Prior to the April 23 company premiere of John Adams’s El Niño, Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with members of the creative team, and cast members perform highlights from the powerful score. Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Metropolitan Opera after a decade-long hiatus with his acclaimed opera-oratorio, an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day. El Niño brings together some of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.

Julia Bullock in El Niño by John Adams. Photo: Zenith Richards/Met Opera