After working in the classical music world in various capacities, including a manager at Philips Classics Records, she became senior radio producer at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006. She became radio host in 2015 following the death of Margaret Juntwait.[4] She is the fourth regular host of the broadcasts since they began in 1931.
During the Met opera season Heath was host for two to three live broadcasts per week on Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius with commentator William Berger, as well as the Saturday matinee international Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, where her commentator was Ira Siff. On May 8, 2021, she announced that the 2020–21 season would be her last, and she was set to retire in June 2021.[5]Debra Lew Harder was announced as her replacement on September 21, 2021.[6]
In May 2016, Heath was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award of the Eastman School of Music and spoke at the commencement ceremony.[7]
Mary Jo Heath is married to Ronald Heath, a history teacher.[8]
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager. As of 2018, the company's current music director is Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Alice Geraldine Farrar was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".
Renée Lynn Fleming is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and has won five times. In June 2023, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Fleming will be one of the five artists recognized at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors. Other notable honors won by Fleming have included the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government, Germany's Cross of the Order of Merit, Sweden's Polar Music Prize and honorary membership in England's Royal Academy of Music. Unusual among artists whose careers began in opera, Fleming has achieved name recognition beyond the classical music world. In May, 2023, Fleming was appointed by the World Health Organization as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health.
Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore, Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry, Berlioz's Cassandre and Didon, and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."
Rosa Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle was an American operatic dramatic soprano.
Joseph Deems Taylor was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of The Lost Algonquin Roundtable, referred to him as "the dean of American music." He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1934.
Margaret Ann Juntwait was an American radio broadcaster, best known as the announcer of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. After thirteen years on the air at WNYC-Radio, she debuted as the Met's announcer on December 11, 2004. She was also the Met's first announcer on Sirius XM Satellite Radio from 2006, and remained in both jobs until her death in 2015.
Mary Costa is an American retired actress and singer. Her most notable film credit is providing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty, of which she is the last surviving original voice actress of the first three Disney Princesses created in Walt Disney's lifetime and for which she was named a Disney Legend in 1999. She is a recipient of the 2020 National Medal of Arts.
Metropolitan Opera Radio is an all-opera radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 75 and XM Satellite Radio channel 75. Originally on channel 85, Met Opera Radio was shifted to channel 78 on June 24, 2008. In December 2020 it was moved again — this time to channel 355. It is also on Dish Network channel 6078. It carries live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera two to three times each week during the opera season. In addition, throughout the day performances are presented from among the 1,500 recorded broadcasts in the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast archives. The channel's host and announcer for the live broadcasts is Mary Jo Heath. The producers are Ellen Keel, John Bischoff, Matthew Principe, with William Berger as writer and commentator. Jay David Saks is the audio producer.
Josephine Antoine was a coloratura soprano, who sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1936 through 1948 in 76 appearances, and was well known in "Un ballo in maschera", "Il barbiere di Siviglia", "Les contes d'Hoffmann", "Le Coq d'Or", "Don Giovanni", "Lucia di Lammermoor", "Mignon", "Parsifal", "Rigoletto", and "Die Zauberflöte."
Ashley Putnam is an American soprano from New York City. Her professional singing career began in 1976 and has spanned over 30 years.
Helen Jepson was an American lyric soprano.
William Berger is an American author, radio music host and commentator.
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network airs the live performances on Saturday afternoons while the Met is in season, typically beginning the first Saturday in December, and totaling just over 20 weekly performances through early May. The Met broadcasts are the longest-running continuous classical music program in radio history, and the series has won several Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcasting.
Jean Fenn was an American soprano who had an active opera career in North America during the 1950s through the 1970s. Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range, and a highly polished sound. She was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1953 and 1970. A lyric soprano, she particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Giacomo Puccini, Jules Massenet, and Charles Gounod.
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1950. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Gwendolyn Killebrew was an American operatic contralto and mezzo-soprano who worked in Germany and internationally, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She performed in the 1971 world premiere of Ginastera's Beatrix Cenci for the opening of the new opera house of Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She was a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from 1976 to 2006, where she took part in the world premiere of Klebe's Gervaise Macquart, and performed in other contemporary operas. After retirement, she worked as a music educator, giving master classes and teaching privately.
Erin Morley is an American operatic soprano.
Debra Lew Harder is an American pianist and radio announcer and host of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. Harder was named as the fifth host of the broadcasts in 2021, succeeding the retiring Mary Jo Heath.
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