MET Orchestra Musicians Masterclasses

Harp Masterclass with MET Orchestra Principal Harp Hannah Cope

October 25, 2026

Hannah Cope Johnson is Principal Harp of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She was previously Principal Harp of the Sarasota Orchestra. She has appeared with many ensembles in New England including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, and Rhode Island Philharmonic among others. Recent career highlights include a guest artist feature with Boston Chamber Music Society and performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Hannah spent many years in the harp competition circuit and took home first prizes at the American Harp Society National Competition, the Lyon and Healy Awards, the Grandjany Memorial Competition, and most recently took 2me Prix at the 2022 Concours International de Harpe Félix Godefroid in Belgium. She has also won fellowship positions at summer orchestra festivals including Tanglewood Music Center, Marrowstone Music Festival and Brevard Music Center. 

Hannah grew up in Salt Lake City, UT where she studied harp with Kimberly Dunford and ShruDeLi Ownbey. She earned a B.M. from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT with Dr. Nicole Brady, and obtained an M.M. and a Graduate Diploma from New England Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Jessica Zhou of Boston Symphony Orchestra. She enjoys spending time with her husband Ben and their two beloved cats, Hobbes and Zeus. When she’s not on her harp bench, she loves hiking, trying new recipes, and playing Mario Kart.
 

Oboe Masterclass with MET Orchestra Principal Oboe John Upton

Date TBA

John Upton is Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Before that appointment he freelanced extensively throughout New York City. Mr. Upton performed frequently with the New York Philharmonic on both oboe and English horn. He has also performed with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and The Knights.

Before moving to New York City, Mr. Upton was Principal Oboe of The Florida Orchestra. He was also a member of the New World Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as guest principal oboist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Other guest performances include the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Mr. Upton began his studies at the Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. Upon graduation, he was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate, the school’s highest performance prize. Mr. Upton continued his studies at The Juilliard School, where he received his Master of Music degree. His most influential teachers include Nathan Hughes, Richard Killmer, and Nancy Ambrose King.

After receiving first prize in the International Double Reed Society’s biennial Young Artist Competition, Upton was awarded a solo recital at the 2010 International Double Reed Society conference. He was also a featured soloist with The Florida Orchestra, performing the Mozart Oboe Concerto, as well as a featured soloist at the New World Symphony Gala in 2020.

Mr. Upton keeps a busy summer schedule and has performed at many summer festivals including the Verbier Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Mainly Mozart, Classical Tahoe, and the Sun Valley Music Festival. Last summer he performed and taught at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. He joins the Woodwinds and Orchestral Performance faculty at Manhattan School of Music beginning Fall 2026.

 

Violin Masterclass with MET Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster Bruno Eicher

May 23, 2027

Violinist Bruno Eicher is Assistant Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, which he joined in 2001, after serving for four years as Associate Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony and the previous four years as Assistant Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. His wide-ranging orchestral experience includes performing with the Vienna Philharmonic and State Opera orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of conductors such as Solti, Levine, Gergiev, Barenboim, Maazel, Thielemann, Mehta, and Rattle. From 2009 to 2013, he was a coach of orchestral repertoire at the Verbier Music Festival.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Eicher has performed extensively throughout Europe and the U.S., as well as South Korea. In New York, as a member of the MET Chamber Ensemble from 2002 to 2014, he performed regularly at Carnegie Hall.

A native of Burgundy, France, Mr. Eicher is a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire where he studied with Pierre Amoyal and Jean Hubeau. In the United States, he was a student of Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang at the Juilliard School, from which he holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 1992, he was the 2nd prize winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition.

He lives in Manhattan, with his wife, MET Orchestra cellist Kari Docter, and their two children. Mr. Eicher plays an instrument made in 2011 by Christophe Landon, a copy of the “Circle” Stradivari.

 

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ORCHESTRA

Thrilling audiences with more than 200 performances each season, the MET Orchestra is one of the world’s great performing ensembles, both on stage and in the opera pit. Since its founding in 1883, the MET Orchestra’s performances have encompassed not only the entire opera repertoire, but symphonic and chamber programs at Carnegie Hall, international tours, and countless musician activities outside of the Metropolitan Opera House. The MET Orchestra has grown in the past four decades into an ensemble noted by singers, critics, conductors, and audiences as one of today’s most stylistically versatile and musically satisfying orchestras.