(Credit: Kevin Monko)

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Debra Lew Harder will be the new host of its radio broadcasts.

Lew Harder will become the fifth person to serve in this capacity, following the legendary voices of Milton Cross (1931–1975), Peter Allen (1975-2004), Margaret Juntwait (2004–2015), and Mary Jo Heath (2016–2021).

Lew Harder comes to the Met from WRTI, the classical music and jazz public radio station in Philadelphia. In her new position she will be responsible for hosting the Toll Brothers–Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts that air from December through June, and the twice-weekly broadcasts on Met Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 355 throughout the season. She will make her debut on Sept. 27 during the SiriusXM broadcast of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”

In a statement, General Manager Peter Gelb said, “With a rich background as a host, interviewer, and performer, Debra is a perfect fit for the Met.”

For her part Lew Harder noted, “I’ve loved opera since I was a little girl at the piano, accompanying my tenor dad in his favorite songs and arias. Now, to be part of the incredible team that brings the greatest opera house in the world to the world, is a dream come true.”

Lew Harder joined the on-air staff of WRTI in 2016 and has hosted and produced a range of programming across WRTI on-air and digital platforms, such as Midday Classics and Saturday Morning Classical Coffeehouse. She has also served as an artist interviewer for the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts. As a concert pianist she has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.