Welcome to Opera Spotlight. Today we head behind the scenes at Lincoln Center, where the Metropolitan Opera’s hidden stage door welcomed a very different crowd: children ages seven to ten clutching stuffed rabbits and “Frozen” backpacks. Dressed in patent leather shoes, frilly socks and dinosaur-decorated jackets, they came from all over New York City and its suburbs, united by a dream—to join the Met Children’s Chorus. “This might be the biggest day of my life,” nine-year-old Naomi Lu confessed, knitting a lilac friendship necklace to calm her nerves. “You could say I’m nerv-cited.” These young singers aren’t just belting out school-choir tunes; they’re vying for roles as angelic boys in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Parisian kids in La Bohème or street urchins in Bizet’s Carmen. For those who make the cut, it’s an elite training ground—and the first step toward opera stardom.
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