The Asia Society fosters insight, encourages engagement, elevates regional voices, informs and educates new audiences, addresses complex – and where necessary – contentious challenges, engages in creative problem-solving, and helps deliver real solutions for the benefit of all. As a global network of centers who share a common vision, we actively collaborate with our centers and partners across Asia and the world. The Asia Society also provides its members an opportunity to become part of our global network to help shape a prosperous, sustainable, and secure future for us all. The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883, with its first opera house built on Broadway and 39th Street by a group of wealthy businessmen who wanted their own theater. In the company’s early years, the management changed course several times, first performing everything in Italian (even Carmen and Lohengrin), then everything in German (even Aida and Faust), before finally settling into a policy of performing most works in their original language, with some notable exceptions.