The Metropolitan Opera announced highlights from its upcoming seasons today, including a new production of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle that will be directed by Yuval Sharon. The artistic director of the Detroit Opera and founder of the opera company The Industry, Sharon is currently serving as the inaugural Global Solutions Visiting Fellow at the Neubauer Collegium.

One of the most ambitious works in the history of opera, the four-part epic will be a highlight of the Met’s 2027–2028 season. Sharon will also direct Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde as part of the 2025–2026 season. Both productions will feature the Met’s celebrated conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

“Wagner’s works are opera’s equivalent to Homer or Shakespeare,” Sharon said in a statement. “Each opera is its own complex cosmos, with endless potential for reinterpretation. To explore these works and create productions of Tristan and the Ring specifically for the Met with Yannick is the honor of a lifetime.”

Sharon’s fellowship at the Neubauer Collegium is enabling him to develop concepts for upcoming projects in consultation with research partners at the University of Chicago. The Neubauer Collegium’s distinct approach to research collaboration, which integrates the visual and performing arts into broader inquiries, makes the center an ideal laboratory for Sharon’s work as an innovator in the highly collaborative world of opera.

At his first Neubauer Collegium workshop, in March 2023, Sharon invited faculty to share their responses to the dress rehearsal of the formally daring opera Proximity and then incorporated feedback into the world premiere at the Lyric Opera later that month. At a second convening, Sharon workshopped a draft of his forthcoming book, A New Philosophy of Opera, which will be published by Liveright this fall. This past February, Sharon held intensive discussions with an interdisciplinary group of faculty and the design team on a forthcoming production of Così fan tutte that will reimagine Mozart’s comedy through the lens of AI.

Opportunities like these have allowed Sharon “to explore ideas and think about alternatives in a way that makes the ideation process richer, deeper, and more thoughtful than it would be if we were just racing to a design deadline,” he said.

Sharon has not yet shared details about his concept for the Ring cycle, but Nézet-Séguin told the New York Times that the production will not be anchored to a specific time or place. Hinting at the rich possibilities of an interpretation that incorporates non-Western perspectives, Nézet-Séguin said the production will explore universal themes. “We’re trying to make people realize that even nations that traditionally were not related to opera can actually relate to this ‘Ring’ cycle.”

Read the Metropolitan Opera announcement