Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Announces First Asia Tour

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra standing on steps for photo. — Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (Photo: Met Opera)

On Friday, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra announced its first tour to Asia in a press release. From June 19th-30th, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead the 110-person ensemble in concerts in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan with singers Lisetta Oropesa, Christian Van Horn and Elīna Garanča. Their programs will include operatic works by Debussy, Bartók, Wagner and Gounod, as well as orchestral works by Brahms, Mozart, Mahler and the American composer Jessie Montgomery.

Why it’s happening: While the Metropolitan Opera’s HD productions are regularly broadcast in Asia, the Met General Director Peter Gelb related that this tour will further allow the ensemble to reach its “global constituency.” Asia is also a booming market for classical music, which the organization hopes will generate some new fans and funds to help account for the losses incurred during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Digging deeper: Although the Met has previously toured to Japan, this tour marks their first-ever performances in South Korea and Taiwan. Both Gelb and Nézet-Séguin cited music’s unifying power as a motivator when planning this tour, which will include Jessie Montgomery’s “Hymn for Everyone,” originally premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.