The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced its 2026–27 fall/winter Met Live Arts season, presenting a diverse lineup of performances designed to engage with the Museum's collections, exhibitions, and historic spaces. This season marks the inaugural programming under Sarah Jones, the Lulu C. and Anthony W. Wang Head of Live Arts, who joined The Met in 2025.
The season will feature groundbreaking performances by artists such as Lykke Li, St. Vincent, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Ayodele Casel, Rebirth Brass Band, Jason Isbell, Kingfish, and JACK Quartet. These events will take place in iconic locations across The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters, including the Temple of Dendur, the Charles Engelhard Court, the Arms and Armor Court, and the Fuentidueña Chapel.
Several performances are newly commissioned and created in conjunction with major Museum exhibitions. These include Musical Bodies, which explores the relationship between musical instruments and the body, and Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous, a milestone exhibition tracing the lives and practices of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock. A new "Guitar Icons" series will also launch, celebrating the American guitar in anticipation of a new gallery opening in spring 2027.
Max Hollein, The Met's Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The 2026–27 Met Live Arts season reflects an exciting evolution in how performance animates the Museum experience. By bringing exceptional artists to The Met, these collaborations invite audiences to experience art spanning disciplines, cultures, and centuries in ways that are both innovative and deeply engaging."
Sarah Jones emphasized the unique nature of the programming, saying, "Met Live Arts exists to create encounters that can only happen at The Met. Performance is the connective tissue of the Museum, bringing audiences into conversation with contemporary artistic voices in ways that spark curiosity, discovery, and shared experience."
Highlights include Lykke Li performing her new album The Afterparty in September, a double bill featuring Black Belt Eagle Scout and Joe Rainey in November for Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month, and holiday concerts by New York Polyphony, Trio Mediæval, and the Rebirth Brass Band in December. Dance premieres by Ayodele Casel and Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener will also be featured, with Casel's work in dialogue with the Musical Bodies exhibition and Mitchell and Riener's in the Temple of Dendur. The season includes both ticketed and free-with-Museum-admission performances.