Envisioned by Anthony Bliss, a prominent New York lawyer and president of the Metropolitan Opera Association, support of the MONC's formation was spearheaded by President
John F. Kennedy who announced the project in 1963. As director of the Met, Bing was responsible for establishing the leadership of the MONC, and he appointed Met mezzo-soprano
Risë Stevens and
Michael Manuel, a long time stage manager and director at the Met, as directors of the company in 1963. Stevens, who retired from the stage in 1961, was the Artistic Director and musical director of the company who exhibited a passion for mentoring the young artists in the company. Manuel took over the administrative duties of the company, served as stage manager and coordinator of the physical aspects of the company's sets, costumes, and supportive staff. Stevens and Manuel spent a year auditioning singers before the MONC finally began rehearsals in the summer of 1965. Among the young singers contracted with the company, many in their first professional engagements, included sopranos
Clarice Carson,
Maralin Niska,
Mary Beth Peil,
Francesca Roberto, and
Marilyn Zschau; mezzo-sopranos
Joy Davidson, Sylvia Friederich, Dorothy Krebill, and
Huguette Tourangeau; tenors
Enrico Di Giuseppe, James Carson, Chris Lachona, Nicholas di Virgilio, and
Harry Theyard; baritones
Ron Bottcher,
John Fiorito,
Thomas Jamerson,
Julian Patrick, and Vern Shinall; bass-baritones
Andrij Dobriansky, Ronald Hedlund, and
Arnold Voketaitis; and bass
Paul Plishka. The first season of the MONC included 260 performances in 72 cities over a nine-month period from September 1965 through May 1966. This season included a production of
Carlisle Floyd's
Susannah that was directed by
José Quintero and used sets designed by
Beni Montresor; Rossini's
La Cenerentola with a staging by
Günther Rennert and Joy Davidson as Cinderella;
Giacomo Puccini's
Madama Butterfly with designs by Yoshio Aoyama and Francesca Roberto as Cio-Cio San; and
Georges Bizet's
Carmen with a staging by
Louis Ducreux and designs by Bernard Daydé. The company made its debut on September 29, 1965 at the Clowes Memorial Hall at
Butler University in Indianapolis with Maralin Niska as Floyd's Susannah. The second season of the MONC ran from September 1966 through May 1967 with performances of
Giuseppe Verdi's
La traviata, Puccini's
La bohème, Mozart's
The Marriage of Figaro and
Benjamin Britten's
The Rape of Lucretia. A planned third season in 1967-1968 of performances of
Tosca,
Rigoletto and
The Barber of Seville, never occurred as Rudolf Bing successfully worked to undermine support for the company with Metropolitan Opera's board of directors who voted to discontinue the company beyond the second season in December 1966. ==References==