I’m writing this post just days before my debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. This event alone would illuminate any season, but the last few months had already seen many other highlights: items on a longstanding podium-wishlist, joyfully ticked.
Share the stage with the great Gil Shaham: Check!
Conduct Aida, an opera that had so inspired me as a child: Check!
Now, in a matter of days, I’ll not only make my first appearance at the Met, but will do so with one of my favourite operas, Porgy and Bess: Check! Check!
I have, in interviews, often told the story of a concert at Toronto’s Ontario Place at which, all of seven years old, I announced to my family that I wanted to become a conductor. Thanks to my older sister’s keen memory, I recently learned that we’d attended a concert performance of none other than Porgy and Bess. Google then clarified that in fact, it had been the legendary 1976 Houston Grand Opera production, on tour across North America. How serendipitous that, decades later, my Met debut with that work coincides with the news that HGO’s World Premiere recording of Jake Heggie’s latest opera, Intelligence, under my Musical Direction, has been recognised with a 2026 Grammy nomination!
It’s fitting, therefore, that this season of wish fulfilment should also mark the launch of a newly designed platform for sharing my artistic journey. As much as what you’ll find here represents a complete visual overhaul – new layout, up-to-date images, new logo, and improvements to make for a better browsing experience, the site’s purpose remains unchanged.
In due course, I’ll be posting images of the Met’s stunning production of Porgy and Bess to mark my debut there. If you happen to be in New York between now and January 24, 2026, don’t miss the opportunity to see it and otherwise, I hope you enjoy discovering this new version of my website!