Peter Gelb (born 1953^[1]) is an American arts administrator. He is currently the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, seen from Lincoln Center Plaza A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert by pianist Józef Hofmann, November 28, 1937. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City...

Early life

Gelb is the son of Arthur Gelb, onetime Managing Editor of the New York Times and author of a number of books, including O'Neill(which he collaborated on with his wife, Barbara Gelb) the definitive biography on legendary playwrite Eugene O'Neill. He began his Metropolitan Opera career as a part-time usher while in high school. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Gelb worked as manager of Vladimir Horowitz at the end of Horowitz's career. In 1978 he began work as publicity director for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1981 Gelb joined Ronald Wilford's Columbia Artists Management (CAMI) organization, making short films about classical musicians. Portrait of Vladimir Horowitz, captured from the documentary The Last Romantic. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the worlds most renowned orchestras. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Columbia Artists Management, Inc. ...

Career at Sony Classical

In 1993 Gelb became head of Sony Classical Records's American division after Sony acquired CAMI video. Within one year he had been appointed head of Sony Classical worldwide. While at Sony Classical, Gelb pursued a controversial strategy of emphasizing crossover music over mainstream classical repertoire^[2] Examples include cellist Yo Yo Ma, who was encouraged to record country music, electronic composer Vangelis, who recorded choral symphony Mythodea, and Charlotte Church, a pop artist who started her career as a classical singer. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Sony Classical was started in 1927 as Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. ... In music, crossover is a term used to describe material borrowed from a different style or genre and whose popularity crosses the considered boundaries of styles or genres. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Classic Yo-Yo album cover Yo-Yo Ma (馬友友 Pinyin: Mǎ Yǒuyǒu) (born October 7, 1955) is a world-famous French-Chinese-American cellist. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... // Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου) [IPA: É›væŋɛlɪs ɔðɪsɛɪæs É”pæpæθænæsiu], artist name Vangelis Papathanassiou (Βαγγέλης Παπαθανασίου) or just Vangelis (Βαγγέλης) [IPA: or ], is a world-renowned new age and electronic composer and musician, best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, and scores for... Mythodea, or to give it its full title, Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey, is an album by the artist Vangelis, released in 2001. ... Charlotte Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed on February 21, 1986) is a Welsh pop singer who rose to international fame in childhood as a popular classical singer. ...

Metropolitan Opera

Gelb became the new General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, taking over from Joseph Volpe, on August 1, 2006. In statements of his intentions, he has emphasized that, even after 35 years as music director of the Met, James Levine will be welcome to continue "for as long as he wants". To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... James Levine (born June 23, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American orchestral pianist and conductor and most well known as the music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. ...

Since his reign began in 2006, Met ticket sales have soared to record breaking heights with hit new productions including "Madame Butterfly" directed by Anthony Minghella, and a new acclaimed production of "The Barber of Seville."

Additionally, the Met has become the first art institution in the world to offer HD broadcasts of its Operas to be viewed in movie theaters around the world, allowing anyone on the globe to view a stunning live opera performance from a cinema, or on HDTV. Most remarkable was Gelb's ability to get this program off the ground and into theaters a mere three months after his appointment.

Gelb has also asserted the importance of his combining the roles of financial and general management with that of being overall creative director. He plans to stage more productions each year but perhaps, in an era of computer-generated visual effects, not to need to have "tons of scenery" built and retained for each new production. These are among other plans for drawing in new (and younger) audiences without deterring the older opera lovers, the wealth and patronage of some of whom sustains the most lavishly privately-financed opera house in the world.

Other ideas include an annual "family-oriented" presentation at Christmas time, and collaborations with the Vivian Beaumont Theater of Lincoln Center to develop newer musical works with musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Rachel Portman and Rufus Wainwright^[3]. Gelb has announced a commission for a new opera from Osvaldo Golijov, tentatively scheduled for the 2010-2011 season^[4]. Christmas is an annual holiday that marks the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. ... Wynton Learson Marsalis (b. ... Rachel Portman (born 11 December 1960, Haslemere, England) is a British composer, best known for her film work. ... Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. ... Osvaldo Golijov (born in La Plata, Argentina, December 5, 1960) is a composer of classical music . ...

Personal Life

Gelb is married to the conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson. He has two children from a previous marriage.

References

External links

• appointment to the Met
• Gelb on Future of Classical Recordings
• Norman Lebrecht on Gelb's appointment at the Met