The Presentation

Excerpts of the opera will be played during the presentation. Harvey will provide an overview of the story of the opera and point of hightlights of the performance.

Champion, the Opera

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his first opera to the Met after his Fire Shut Up in My Bones triumphantly premiered with the company to universal acclaim in 2021–22. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion, and bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore is Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo- soprano Stephanie Blythe is the bar owner Kathy Hagan. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Blanchard’s second Met premiere, also reuniting the director-and-choreographer team of James Robinson and Camille A. Brown.

Content Advisory: Champion contains adult themes, sexually explicit language, and physical violence.

The Presenter

Harvey Nystrom, a retiree to Oaxaca, has brought his passion and knowledge along with his substantial collection of opera DVDs to share with us.