MET Orchestra Musicians

05/24/2026

🥳Commencement season is upon us, and we are thrilled to announce that our former Principal Timpanist of 33 years, Duncan Patton, received the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service from the Manhattan School of Music!

Met Orchestra Harpist Mariko Anraku is also a faculty member at MSM, and is seen in the first photo with Duncan and Lucy Shelton, one of the principal roles of Kaija Saariajo’s “Innocence”.

Mariko is also seen with one of our beloved mezzos, J’nai Bridges, who received her honorary doctorate from MSM and gave an amazing commencement speech. ❤️

Congratulations to all recent grads (and their parents)!

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05/16/2026

We’re so excited to hear principal horn Erik Ralske perform Strauss’ Horn Concerto #1 with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra!

05/15/2026

📯Having some fun during our last opera rehearsal of the 2025/2026 season!

Third Hornist Molly Norcross was moonlighting as Princpal Horn during the dress rehearsal of Puccini’s Turandot, and her co-pilot, Hugo Valverde (second horn), show off their matching !

We still have lots of performances between now and the end of the opera season, and then we head to Carnegie Hall with performances of Bruckner’s 8th Symphony (hello Wagner tubas!), Mahler’s 4th symphony, and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder.

04/18/2026

🪉Time to celebrate! One of our Met Orchestra Harpists, Mariko Anraku just won a Juno Award, for !

We are enormously proud of her!

“I am truly honored to be a part of the incredible “Kimiko’s Pearl” team to accept the JUNO award for “Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble)”.

The Kimiko’s Pearl album features composer Kevin Lau’s original score from the full-length ballet commissioned and produced by Bravo Niagara. Blending a contemporary sound with elements of traditional Japanese music, Kimiko’s Pearl bridges past and present in a powerful tribute to a true Canadian story.

The recording features Mariko Anraku
(harp), Conrad Chow (violin), Ron Korb (traditional Japanese shinobue and Western flute), and Rachel Mercer (cello).

Based on a story by Emmy Award-winning writer Howard Reich and inspired by the family history of Bravo Niagara’s founders and Kimiko’s Pearl Co-Creators, Christine Mori and her daughter Alexis Spieldenner, Kimiko’s Pearl is the first ballet based on the Japanese Canadian internment during World War II.

“It is an honour to share our family’s story and pay tribute to the resilience of the Japanese Canadian community,” says Co-Creator
and Producer Christine Mori. “We are grateful that Kimiko’s Pearl can help shine a light on this dark chapter in Canadian history and
hope this music takes listeners on a journey of intergenerational healing and hope.”

A story of war, sacrifice and renewal, Kimiko’s Pearl reflects the tragedies, triumphs and perseverance of Japanese Canadians
before, during and after the Japanese Canadian internment. Their harsh experiences attest to heroism and hope in the face of racism.

Flutist Ron Korb adds, “Winning the JUNO last weekend was a tremendous honour. What makes this recognition especially meaningful is that the album reflects a deeply personal and painful chapter of history for me as a Japanese Canadian. Growing up, my mother, aunts, and uncles often shared stories of the hardships they faced in the internment camps. Their ability to rebuild
their lives from nothing has always been a profound source of inspiration.”

04/08/2026

To the Musicians of the Boston Symphony, The Met Orchestra supports you.

03/16/2026

We loved Conan’s Oscar monologue tonight!

01/25/2026

📯Here’s a behind the scenes look into the Vienna Philharmonic Ball, attended by a Met Horn section member who found themselves waltzing with members Vienna Philharmonic Horn section.

✨A rehearsal room beneath the Musikverein became a speakeasy nightclub, with a traditional Viennese brass band on hand on another floor.

✨Richard Strauss composed the opening fanfare - the Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare Op. AV 109 - for the 40th anniversary ball in March of 1924 as a fundraiser for the Orchestra. The music used in this video was recorded live at the ball.

✨Strauss’ Fanfare was played at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla in May 2023 immediately after Charles’s crowning

12/29/2025

📯Don’t miss out on our upcoming (FREE!) masterclass with Met Hornist, Javier Gándara! Click the link to apply. Besides performing at the Met, Javier teaches at the Juilliard Pre-College, Manhattan School of Music and Mannes Conservatory at The New School.

Calling all advanced horn players! 🎶 Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from MET Orchestra Musicians’s Third Horn, Javier Gándara, in an exclusive online Horn Masterclass. Selected performers will receive personalized feedback in a live session. Participation is free, but space is limited. Submit your application by January 4th for the February 1st masterclass here: https://www.lessonface.com/content/met-orchestra-musicians-master-class-performer-application

12/20/2025

🙏🏻 We are grateful to everyone who has taken this journey with us!

🥳 At this point, it looks like we are the largest orchestra-run social media account in the world and are excited about new upcoming collaborations.

We will continue to show behind the scenes videos as often as we can while celebrating our wonderful musicians that make up the entire Met Orchestra.

We truly cannot thank you enough for your support ❤️

12/16/2025

❄️ We enjoyed welcoming so many new (and small) faces at this year’s Met Opera Holiday open house!

Performing for our youngest audience members is always a treat, and this year was no different because we had so many Met Orchestra Musicians out and about.

Principal oboe John Upton, principal bassoon Evan Epifanio, principal clarinet Silvio Guitian , principal flute Chelsea Knox, principal harpist Johanna Cope Johnson, and cellist Kari Docter were just some of the musicians who participated in this joyous event organized by the Met Opera Education department.

☃️ Hope to see you at the Met soon!