a variety of repertoire from different cultures, genres, and time periods, and learn to listen to themselves and others, articulate and comprehend lyrics, and become familiar with basic musical notation.

Music-in-Education National Consortium – a network of universities, arts organizations, school reform foundations, and their partnering schools whose goal is to revolutionize music teaching and learning so that music assumes an essential role both in higher education teacher preparation and in public school reform. The Guild is actively involved in several MIENC projects, including the Learning Laboratory School Network (LLSN) and a partnership Mannes College of Music.

Empire State Partnerships Office of Partnership Support and Research is dedicated to identifying, supporting and developing promising practices in collaborations between cultural organizations and schools. The focus of the project is on the achievement of the New York State Learning Standards and contributing to the improvement of teaching and learning in New York Schools.

Creating Original Opera Partnership Program pairs a Guild teaching artist with a classroom teacher, enabling students to form a production company and write, compose, design, build and perform an original opera or work of musical theater.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS (for adults, families, and visitors to the Met):

The Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series offers an in-depth look at the Met season through lectures, master classes, interviews and panel discussions. These public events allow individuals to meet Met singers, conductors, directors and designers, learn about the musical and historical background of an opera from distinguished scholars, and witness the nascent careers of the next-generation of opera stars through master classes with renowned coaches and clinicians.

Each four-week Opera Experience course critically examines a different towering figure, pressing issue or crucial turning point in the operatic art form through a series of talks and presentations by distinguished scholars and respected opera professionals.

Opera Explorers are children aged 5-12 who, with their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, discover opera through song, movement, and hands-on activities. These popular pre-performance workshops are paired with family-friendly Met productions, and are an ideal way to give a child his/her first taste of opera.

Internships in Arts Education and Arts Administration allow future arts professionals to gain valuable hands-on experience. Interns work side-by-side with our program managers, helping to administrate every aspect of our acclaimed educational programs.

Backstage Tours of the Metropolitan Opera House provide school groups and the general public a behind-the-scenes look at the Met. Over the course of 90 minutes, tours visit principal artists’ dressing rooms, rehearsal facilities deep underground, production shops, the incredible stage complex and the majestic auditorium to learn about the hard work and dedication required to make on-stage magic.

Score Desk Tickets are an affordable way for the visually impaired and music students of all ages to enjoy a Met performance. Located in the Family Circle Boxes of the Met, score desks have no view of the stage, but offer the best acoustics in the house.