Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin signs contract extension through 2029–30 season

Nézet-Séguin Will Conduct New Ring Cycle Directed by Yuval Sharon, Starring Lise Davidsen 

New York, NY (August 6, 2024)—The Metropolitan Opera today announced the contract extension of its Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, through the 2029–30 season. Only the third Music Director in the company’s history, Nézet-Séguin began his tenure in the 2018–19 season. This six-year extension acknowledges the deepening partnership between Nézet-Séguin and the Met Orchestra and Chorus, as well as his committed artistry and leadership. The extension encompasses a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, which begins in the 2027–28 season and culminates with full cycles in the spring of 2030.

Over the next six years, Nézet-Séguin will conduct four to five operas each season, encompassing both the new work that has been a hallmark of his artistic collaboration with Peter Gelb, the Met’s Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager, and the core repertory. Nézet-Séguin’s conducting highlights in future seasons include the Met premieres of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Mason Bates, with a libretto by Gene Scheer; El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego by Gabriela Lena Frank, with a libretto by Nila Cruz; Lincoln in the Bardo by Missy Mazzoli, with a libretto by Royce Vavrek; The Highlands by Carlos Simon, with a libretto by Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber; and The Wedding Banquet by Huang Ruo, with a libretto by James Schamus. In addition to all four operas of the Ring and a new staging of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (both productions by director Yuval Sharon), Nézet-Séguin will conduct a new staging of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro by Robert Carsen and revivals of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Wagner’s Parsifal, and Puccini’s Tosca, among other operas.

“The Met is very fortunate to have one of the world’s greatest conductors as its Music Director and is even more fortunate to now have him on board through the 2029–30 season,” said Gelb. “His extraordinary achievements to date with both new works and classic repertoire are a preview of what is to come. Yannick’s tenure will be defined, in part, by the new Ring cycle that is created under his watch. My job is to deliver a new Ring to Yannick that has the potential to be one for the ages in terms of casting and production. With Yannick conducting, Lise Davidsen as Brünnhilde, and Yuval Sharon directing, the possibilities are unlimited.”

“Being Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera and being a part of the Met family is one of my greatest joys as a conductor and musician. I am humbled and proud each day to bring old and new operatic works to life with the illustrious Met Orchestra, the unparalleled Met Chorus, and the artists, creators, musicians, and friends that only the Met can bring together. In the past seasons, we have seen our audiences come alive and embrace new works by Blanchard, Aucoin, and Puts, which help us commit renewed energy to the familiar works of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss,” said Nézet-Séguin. “I am thrilled to continue this musical journey through 2030, with world-class art that will tell the stories of our ever-evolving humanity, and I am full of gratitude for all that is to come.”

The Met Orchestra and Met Chorus also expressed their excitement for further collaboration with Nézet-Séguin.

“The Met Orchestra Musicians are delighted to continue our partnership with Yannick. Under his leadership, the Orchestra has reentered the spotlight, shining as world-class interpreters of both operatic and symphonic repertoire. We eagerly anticipate continuing our fruitful collaboration,” said Stephanie Mortimore, Principal Piccolo and Chair of the Orchestra Committee, on behalf of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

“We look forward to many more years of creative collaborations with Maestro Nézet-Séguin on both standard and new works as we strive together to uphold and expand the musical and dramatic excellence of the Metropolitan Opera,” said Lee Steiner, member of the Met Chorus and Chorus Committee Chair, on behalf of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.

The new Ring will be staged by acclaimed American director Yuval Sharon and will star Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as Brünnhilde. Sharon will make his Met debut during the 2025−26 season with a new production of Tristan und Isolde (conducted by Nézet-Séguin, with Davidsen as Isolde), and his new Ring cycle will be the Met’s first since the Robert Lepage staging that debuted in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.

“Wagner’s works are opera’s equivalent to Homer or Shakespeare: Each opera is its own complex cosmos, with endless potential for reinterpretation. To explore these works and create productions of Tristan and the Ring specifically for the Met with Yannick is the honor of a lifetime and an imaginative process I am thrilled to undertake,” said Sharon.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s Tenure: Artistic Achievements

Nézet-Séguin made his Met debut in 2009, leading the premiere of a new production of Bizet’s Carmen. He has taken the Met podium in every season since, conducting more than 200 performances of 24 different operas, as well as a number of galas and concerts with the Met Orchestra and Chorus. Highlights of his tenure as Music Director include the Met premieres of Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard with libretto by Kasi Lemons and Champion by Blanchard with libretto by Michael Cristoffer, The Hours by Kevin Puts with libretto by Greg Pierce, Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie with libretto by Terence McNally, Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin with libretto by Sarah Ruhl, and Florencia en al Amazonas by Daniel Catán with libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain; new productions of Berg’s Wozzeck, Wagner’s Lohengrin, and Verdi’s La Traviata, Don Carlos, and La Forza del Destino; and revivals of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and Puccini’s Turandot, Tosca, and La Bohème, among many others. Nézet-Séguin has also shown his commitment to creating a more representative art form by championing conductors and composers who did not traditionally have a space in opera.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s Tenure: Awards and Touring

The Met has been awarded the Grammy Award for best opera recording for the last four years in a row, two of them conducted by Nézet-Séguin: Champion (2024) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2023). His tenure has included a return to touring for the Met Orchestra for the first time in 20 years, with tours to Asia in 2024 and Europe in 2023, as well as numerous performances with the Met Orchestra and Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s Tenure: Artist Development

During the six seasons in his role as Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Nézet-Séguin appointed nine principal position players, including Concertmaster, Principal Associate Concertmaster, Principal Second Violin, Principal Viola, Principal Clarinet, Principal Horn, Principal Timpani, Principal Harp, and Principal Librarian. Additionally, he became Artistic Director of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2019, overseeing the training of dozens of talented young artists, who have gone on to sing in the biggest houses and greatest stages around the world.