NEW YORK, NY: The Metropolitan Opera announced today that The Annenberg Foundation, a long-standing benefactor of the company, has pledged $10 million to support the Met’s artistic goals through the 2009-10 season. $7.4 million of the grant will underwrite the costs of new productions at the Met within the next four years, and $1.6 million will be dedicated to establishing the new Annenberg Principal Artists Fund, which is being launched to ensure the Met’s future as a home for the world’s greatest singers. Remaining funds will cover the full production costs of the Met’s 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration on April 3, 2007.
Mrs. Leonore Annenberg, Chairman and President of The Annenberg Foundation and a Managing Director on the Met’s Board, said of the new gift, “The Met has proven this year to be a driving force in the global arts community, breathing new life into the art form and attracting a larger, more diverse audience for opera. The Foundation is proud to be a part of these exciting changes and committed to helping the Met maintain long-term viability.”
General Manager Peter Gelb added, “This pledge from The Annenberg Foundation will provide the crucial support needed for the Met to continue its ambitious artistic and audience development initiatives.”
Funding from The Annenberg Foundation will help offset the cost of four new productions through the 2009-10 season, including completion funds for Puccini’s Il Trittico (2006-07). The remaining three productions to receive support include Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment (2007-08), Verdi’s Il Trovatore (2008-09), and Puccini’s Tosca (2009-10).
The newly established Annenberg Principal Artists Fund will underwrite the performances of two to four singers at the Met during each of four seasons (2006-07 through 2009-10), ensuring that the opera world's greatest stars appear on the Met stage as frequently as possible. Singers who have agreed to perform at the Met in at least two productions each season in the future include Olga Borodina, Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Angela Gheorghiu, Ben Heppner, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Karita Mattila, Anna Netrebko, René Pape, Matthew Polenzani, Rolando Villazón, and Deborah Voigt.
$1 million of the new grant from The Annenberg Foundation offset full production costs of “Anna & Rolando Celebrate the Met,” a 40th anniversary gala celebration presented by the Met on April 3. To celebrate its hallmark tenure at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón performed together in fully-staged scenes from three favorite Met productions: La Bohème (Act I), Manon Lescaut (Saint Sulpice scene), and L’Elisir d’Amore (Act II). Bertrand de Billy conducted the concert, which also featured singers Mariusz Kwiecien, Alessandro Corbelli, and Samuel Ramey. Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Villazón will return to the Met in 2007-08 to perform the title roles of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
Mrs. Leonore Annenberg has been active with the Metropolitan Opera for over 30 years, and became a Managing Director on the Met’s Board in 1993. Contributions from The Annenberg Foundation to the Met have been significant, including two major gifts to the “Save the Met Broadcasts” campaign totaling $18.5 million and a $5 million gift to the Met’s endowment. The Foundation provided the very first major contribution for “Save the Met Broadcasts” in 2004, as a new fund to help guarantee the continuation of the free radio broadcasts heard around the world. In addition to production support in the coming seasons, The Annenberg Foundation has previously provided funding for new Met productions of Andrea Chénier (1995-96), Carmen (1996-97), Il Trovatore (2000-01), Les Troyens (2002-03), Don Giovanni (2003-04), Die Zauberflöte (2004-05), and Roméo et Juliette (2005-06). Mrs. Annenberg also serves on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mrs. Annenberg's late husband, Walter H. Annenberg, was a distinguished newspaper and magazine publisher, broadcast pioneer, and philanthropist. He served as Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Mrs. Annenberg is a former Chief of Protocol for the United States. She has spent most of her life working toward the enhancement of cultural appreciation among American citizens. About The Annenberg Foundation
The Annenberg Foundation is the successor corporation to the Annenberg School at Radnor, Pennsylvania, established in 1958 by Walter H. Annenberg. It exists to advance the public well-being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving its goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. The Annenberg Foundation has offices in Radnor, Pennsylvania and Los Angeles, California. More information is available at www.annenbergfoundation.org.
About the Metropolitan Opera
Under the leadership of new General Manager Peter Gelb, the Met has launched a series of bold initiatives designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world. Seven new productions will debut at the Met in 2007-08, the most new productions the Met has presented in one season in 40 years. Earlier this year, the company announced a groundbreaking commissioning program in partnership with New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, to provide renowned composers and playwrights with the resources to create and develop new works at the Met and at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Building on its 76-year-old international radio broadcast history, the Met recently began to use advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world. Last September, Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius launched as a 24-hour satellite radio channel broadcasting both live and rare historical performances. The Met also presents free live streaming of performances on its website once every week with support from RealNetworks®.
In December, the company launched “Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD,” a series of six live performance transmissions, shown in high definition in movie theaters throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. The series has met with overwhelming success and plays to sold-out houses, prompting many theaters to schedule encore showings. By the end of the series, the Met estimates over 500,000 tickets sold. These performances are subsequently being broadcast on PBS, as part of a new “Great Performances at the Met” series. “Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD” expands from six to eight opera transmissions in 2007-08, beginning with Roméo et Juliette on December 15.
The Met’s other audience development initiatives include a first-ever open house, which offered the public free access to attend the final dress rehearsal of Madama Butterfly; an extensive transit advertising campaign in New York City; reduced ticket prices, including an immensely popular new rush ticket program; a free open house for public school students to attend the new, English-language version of The Magic Flute in January; and the opening of the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met, which exhibits contemporary art inspired by operas in the Met’s repertory.
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Contact: Sommer Hixson, shixson@metopera.org
Peter Clark, pclark@metopera.org
