Tony Award Winner Michael Mayer to Helm New RIGOLETTO for the Metropolitan Opera

Diana Damrau has sung at the Met every season since her celebrated 2005 debut as Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Her Met roles have included Rosina in the new production premiere of Rossini's IL Barbiere di Siviglia and Countess Adèle in the Met premiere of his Le Comte Ory; Aithra in the new production premiere of Strauss's Die Ägyptische Helena; both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Konstanze in his Die Entführung aus dem Serail;the title roles in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and La Fille du Régiment and Adina in his L'Elisir d'Amore; and Gilda, which she sang at the Met in 2009 and 2011 and has also sung with Zurich Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Dresden Opera. This March at the Met, she will make her role debut as Violetta in La Traviata.

Piotr Beczala made his Met debut as the Duke of Mantua in 2006 and returned to the role with the company in 2009 and 2011. He has also sung the Duke with Zurich Opera and Paris Opera. His most recent Met performances were as the Chevalier des Grieux in last season's new production premiere of Massenet's Manon. He has sung four additional roles at the Met to critical acclaim: Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor,Lenski in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. In March, he will make his Met role debut as the title character in Gounod's Faust.

Marco Armiliato's more than 300 Met performances have included numerous Verdi operas, from the early Attila to the repertory staplesAida, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore. Last season, he led a rare revival of Verdi's Ernani as well as the season-opening company premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena. This spring, he will conduct the first Met performances of Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini in more than 25 years.

George Gagnidze made his Met debut as Rigoletto in 2009 and returned the following season to reprise the role, which he has sung at numerous high-profile venues including the Deutsche National Theater in Weimar, Los Angeles Opera, and La Scala. Earlier this season, he made his Met role debut as Amonasro in Verdi's Aida; in previous seasons, he has sung Scarpia in the new production premiere of Puccini's Tosca,Shaklovity in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, and the title role in Macbeth. Later this season, he will sing the title role in Nabucco in Palermo.

Vittorio Grigolo has sung the Duke at La Scala and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, but will be performing the role for the first time at the Met this season. He made his company debut in 2010 as Rodolfo in La Bohème, a role he has sung in Zurich, Bari, Berlin, Orange, Milan, Munich, and London. This summer, he will return to London's Royal Opera as Ruggero in Puccini's La Rondine and sing the tenor part in Verdi's Requiemat the Arena di Verona.

Lisette Oropesa, a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, has sung more than 90 performances of 12 roles with the company, including Miranda in the world premiere of the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island; the Rhinemaiden Woglinde in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung; the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel; Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro; Amore in Gluck's Orfeo and Euridice;and Lisette in the 2008 new production premiere of La Rondine.

Christine Jones won a Tony Award for her designs for American Idiot and was nominated for her work on Spring Awakening. Susan Hilferty, a Tony winner for Wicked, has designed costumes for dozens of theater, opera, and dance productions, including the current Broadway revival of Annie. Kevin Adams won Tony Awards for his lighting designs for Spring Awakening, The 39 Steps, and American Idiot. In March, all three designers will return to Broadway for the Amanda Green/Trey Anastasio musical Hands on a Hardbody. Choreographer Steven Hoggett is also noted for his work in theater, where his credits include Black Watch (for which he won an Olivier Award), Peter and the Starcatcher, and the 2012 Tony-winning Best Musical Once.