Contributions to MET Orchestra Musicians Fund may be eligible for a charitable income tax deduction; please consult your tax advisor for eligibility. The Internal Revenue Service recognizes MET Orchestra Musicians Fund as a Section 501(c)(3) public charity. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 46-5671164. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your contribution.
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In March 2020, the Metropolitan Opera cancelled the remainder of its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We, The MET Orchestra Musicians, have been furloughed since April 1, 2020, and the earliest we might return to live opera performance is December 31, 2020. The Metropolitan Opera is unable to pay our salaries due to the sheer magnitude of its operations, so it is up to us to support ourselves. Without a world-class orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera would be greatly diminished. We must do everything we can to retain and attract talent by supporting our members.
As our own separate nonprofit organization, we are raising money to support The MET Orchestra Musicians through the #WeWillMetAgain Campaign. Our goal is to maintain our artistic integrity and keep this orchestra intact until we can go back to the Metropolitan Opera House again—because that is our home, and that is where our collaborative artistry thrives.
We are a community of musicians who want to share our expertise and love of music with the world. There is a void in the industry without us in it, so we will take steps towards filling that void:
Performing. Engaging. Teaching.
We are excited to utilize our group of elite musicians to create new programming during our time away from the opera house. Some will be virtual, and eventually, some will be live. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for our E-newsletters to keep up to date as our programming is announced.
The #WeWillMetAgain Campaign will directly benefit our musicians.
Your contribution is an act of support for the greatest opera orchestra in the world.
We are deeply grateful for your support. You can donate today by clicking here.
For questions, please contact us at support@metorchestramusicians.org.
photo credit: Rose Callahan / Metropolitan Opera
Thrilling audiences with more than 200 performances each season, the MET Orchestra is one of the world’s great performing ensembles, both on stage and in the opera pit. Since its founding in 1883, the MET Orchestra’s performances have encompassed not only the entire opera repertoire, but symphonic and chamber programs at Carnegie Hall, international tours, and countless musician activities outside of the Metropolitan Opera House. The MET Orchestra has grown in the past four decades into an ensemble noted by singers, critics, conductors, and audiences as one of today’s most stylistically versatile and musically satisfying orchestras.
MET Orchestra Musicians are chosen through a rigorous blind audition process. Auditions routinely draw upwards of two hundred applicants for a single position, due to the quality and status of the MET Orchestra and the particular audition procedures that make the MET Orchestra’s auditions arguably the fairest in the industry. MET Orchestra Musicians were educated at the finest colleges and conservatories around the country and world, from the Conservatoire de Paris to Harvard University, Oberlin College to The Juilliard School.
Members of the MET Orchestra are much sought-after teachers, comprising large portions of the music faculties of all the major universities and conservatories in the New York metropolitan area. Former students of MET Orchestra Musicians can be found in virtually every performing arts organization in the country. In addition, a number of MET Orchestra Musicians dedicate time to working with younger students, both privately and by assuming leading roles in youth orchestras and pre-college programs.
Individual members of the orchestra have traveled to all corners of the Earth, in equal parts performing and engaging underserved audiences. MET Orchestra Musicians have recently performed fundraisers for local public schools, taught in Haiti and elsewhere in Central America, and brought South African students to New York for intensive study. In addition, MET Orchestra Musicians are coaches and teachers at some of the world’s leading summer music festivals, including the Verbier Festival, where the coaching faculty has been comprised of MET Orchestra Musicians since its founding in 2000.
The MET Orchestra Musicians are dedicated to providing their fans with a more beautiful and immersive experience of opera, in equal parts engaging audiences in behind-the-scenes activities and opening an unprecedented channel of communication between performer and listener. Please comment liberally, tweet at us, and click here to offer your feedback, suggestions, and questions. We want to hear from you!
General inquiries: info@metorchestramusicians.org
Fundraising inquiries: support@metochestramusicians.org
#WeWillMetAgain
Photo credit:
Home Slide 1 and Thank You © Jonathan Tichler / Metropolitan Opera