The Metropolitan Opera’s 2026–27 Season Opens with a New Production of Verdi’s Macbeth on September 22

Featuring soprano Lise Davidsen and baritone Quinn Kelsey; Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a production directed by Louisa Proske in her Met debut

The Met: Live in HD transmission of Macbeth broadcasts worldwide on October 17

New York, NY (August 25, 2026)—The Metropolitan Opera opens its 141st season on September 22 with the company’s first new production of Verdi’s Macbeth in nearly 20 years, starring soprano Lise Davidsen as Lady Macbeth and baritone Quinn Kelsey in the title role. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducts, and director Louisa Proske makes her Met debut. Following the Opening Night Gala on September 22, the opera will receive nine additional performances through October 20. The October 17 performance will also be transmitted live worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series, which marks its 20th anniversary this season.

In addition to Davidsen and Kelsey, the cast includes tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Macduff and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Banquo, both making their respective Met role debuts.

Proske is joined by a veteran creative team that includes set designer Jon Bausor, who most recently designed the Met’s production of Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego; costume designer Montana Levi Blanco, who is concurrently designing costumes for the Met’s world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Lincoln in the Bardo; and lighting designer Adam Silverman. Choreographer Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson and action director Ran Arthur Braun also make their Met debuts with Macbeth.

 

The 2026–27 season also includes the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Lincoln in the Bardo, the Met premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night, new productions of Janáček’s Jenůfa and Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, and revivals of works by Cherubini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mozart, Puccini, Saint-Saëns, Strauss, Verdi, and Wagner. In addition, the Diamond Jubilee gala will celebrate the Met’s 60th anniversary at Lincoln Center, and the season concludes with the company’s first-ever performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 as part of Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s season-long cycle of Mahler symphonies.

Macbeth Worldwide Broadcasts in Cinema, on Radio, and Online

The performance of Macbeth on October 17 will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the globe as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Additionally, students and educators across the country will receive complimentary access to screenings of Macbeth at their local theaters as part of the HD Live in Schools initiative. As part of this program, the opera will also be transmitted live, for free, into participating high schools in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.

The September 22 and October 14 performances of Macbeth will be broadcast live on the SiriusXM app. A recording of the October 17 performance will be broadcast on The Robert K. Johnson Foundation–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network on January 16. In addition, these broadcasts will be streamed on the Met website, metopera.org.

Public Programming

September 24 | 6:30PM Doors, 7PM Even
A Life in the Director’s Chair: Celebrating Louisa Proske
List Hall

The Met hosts an intimate conversation with director Louisa Proske, who makes her Met debut on Opening Night of the 2026–27 season with the new production of Verdi’s Macbeth. Follow her operatic career, from being a young chorister in Berlin to the co-founder of the “categorically imaginative and radical” (The New Yorker) NYC company Heartbeat Opera, and her journey toward Europe to further her craft. Jacob Ashworth, artistic director of Heartbeat Opera, joins Proske to discuss her path as one of the most trailblazing directors of our time. Free; registration required.

September 28 | 6PM Doors, 7PM Event
The Cooper Union

Director Louisa Proske and James Shapiro, the Public Theater’s Shakespeare Scholar in Residence, discuss the parallels between the original text and Verdi’s opera at the Cooper Union. The event will also include performances of selections from the opera by members of the cast alongside excerpts from the play. Co-presented with the Cooper Union in collaboration with the Public Theater. September 28; doors open at 6PM, and the event begins at 7PM. Free; registration opens in September. 

Gallery Met

This season, the company’s Gallery Met initiative celebrates its 20th anniversary. In connection with the new production of Macbeth and as part of Gallery Met, the Met will display a banner by artist Anna Weyant on the opera house’s façade from September 8–October 21. The piece on which the banner is based will also be on view inside the opera house. A gift from Marie Schwartz made Gallery Met possible in 2006. Learn more about Gallery Met, curated by Dodie Kazanjian, here.

Met Under 40

During the 2026–27 season, the Met’s popular young-audience program Met Under 40 continues to offer discounted ticket options for audiences aged 40 and under in the Orchestra, Grand Tier, and Dress Circle sections for select performances. A special Met Under 40 party will also be held ahead of the October 2 performance of Macbeth, featuring complimentary wine, hors d’oeuvres, and more.  Tickets start at $50 for non-party dates and $75 for party dates. Learn more at metopera.org/under40.

$25 Toll Rush Tickets

The Met Opera app is available for download on mobile devices, offering users a way to purchase $25 Toll Rush Tickets via an automated lottery. Lotteries open two weeks prior to a performance, and winners are notified the day before the performance. Toll Rush Tickets can also be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis by visiting metopera.org at 12PM for weekday performances, 2PM for Saturday evening performances, and four hours before curtain for matinee performances. Learn more about the Met Opera app here.

For More Information

For further details on Macbeth, including casting by date, please click here.