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.

Hailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, soprano Nadine Sierra was the 2018 recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award, established by Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman. She was a Grand Finals Winner in the company’s 2009 National Council Auditions (now the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition) and made her Met debut in 2015 as Gilda in Rigoletto. Since then, she has given memorable performances as Violetta in La Traviata, the title character of Lucia di Lammermoor, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Ilia in Idomeneo, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. This month, she returns to the company’s stage as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

In addition to her performances at the Met, the 2023–2024 season sees her sing Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore and Lucia at Covent Garden, Juliette in Bilbao, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and the title role of Luisa Miller at Naples’s Teatro di San Carlo, Violetta at the Opéra de Paris and Greek National Opera, and concerts throughout Europe with soprano Pretty Yende.

In recent seasons, she has sung Violetta and Gilda in Verona; the title role of Manon in Barcelona; Gilda in Naples and at Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala, and the Opéra de Paris; Amina in La Sonnambula at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Violetta in Florence; Adina in Buenos Aires; Lucia in Naples, Barcelona, Venice, Palermo, Zurich, and at the Bavarian State Opera; Musetta in La Bohème in Las Palmas; Juliette in Bordeaux and at San Francisco Opera; Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Nannetta in Falstaff at Staatsoper Berlin; and Norina in Don Pasquale and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra de Paris. She also appeared in concert and recital with the Vienna and Los Angeles philharmonics, Berliner Philharmoniker, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, as well as at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Dallas Opera, Park Avenue Armory, and twice at the United States Supreme Court.