What is the Metropolitan Opera?

The Metropolitan Opera, often known simply as The Met, is an opera company based in New York City. Founded in 1880, it is the largest classical music organization in North America.

The Met usually offers 27 operas a year during a season that runs from late September through May. The company produces operas from the 18th century through the late 20th century, and operates in a repertory style, offering performances of several different operas each week. The Metropolitan Opera was founded by a group of New York industrialists who had been excluded from membership in the Academy of Music Opera by the city's old-money elites. It has since grown into the city's, and the country's, premier opera.