New York, NY (December 12, 2007)—In a continued effort to build future audiences, the Metropolitan Opera is launching a new program in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Metropolitan Opera Guild that will bring the excitement of live opera to public school students and their teachers—free of charge. Beginning on Saturday, December 15, at 1:00 pm/est with Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, seven performances from the new season of Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition will be transmitted live via satellite into five designated public schools, one in each of New York’s boroughs. The Met launched its HD series in 2006 to great critical and popular success. The series expands this season to reach more than 600 venues worldwide—triple the number from last year. The anticipated global audience for the series is expected to reach one million, including New York City schools.
This new component of the Met’s HD series is a major part of the company’s larger outreach initiative to young people, which also includes opportunities for students to have special backstage access. On Thursday, December 13, approximately 30 students from Long Island City High School participating in the HD series will interview Met General Manager Peter Gelb and Anna Netrebko, the world-famous Russian soprano who will star as Juliette in the first live transmission, preceded by a backstage tour of the Met. Students from other schools participating in the HD series will continue to be invited to the Met throughout the season. A free student open house on December 21 will be attended by 2,500 students from local public schools and select universities. The students will have access to the final dress rehearsal of the new, English-language production of Hansel and Gretel directed by Richard Jones, as well as special events and demonstrations, including a new exhibit in the Met’s Founders Hall of artwork by the opera’s set and costume designer, John Macfarlane.
“The Met’s new HD program is designed to supplement arts education in schools, since I don’t believe that grand opera is part of any school’s curriculum” said Mr. Gelb. “We hope to create the opera audiences of tomorrow.”
“This is a wonderful opportunity for New York City public school students to experience a great art form that they may be only distantly aware of,” said Chancellor Klein. “The Met’s innovative use of HD technology to convey performances of the highest quality directly to schools is a perfect example of the saying, ‘only in New York.’ The City’s partnerships with peerless arts institutions like the Met afford our students extraordinary opportunities in arts education.”
For the in-school transmissions, the Met has created a platform for the participating teachers and administrators that include specially-designed HD program materials, curriculum guides, and media resources. The Met is working with the Metropolitan Opera Guild to provide teacher training seminars before and during the series of performances. The Met and the Department of Education are providing each school with all of the required satellite equipment, including 1080p full high definition projectors and motorized HD screens; projectors are provided for the program with support from high definition technology leader Panasonic North America. The live transmissions continue through April 2008.
Since Monday, December 10, select students from four of the five high schools have been participating in a training program led by the Met’s technicians while they integrate the schools’ audio-video systems with the satellite and HD technology required for the live transmissions. The Met will continue to provide training through January and February for students and teachers.
The five schools participating in the program this year are: Long Island City High School (Queens); Susan E. Wagner High School (Staten Island); Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music at Lovinger Theater at Lehman College Music Building (Bronx); The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology at the Grand Street Campus (Brooklyn); and Washington Irving High School (New York). The Met’s HD Broadcast Education Program is scheduled as follows:
Saturday, December 15 (1:00 p.m. ET)
International stars Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna star as the title roles in Gounod’s opera based on Shakespeare’s classic love story. The legendary Plácido Domingo, who himself sang the role of Roméo at the Met in 1974, conducts this classic example of French grand opera.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008 (1:00 p.m. ET)—New Year’s Day Presentation
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, the Met’s holiday entertainment offering, stars Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote in a new English-language production by Richard Jones, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale, a timeless children’s favorite, features a sophisticated score, and this intriguing new staging will appeal to audiences of all ages. Originally created for the Welsh National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Saturday, January 12, 2008 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Verdi’s Macbeth starring Maria Guleghina and Lado Ataneli, directed by Adrian Noble and conducted by Met Music Director James Levine. The composer’s longstanding affinity for Shakespeare is explored in the Met’s new production. The New York Times praises Macbeth as a “grimly effective, intriguingly playful production” and Ms. Gulgehina’s performance as “chillingly powerful.”
Saturday, February 16, 2008 (1:00 p.m. ET)
Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, starring Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani, and conducted by Met Music Director James Levine. The story of the magnetic attraction between two young lovers is the perfect vehicle for this charismatic pair of singers.
Saturday, March 15, 2008 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Britten’s Peter Grimes, starring Anthony Dean Griffey and Patricia Racette in a new production directed by John Doyle and conducted by Donald Runnicles. A haunting theatrical journey that features what may be 20th century opera’s most impressive tenor role.
Saturday, April 5, 2008 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Puccini’s La Bohème, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas in a Franco Zeffirelli production conducted by Nicola Luisotti. A magnificent cast comes together for this iconic production of the Puccini favorite.
Saturday, April 26, 2008 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Marco Armiliato. Experience what The Times of London calls an “the operatic show of the season” in a dazzling new production that also features four-time Tony Award®-winning stage legend Zoe Caldwell. A co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna.
Conceived to bring the excitement of live opera to audiences around the world, the Met’s high-definition productions are directed by creative talent from the film and television industries, who use cutting-edge technology, including remote-control dollies and telescopic cameras, to capture the intensity and drama of the performances. During the intermissions, the cameras go backstage for interviews with performers and others involved in the production.
About the Metropolitan Opera
Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world. Seven new productions debut at the Met in 2007-08, the most new productions the Met has presented in one season in 40 years.
The company has recently formed a groundbreaking commissioning program in partnership with New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, to provide renowned composers and playwrights with the resources to create and develop new works at the Met and at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Building on its 76-year-old international radio broadcast history – heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network – the Met now uses advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world. The Met’s live HD transmissions will subsequently air on PBS, and a selection of these performances will be available on DVD beginning in 2008. Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 85) is a subscription-based audio service broadcasting both live and rare historical performances. In addition to providing audio recordings through the new Met on Rhapsody on-demand service, the company also presents free live audio streaming of performances on its website once every week during the opera season with support from RealNetworks®.
The Met has recently launched several audience development initiatives, including Open House dress rehearsals, the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met, reduced ticket prices—including an immensely popular new rush ticket program, and an annual Holiday Series presentation for families.