“The Met: Live in HD” kicks off in North America on September 22 with the Met’s Opening Night Gala performance; Series continues worldwide on October 11; Special encore performances of La Boheme in Canada, the U.S., and Europe close the current 2007-08 series on May 3, 14 and 19

Two of opera’s biggest stars, soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna, will perform together in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on June 20 at 8pm, together with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, in what is anticipated will be one of the Metropolitan Opera’s largest outdoor concerts in company history.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2008-09 season will pay tribute to the company's extraordinary history on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, while also emphasizing the Met's renewed commitment to advancing the art form.

Following its hit run in London last spring, Philip Glass's landmark opera, Satyagraha, will premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on April 11 at 8:00 p.m. in a new production that has won raves from critics and audiences. Satyagraha (Sanskrit for "truth-force") is a musical meditation on Gandhi's early years in South Africa, when he developed his philosophy of non-violence.

The Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met, the Metropolitan Opera's exhibition space for contemporary visual art, will present CHUCK CLOSE PHILIP GLASS 40 YEARS. The exhibition features 18 portraits of composer Philip Glass created by Chuck Close between 1968 and 2008. Over the last 40 years, Close has created more than 100 different studies of Glass, in many different mediums.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Opera will present A Tribute to Beverly Sills, a free public event dedicated to the memory of the great soprano, on September 16, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. at the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Sills, one of the most popular figures in the history of opera and a champion of the performing arts, died on July 2, 2007 at the age of 78.

The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera (ENO) are joining forces for two collaborations in future seasons: a new co-production of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, directed by Penny Woolcock, and a co-production of the new opera by Osvaldo Golijov and Anthony Minghella that has been commissioned by the Met.

The Metropolitan Opera has made a deal with EMI Classics to release the first of its new and acclaimed high-definition (HD) transmissions on DVD. EMI has secured exclusive worldwide DVD distribution rights for an initial selection of five performances from the Met’s ground-breaking new series, all chosen from next season’s schedule of eight productions.

Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met will present its first exhibition by an individual artist: Guillermo Kuitca: Stage Fright. Organized by Gallery Met Director Dodie Kazanjian, the exhibition features small works on paper, large theater collages, and a series of drawings by Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca—all of which are new works inspired by opera. Stage Fright opens to the public on September 19 and runs through November 1.

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the company's "Art for Opera" auction. Proceeds from the fundraising event, to be held on the Met stage on Sunday, May 6, will support new productions.

On May 2, Mark Morris makes his Met debut directing the company's new production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, marking the first time a choreographer has directed at the Met in 50 years. A creative force in the world of opera and dance, Morris is joined by a team of designers and previous collaborators, including famed fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who makes his Met debut designing the costumes; set designer Allen Moyer makes his Met debut.