On Opening Night of the 2019–20 season, nearly every member of the 60-person chorus of Porgy and Bess will be performing on the Met stage for the very first time. This talented group of singers was hand selected for James Robinson’s new production, which put particular emphasis on the vibrant community of Catfish Row. As The Gershwins’ great American opera prepares to make its eagerly awaited return to the Met, a few of the members of this superb ensemble spoke with the Met’s Christopher Browner and Catherine Hancock.
What does it mean to you to be performing at the Met for the first time?
Rebecca L. Hargrove, soprano: I’m still pinching myself. Growing up in Baltimore, my early voice teacher was a member of the Met’s extra chorus, and he would commute back and forth. He would tell me about his experience and really brought me up knowing about the greats—Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle. So when I was looking at colleges in New York, I made my mom stop in Lincoln Center, so I could see the Met in person. I said to her “That’s my future place of employment. I’m going to work there one day.”
Wayne Arthur Paul, baritone: For me, being in Porgy and Bess at the Met is like a homecoming. I went to high school right across the street at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. My teacher was actually Priscilla Baskerville, who sang Bess at the Met in the 80s and 90s. We did a highlights version of Porgy and Bess when I was a senior at LaGuardia, and I played Porgy.
Photo: (left to right) Rebecca L. Hargrove, Wayne Arthur Paul, and Brittany Renee Robinson