Welcome to the Metropolitan Opera Club
Dear Members and other Opera Lovers
Welcome to the new website of the Metropolitan Opera Club. If you are not yet a member of the Club I hope you enjoy learning more about us; we are truly a jewel of the Lincoln Center and one of the best kept secrets of New York’s opera world. We are proud of this site. We hope members will find it informative and newcomers will be encouraged to learn more about us.
Founded in 1893, the Opera Club is a unique cultural institution, providing its members the opportunity for added enjoyment of the Metropolitan Opera’s world class repertoire. The Club’s exclusive premises, at the heart of the Lincoln Center, offer a friendly, collegiate atmosphere.
Lectures, special dinners, behind the scenes tours and expeditions to other US and international opera houses enable our members to get to know star singers and chorus and orchestra members personally, and to increase the depth of our understanding of the operas we enjoy from our seats in the dress circle level of the opera house.
Relationships with other opera clubs – in the US and internationally - enhance the experience of membership. And of course our most valuable asset is something we can't really demonstrate on the web: our Members and the love of opera!
Welcome, if you are a member, and enjoy your Club! If not a member, do think about joining us.
Sincerely,
Truman Bidwell Jr.
Co President
William C. Scott
Co President
About the Club
History and Traditions of the Metropolitan Opera Club
Founded in 1893, the Metropolitan Opera Club is a private club located on the Dress Circle level of the Metropolitan Opera House. Our facilities include a dining room and bar and, most importantly, access to seats for just about every performance by the Metropolitan Opera. Our members come from all walks of life and, while we maintain a strict standard of dress - men in white tie and tails or tuxedos (for which we are nicknamed the penguins) and women in evening gowns - the Club's ambiance is friendly and elegant. There is latitude to wear business attire for certain performances.
While love of opera is the Club’s basic theme, as in all clubs, camaraderie is a key ingredient. Members are eager to interact, and lively discussion makes every dinner a special occasion.
In addition to the regular opera schedule, the Club hosts special evenings and events where we honor artists or showcase singers or performers that may be new to Club members. These events allow us close-up views of performers and an insider’s glimpse of the special talents renowned at the Met, and other opera houses with which we are associated.
We also schedule a lecture series each season. This season we are fortunate to have Maestro Joseph Colaneri returning to educate and regale us with his wealth of knowledge on six current productions.
As well as these special events the Club also hosts gala dinners associated with the opening and closing of each season, to mark the first performance of new productions and other special occasions. Together, these events make the Metropolitan Opera Club a truly unique cultural institution, treasured by its members.
History of the Club
On Saturday morning, August 27, 1892, a fire broke out in the nine-year-old Metropolitan Opera House. The fire destroyed the auditorium and stage but left relatively unscathed the assembly rooms and foyer.
Oliver Summer Teall and Preble Tucker, two young men about town, promptly rented the undamaged space from the Metropolitan Opera and installed their newly-formed Vaudeville Club. Teall and Tucker and a circle of friends had long wanted a supper club for theatre-goers, similar to those they had experienced while traveling abroad. While the Opera House was being rebuilt that winter, fellow charter member Stanford White designed a suitable interior for the Club complete with miniature stage and boxes. The grand opening of the Club was held on January 10, 1893 with the leading members of New York society attending. Entertainment was provided by popular artists of the early nineties including Vesta Victoria, Ward and Volkes, Walter Jones, Mlle Violette, Papinta, and Pilar Morin. During the performance members enjoyed a select menu of food and wine.
When the opera season resumed in late November 1893, the Vaudeville Club members leased the large Omnibus box holding some fifty-three seats. During the following season members became more interested in the operatic performances in the auditorium than in their own Club Room. In 1895 they became known simply as the Opera Club.
By 1899, these men -- of good moral character - formally incorporated the Metropolitan Opera Club, chartered for the purposes of “the cultivation of vocal and instrumental music, the encouragement and support of operatic and musical performances, and the promotion of social intercourse among its members.”
When the Metropolitan Opera moved to Lincoln Center in 1966, the Opera Club moved into its Club Room on the Dress Circle of the new House, designed by Angelo Donghia. The rest is history.
Interested in Membership?
Photo by Evan Zimmerman/ Metropolitan Opera