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Metropolitan Opera Guild Announces Return to Backstage Tours

The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced its Backstage Tours are set to make a return.

The tours will recommence on Dec. 4, 2022 and will allow visitors a chance to go behind-the-scenes at the famed opera house. The 75-minute walking tours will take place on some weekdays at 3 p.m. local time and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m.

The tours had been discontinued during the COVID-19 outbreak; even though the Met Opera reopened its doors for the 2021-22 season, the tours did not return due to the ongoing concerns over COVID.

“After almost three years, it’s wonderful to be able to bring backstage tours back,” said Stuart Holt, Director of Learning and Engagement, Metropolitan Opera Guild, in an official press statement. “This program offers participants an inside look at Met productions, and we hope it makes their visit to the opera house even more special.”

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Theatrical Encounters: Backstage Tours

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera has a history that reaches back almost 130 years. This impressive cultural resource attracts some of the finest singers, directors and designers from around the globe. The Met, which offers world-class productions of new and classic operas, calls Lincoln Center its home. Although included in the Lincoln Center Tours, the Metropolitan Opera also provides daily tours during its performance season. Tours conducted by the Met differ from those offered by Lincoln Center—only the Met takes you backstage, offering visitors insights into how the company works and how productions function. A visit to the Met is a cultural highlight for anyone and everyone.

Apollo Theater

Perhaps no other single venue in New York City is more responsible for introducing the artistry and culture of African-American and Latino musicians and performers than the Apollo Theater.

A tour of the Apollo offers insights into individual artists and a greater understanding of the cultural diversity the site has engendered. Visitors are sure to come away with an appreciation of the contribution this venue has made to the performing arts. Combine the tour with one of their evening Amateur Night performances to get the total Apollo Theater experience.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a true arts complex, offering performances in a range of disciplines including music, dance and theatre. The Center, which is also a rich resource for theatre historians, offers daily tours that include special group rates. Go behind the scenes and into the spaces that have been occupied by some of the greatest performers and artists on the earth. Each daily tour offers something different as you might end up sitting in on a rehearsal, seeing a star or stand on a stage where Baryshnikov danced or Pavarotti sang.

Lincoln Center also provides two specialized tours. The Art and Architecture tour introduces patrons to the amazingly rich art collection housed at the Center and the Jazz at Lincoln Center tour is devoted to investigating this definitive American art form.

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NBC Studio Tours

Television is a part of our everyday lives and NBC continues to be a major player in the market with the long running Today Show, the unpredictable Saturday Night Live and the groundbreaking Dr.Oz Show. NBC Studio Tours started in 1933. Today’s tours take visitors through the NBC Sharp Globe Theater, Broadcast Operations and the Make-up Room. Participants can produce their own news and weather program in NBC’s High Definition Mini-Control Studio. Live studio experiences are available. Educational, insightful and fun, NBC Studio Tours offer a fantastic group experience.

Carnegie Hall Tours

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Broadway Up Close Walking Tour

Behind-the-Magic

Behind the Magic: New Amsterdam Theatre Tour

Built in 1903, for many years the New Amsterdam offered audiences the magnificent Ziegfeld Follies. Learn about one of Broadway’s most storied show palaces, the stage musical Aladdin, and the magic of Broadway. This tour includes an intimate look at Disney Theatrical Productions prop studio where you will see original props, costumes, and set pieces that are instrumental in bringing the world of Disney Theatrical to life on stage.

Radio City Back Stage Tour

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Backstage Tours

Experience the unparalleled natural beauty of the Santa Fe Opera’s setting, its unique architecture and history. Discover how an opera production comes together with this “behind-the-scenes” tour. Tours take place Monday through Saturday at 9 am during June, July and August and last approximately 45 minutes. Adult tickets are $10 and are free for youth (ages 6-22). Reservations are encouraged.

Backstage tours are not offered on June 21, July 3, July 10-13, July 17 & 19.

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Opera Tours - Ballets - Concerts - Musical Performances - Gourmet Dining

Embark on a World of Opera Excellence with H.A.T. Tours - America's Premier Opera Travel Company!

Welcome to the epitome of an opera tour company in America. As a highly seasoned and passionate opera enthusiast, we invite you to join a vibrant community of like-minded individuals on an extraordinary musical adventure. With over 41 years of unparalleled expertise, H.A.T. Tours has meticulously curated and orchestrated over 370 opera tours, promising a journey that encompasses captivating performances and cherished memories.

Indulge in the true essence of opera as we offer you first-category orchestra-level seats in opulent European opera houses. Our meticulously crafted itineraries ensure an immersive experience that allows you to savor the pinnacle of operatic artistry.

Your opera sojourn extends beyond the stages, with luxurious accommodations at centrally located hotels and delectable dining experiences at gourmet and Michelin-Star level restaurants. Your dream opera tour awaits as we take you on an exquisite journey through the cultural richness of Europe.

Our commitment to creating a warm and inviting atmosphere for independent travelers is unmatched. From the moment you join us, you become an integral part of the H.A.T. Tours family, with dedicated travel experts by your side, ensuring a seamless and exceptional journey.

Revel in the magic of opera, as H.A.T. Tours presents you with a symphony of harmonious melodies and breathtaking performances. This immersive experience will transport you to a world of musical brilliance, forging cherished connections with fellow opera enthusiasts.

Embark on your operatic odyssey today with H.A.T. Tours, where passion for opera meets world-class travel expertise. Allow us to be your trusted companion as you delve into the captivating world of opera, creating memories that will resonate in your heart for a lifetime.

To request details on our opera tours and itinerary options, please submit an inquiry through our online form.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, HAT Tours, LLC – European Opera Tours has not cancelled but postponed the 2020 tours. All the rescheduled tours will be carried out in 2022. The dates of the listed tours will depend on the reopening of the venues, and the safety of travel. If you are interested in any of our listed tours, please contact us through the inquiry form to save your spot. Please check our Terms and Conditions for further details.

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PRAGUE, VIENNA, BUDAPEST - Central Europe 2024

STOCKHOLM, COPENHAGEN, OSLO - Scandinavia 2024

LATVIA, ESTONIA & LITHUANIA – 2024

MUNICH OPERA FESTIVAL - 2024

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Guest Comments

We all book for the operas and we are spoilt for choice of operas/ cities to which we travel/ the seats which are organized for us. HAT TOURS claim to fame are their Opera Tours (and I am very thankful for that) ... but the surprise for us every time is the wonderful dinners to which we are treated. YET ... I have not read one review about their wonderful degustation dinners. These are researched with a lot of care. Not any restaurant will do/not any menu will do. We are taken to some of the best restaurants in Europe. Quietly researched by this indefatigable duo/ visited/ tested - before er even cross the portals ... Our last tour was Leipzig / Dresden / Berlin on one evening in each of those cities we were taken on a surprise walk to a wonderful restaurant and made to feel very special. I am an Opera Fan but if I do too many of your trip I may well become a "foodie and wine fan."

Singers Performing on Our Tours

Anja Kampe, Andreas Schager, Rene Papa, Rolando Villazon and Tomasz Konieczny performing during Ring Cycle in Berlin tour.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros performing during Munich Festival tour.

Click here to see the tours to incredible India offered by the Asian division of HAT Tours

Student Backstage Tours

Lyric Opera House Tours offer students in grades 3-12 a chance to journey through the Lyric Opera House, and to learn about the myriad elements that combine to create a grand opera performance. See the inside of the historic Ardis Krainik Theatre, enjoy an up-close-and-personal view of the orchestra pit where the acclaimed Lyric Orchestra plays, and learn about the vast array of skilled professionals who bring operatic stagecraft to life.

Lyric Opera House Student Tours will be returning soon.

For additional questions, please contact [email protected].

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Behind the scenes, walks, tours and experiences

Sydney Opera House Tour

Step inside and discover the legendary history and extraordinary secrets of the Sydney Opera House. Experience the life, energy and buzz of Australia’s favourite building. 

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Specialty tours

Vivid Dinner at the House

Experience the Opera House in a different light during Vivid Sydney. Step inside before the lights go on and the music starts on a tour that uncovers the legendary history and extraordinary secrets of the House. After the tour, you'll enter one of the House's hidden spaces to enjoy an exclusive three-course dining experience , with a light projection in a stunning architectural setting.

Sunset at the House

Experience the Opera House in a different light with a sunset tour during Vivid Sydney. Step inside as the sun goes down and discover the legendary history and extraordinary secrets of the House. Finish with a drink at Vivid LIVE pop-up bar, Bar Subterranean, as you watch the Sydney Harbour light up.

Culinary Canvas

Experience a night of art, culture and cuisine in the Yallamundi Rooms during Vivid Sydney. Enjoy a delicious dinner curated by top female chef, Danielle Alvarez, as you sip on paired wines from some of Australia's best female winemakers and enjoy an intimate performance by Katie Noonan.

Backstage Tour

Go behind closed doors and experience the House from behind the scenes. Venture backstage through the corridors to our rehearsal spaces, into the orchestra pit before enjoying breakfast in the exclusive domain of our performers, the Green Room.

Architectural Tour

Get your architecture fix on an in-depth tour with our expert guide. Hear how architects, engineers, builders and artists came together to create this UNESCO World Heritage-listed masterpiece.

Schools Tour

Take your students on a walking journey to learn about how Australia and a man from Denmark, Jørn Utzon, created a sculpture on Sydney Harbour that changed the course of 20th century architecture and the city of Sydney as we know it.

Mobility Access Tour

T ailored for patrons with limited mobility, g o inside and discover the legendary history and extraordinary secrets of the Sydney Opera House. Experience the life, energy and buzz of Australia’s favourite building.

Tour & Dine

Step inside and discover the history and secrets of the Sydney Opera House. Complete the experience in true Sydneysider style with lunch by the harbour at Opera Bar or House Canteen.

Taste of the House

Wine and dine your way around Sydney Opera House restaurants and bars to experience the culinary delights of some of Sydney's best chefs.

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French Tour

Did you know the special topaz glass of the Sydney Opera House was imported from France? Step inside and discover the secrets of this remarkable building.

German Tour

The first performance in our Concert Hall was a program of works by German composer-Richard Wagner. Take a tour and discover the building’s fascinating history.

Spanish Tour

From Don Quixote to the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the Sydney Opera House has a diverse and rich cultural history. Take a tour and discover incredible stories inside this cultural landmark.

Japanese Tour

Over the years, the Sydney Opera House has welcomed Yayoi Kusama and Ryuichi Sakamoto to the Sydney Opera House, and you’re invited too. Join us on a tour of the building’s extraordinary history.

Korean Tour

The Sydney Opera House has many stories to tell, from the Korean National Ballet tour to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra performances. Step inside, take a tour and be moved by the beautiful design and history.

Mandarin Tour

The Sydney Opera House is home to a rich history of world-class performers, from the China Philharmonic Orchestra to the Peking Opera. Step inside and experience unforgettable moments and history on a tour.

Experiences

Badu Gili: Celestial

Badu Gili - meaning ‘water light’ in the language of the traditional owners of Bennelong Point, the Gadigal people - is a free daily experience that explores First Nations stories in a spectacular six-minute projection on the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails.

Draw the House

Create a range of drawings inspired by one of the world’s most iconic buildings. Once a month join like-minded creative souls to explore the Opera House and its surroundings through the eyes of an artist. Working with a different artist each month, explore various drawing techniques, and perspectives inspired by one of the world's most iconic buildings.

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Plan a Tour

Join the Opera House Ambassadors for a tour of the Detroit Opera House. Learn about the history of the Detroit Opera House and its restoration. Upon request, tours may also be combined with a week day morning dress rehearsal. Tours are $10.00 per person or $5.00 per person if pairing with a dress rehearsal.

To request a tour, please fill out the form to the right. Requests must be made one month in advance and must be a group of 10+ .

Detroit Opera House Field Trips are Always a Student Favorite!

Student field trips to the Detroit Opera House are a rewarding learning experience! Tour the magnificently restored Detroit Opera House, including backstage areas not accessible to the public. Pair it with a dress rehearsal to make it a day trip! Please email Branden Hood, Manager of Education and Community Programs at [email protected] for more information on student dress rehearsals.

With the largest stage in Michigan, the Detroit Opera House is equipped to handle grand opera, classical dance, pop concerts, Broadway shows and even ice shows. You will be amazed to learn the techniques used to restore this historic venue!

Your students will learn about many careers in the arts, such as Stage Management, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Ticketing, Marketing, Public Relations and House Management.

“Our students made so many connections with what they were studying. A fascinating field trip that they continued to talk about throughout the school year!” – Eagle Elementary School, West Bloomfield

To request a tour, please fill out the form to the right.

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Theatres in Moscow

Cultural life of Moscow city is various and rich! Operas, ballets, symphonic concerts... Russian composers have created some of the most beautiful classical music. Russian classical music is very popular in Moscow. It is performed in many beautiful historical venues. Do not forget to include a visit to a concert hall in your itinerary when you are planning your stay in Moscow! And do it in advance.

There are almost no restrictions on dress code in Russian theatres. Visitors may wear jeans and sports shoes, they may have a backpack with them. Only shorts are not allowed.

A typical feature of Russian theatre – visitors are bringing a lot of flowers which they present to their favorite performers after the show.

Here are some practical advices where to go and how to buy tickets.

The Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is the oldest, the most famous and popular opera and ballet theatre in Russia. The word “Bolshoi” means “big” in Russian. You can buy a ticket online in advance, 2-3 months before the date of performance on the official website . Prices for famous ballets are high: 6-8 thousand rubles for a seat in stalls. Tickets to operas are cheaper: you can get a good seat for 4-5 thousand rubles. Tickets are cheaper for daytime performances and performances on the New Stage. The New Stage is situated in the light-green building to the left of the Bolshoi's main building. The quality of operas and ballets shown on the New Stage is excellent too. However, you should pay attention that many seats of the Bolshoi’s Old and New Stages have limited visibility . If you want to see the Bolshoi’s Old Stage but all tickets are sold out, you can order a tour of the theatre. You can book such a tour on the official website.

If you want, following Russian tradition, to give flowers to the performers at the end of the show, in the Bolshoi flowers should be presented via special staff who collects these flowers in advance.

In August the Bolshoi is closed.

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre

This theatre is noteworthy. On one hand, it offers brilliant classical opera and ballet performances. On the other hand, it is an experimental venue for modern artists. You can check the program and buy tickets online here http://stanmus.com/ . If you are opera lover, get a ticket to see superstar Hibla Gerzmava . The theatre has a very beautiful historic building and a stage with a good view from every seat. Tickets are twice cheaper than in the Bolshoi.

The Novaya Opera

“Novaya” means “New” in Russian. This opera house was founded in 1991 by a famous conductor Eugene Kolobov. Its repertoire has several directions: Russian and Western classics, original shows and divertissements, and operas of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is very popular with Muscovites for excellent quality of performances, a comfortable hall, a beautiful Art Nouveau building and a historic park Hermitage, which is situated right next to it. You can buy tickets online here http://www.novayaopera.ru/en .

Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center

The Opera Center has become one of the best theatrical venues in Moscow. It was founded in 2002 by great diva Galina Vishnevskaya. Nowadays its artistic director is Olga Rostropovich, daughter of Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband Mstislav Rostropovich, great cellist and conductor. Not only best young opera singers perform here, but also world music stars do; chamber and symphonic concerts, theatrical productions and musical festivals take place here. You can see what is on the program here http://opera-centre.ru/theatre . Unfortunately “booking tickets online” is available in Russian only. If you need help, you can contact us at and we can book a ticket for you. 

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and The Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory

These are two major concert halls for symphonic music in Moscow. Both feature excellent acoustics, impressive interior, various repertoire and best performers. You can check the program here http://meloman.ru/calendar/ . You need just to switch to English. Booking tickets online is available only for owners of Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian phone numbers. If you need help, you can contact us and we can book a ticket for you. 

Moscow International Performing Arts Center (MIPAC)

This modern and elegant concert hall houses performances of national and foreign symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, solo instrumentalists, opera singers, ballet dancers, theatre companies, jazz bands, variety and traditional ensembles. Actually, it has three concert halls placed on three different levels and having separate entrances. The President of MIPAC is People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Spivakov, conductor of “Virtuosy Moskvy” orchestra. You can see pictures of the concert halls here http://www.mmdm.ru/en/content/halls . The program is impressive in its variety but is not translated into English. You can contact us at and we can find a performance for you.

On 28 March (17 according to the old style) 1776, Catherine II granted the prosecutor, Prince Pyotr Urusov, the "privilege" of "maintaining" theatre performances of all kinds, including masquerades, balls and other forms of entertainment, for a period of ten years. And it is from this date that Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre traces its history.

The Bolshoi building, which for many years now has been regarded as one of Moscow’s main sights, was opened on 20 October 1856, on Tsar Alexander II’s coronation day.

On 29 October 2002 the Bolshoi was given a New Stage and it was here it presented its performances during the years the Main Stage was undergoing massive reconstruction and refurbishment.

The reconstruction project lasted from l July 2005 to 28 October 2011. As a result of this reconstruction, many lost features of the historic building were reinstated and, at the same time, it has joined the ranks of most technically equipped theatre buildings in the world.

The Bolshoi Theatre is a symbol of Russia for all time. It was awarded this honor due to the major contribution it made to the history of the Russian performing arts. This history is on-going and today Bolshoi Theatre artists continue to contribute to it many bright pages.

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Can Marin Alsop Shatter Another Glass Ceiling?

Alsop has had enviable success, and was the first female conductor to lead a top American orchestra. She wants to take another step up.

By Zachary Woolfe

Reporting from Baltimore

Marin Alsop’s conducting students were taking turns on the podium recently in a rehearsal room at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. They waved their batons in front of an imaginary orchestra, practicing Stravinsky’s notoriously complex “The Rite of Spring.”

Some conductors teach in poetry: what a piece means, how a certain sound should feel. Alsop, who spent untold hours at Meyerhoff Hall during her 14 years as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a tenure that ended in 2021 , teaches in technical, tangible details.

In a measure with 11 beats, she suggested using the last as a pickup to the following bar, to give the players an extra bit of clarity. She flagged trouble spots: a transition that was “usually too loud, too fast, too soon,” and a moment when the winds tend to come in just after the strings, rather than in unison.

“You’re not accompanying,” she told a rising maestro who seemed to be giving an invisible musician too much leeway. “You’re in charge.”

At 67, Alsop is, in many ways, in charge. Last month, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, conducting a new production of John Adams’s “El Niño.” Next season, she will lead the Berlin Philharmonic, perhaps the world’s pre-eminent orchestra, for the first time.

She recently recorded Mahler’s Ninth Symphony with her ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the storied Musikverein, an experience that brought Leonard Bernstein, one of her mentors, to mind.

“I’m standing there thinking, ‘I’m recording Mahler Nine where Lenny stood, where Mahler stood,’” she said backstage after a rehearsal in Baltimore. “It doesn’t get better than that.”

And yet something is missing as Alsop looks toward the next chapter of her already groundbreaking career: another American orchestra. When she became the Baltimore Symphony’s music director, in 2007, she was the first woman to lead one of the country’s 25 largest orchestras. (There is still only one woman in that group: Nathalie Stutzmann at the Atlanta Symphony.)

Alsop hoped she would continue her steady rise and take on one of the handful of the most venerable, resource-rich American ensembles, like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or the New York or Los Angeles philharmonics. Though nothing has worked out, she is still hungry for another chance at a directorship.

“I love guesting,” she said. “But really, it pales for me in comparison with being able to build something in a community. That’s really what I love.”

At a time when orchestras are eager to connect with a broader swath of their communities, Alsop’s struggle to score a position at the very top of the field attests to the persistent lack of both Americans and women on the country’s most prestigious podiums.

“To me, it’s a great pity,” said David Foster, Alsop’s longtime manager, now president emeritus of Opus 3 Artists. “Because she’s about as qualified to be a music director in North America in the early years of the 21st century as just about anyone on earth.”

Born in 1956 to two professional string players in New York, Alsop quickly embraced the violin. But when she was still a child, her father took her to one of Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts at the New York Philharmonic, and conducting became her dream.

It was, from the beginning, a tough road for a woman: Alsop earned two violin degrees from the Juilliard School, but was rejected three times by the school’s conducting program. She had to form her own groups — String Fever, a small ensemble that did arrangements of swing numbers, and Concordia, which branched into jazz crossover — to get podium experience.

But Bernstein’s mentorship in the late 1980s helped as she began to get hired at small orchestras in the 1990s. Her long-term leadership of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California burnished her new-music credentials. In 2002, she founded a fellowship program for female conductors, which has flourished. (That is one of several details of her life borrowed, without her knowledge or permission, for Cate Blanchett’s toxically imperious maestro character in the 2022 film “Tár.” )

In Baltimore, the beginning of her tenure was rocky, with some players criticizing her as a lightweight whose appointment had been forced on them by the orchestra’s administration — a reaction that might have had something to do with her being a woman, and a lesbian.

But she stood her ground and won the musicians over. When she returns to the city now, it’s as a conquering, grinning hero. A few weeks ago, some in the crowd stood and cheered when she entered at the beginning of a concert.

At the end, when she casually walked onstage to grab her score off the podium as the audience was leaving, it set off another wave of applause. Speaking to the audience before Ives’s Second Symphony, as she and the players gave glimpses of some of the old American tunes folded into the piece’s textures, she was charming, amusing, intelligent.

She founded OrchKids , a music education program for disadvantaged Baltimore children that has continued to be one of the field’s most inspiring success stories. She still teaches at the Peabody Institute, part of Johns Hopkins University, and she and her partner, Kristin Jurkscheit, still live in the city. Members of the Baltimore Symphony use her parents’ instruments and bows, which she donated to the orchestra after they died; the piano that accompanied her students in their “Rite of Spring” session was once owned by her family.

“I really believe that orchestras are civic institutions,” she said. “To be relevant, the leader has to commit to the community in a way that is profound.”

No one could say that Alsop doesn’t commit in a profound way. In Baltimore, she did everything you’re supposed to do as a modern-day music director.

“She’s so driven,” said Deborah Borda, most recently the chief executive of the New York Philharmonic. “She’s so smart. She’s in the prime of her conducting life. I don’t have a crystal ball, but she is in the prime of her career.”

Yet that career turned a bit from America. Alsop has long had success in Britain, and has led the Last Night of the Proms, the widely televised culmination of the BBC’s signature summer festival, three times since 2013. Around then, she also got an orchestra in São Paulo. She added the Vienna Radio Symphony in 2019, and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra is newly under her baton.

“Most of my efforts these days are in Europe,” she said, “and I find a different attitude among the orchestras there. I wouldn’t say it’s looseness, but there’s more flexibility.”

She has sometimes found American administrators less receptive to her ambitions for the institutions she’s part of. “I can be a lot because I have a lot of thoughts and I have a lot of ideas,” she said. “And ideas are sometimes interpreted as more work.”

“One of the reasons I took the position in Poland,” she added, “is that the woman who runs the orchestra and hall is brilliant. She’s a thinker, and we can sit down and talk about these ideas, and I love it.”

But some of those contracts abroad have been sunsetting, and it may be that the pendulum is swinging back toward this side of the Atlantic for her. At the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Symphony’s summer home, where she became chief conductor and curator in 2020, she has the scope to conduct a broad range of music, as well as leading education and mentoring efforts.

“She’s got an uncanny ability to listen, and humility and adaptability,” said Jeffrey Haydon, the festival’s president and chief executive, adding that Alsop is blessedly free of the need to be the star of every event: “She’s always aware of whether it’s better for her to support the moment, or lead the moment, or be the moment. Many artists have to be the moment, and that’s it. She can do that — she has the gravitas and ability to do that — but that’s not her default.”

In January, the Philadelphia Orchestra announced that she would be its next principal guest conductor, taking over from Stutzmann. Alsop’s is a substantive position, both in Philadelphia and on tour, but it is a supporting role nevertheless.

As she searches for an American directorship, among the problems is that there simply aren’t very many open jobs at the level she is seeking. The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra are about it at the moment.

“It would make perfect sense for her to have another orchestra,” said Foster, her old manager. “But there aren’t that many that would be appropriate. The air is thinner as you go higher.”

And while Alsop showed that it was possible to be a female music director of one of the country’s largest orchestras, she now faces another glass ceiling as a woman who is no longer young.

“There’s a lot more ageism for women,” she said. “So that’s one of my new flags: fighting for mature women, that they be given the same time and the same opportunities and the same consideration.”

There is also divergence in opinions about her music-making. Some observers and players find her solid but uninspired; some adore her. Foster said there were “loads” of jobs they had hoped for but didn’t get, and that selecting a music director is “partly based on chemistry.”

“What happens on the podium is what counts,” he added. “And there, I think that she is more relaxed and happier. Because she’s been conducting better and better orchestras more of the time, she’s prepared to let musicians play more. When you’re young and have a young orchestra, not everybody knows so much, so you have to conduct a lot. In that way, I think she’s become a better conductor.”

Alsop is prominent enough to be the subject of a documentary, “The Conductor,” that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021. Yet orchestras and opera companies can be surprisingly siloed in terms of who they ask (and re-ask) to appear, and opinions formed decades ago can be persistent.

“It was my idea to ask her to do the Met,” John Adams said of the new production of his “El Niño.” “It’s funny: I don’t think Peter Gelb” — the company’s general manager — “would have thought of it, but the moment I mentioned it, he said, ‘Of course.’ Marin has so often not been on the radar, in part because she has such a humble, generous, even self-effacing personality, which is not the usual job description.”

Alsop said, with a laugh: “Every time Peter Gelb introduces me, it’s ‘Here’s Marin Alsop, making her long overdue debut.’ And it makes me feel like people think I’ve been on a boat on the ocean somewhere. I’ve been here, you know?”

“I hope I’ll have the platform to be able to really use my curiosity and my commitment, because I have a lot of that, to be helpful to another American orchestra,” she added. “I don’t know if it will happen. But I would love to do that, because that’s what I enjoy the most.”

Zachary Woolfe is the classical music critic of The Times. More about Zachary Woolfe

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