(Credit: Dario Acosta)

Ailyn Pérez is set to star in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of “Florencia en el Amazonas” during the 2023-24 season.

In the January Playbill for the Metropolitan Opera, the company confirmed the news with Pérez stating in an exclusive interview that, “being born in Chicago to immigrant parents from Mexico, it may be the most profound and important time of my life, certainly of my singing career, to be part of Florencia, to be part of the fabric of this brilliant Mexican composer. I think there is so much soul, expression, and poetry in the Spanish language. For me to sing in Spanish, it’s like I become myself. To be part of this project, especially with how the Met has embraced cultural representation, it’s an honor and a joy.”

The news comes as Pérez is about to make her role debut as Blanche de la Force in “Dialogues des Carmélites” at the Met. She is also set to reprise the role of Alice Ford in “Falstaff” in Robert Carsen’s celebrated production.

“Florencia en el Amazonas” had its world premiere in 1996 and has been presented in Los Angeles, Seattle, Nashville, Washington, Indiana, Cincinnati, Arizona, Florida, Mexico, Germany, and Colombia, among other countries and states.