Upper Peninsula Tenor Stars in Met Opera Season Opener

Jul 10

Tenor Miles Mykkanen / photo by Katja Hentschel

Upper Peninsula Tenor to Star in Metropolitan Opera’s Season Opener: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Ironwood native Miles Mykkanen brings Yooper grit and global artistry to New York’s biggest stage – while keeping his heart in Michigan

NEW YORK, NY – July 8, 2025 – This fall, Ironwood’s own Miles Mykkanen will step into the spotlight at the Metropolitan Opera’s season-opening gala – starring in a brand-new opera based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, on one of the most iconic stages in the world.

Mykkanen, a proud Yooper and founding artistic director of Ironwood’s Emberlight Festival, will sing the leading role of Sam Clay in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which opens the Met’s 2025-26 season in September. Based on Michael Chabon’s novel, this sweeping American opera follows two cousins – a Jewish refugee and a closeted young Brooklynite – as they invent a comic book superhero and try to make sense of a world at war. It’s a moving, emotionally charged love story set in 1940s New York, and Mykkanen expects the relationship between Sam and radio actor Tracy, played by baritone Edward Nelson, to be a highlight.

“Getting to star in the Met’s season opener is such a pinch-me moment, and experiencing that with this particular character is a dream,” said Mykkanen, who identifies as gay. “Sam is full of heart and hope, even in dark times – and telling this kind of love story with dignity, beauty, and visibility feels so important right now. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it.”

The new production is led by Tony Award–winning stage director Bartlett Sher and the Met’s Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with performances running September 21–October 11, 2025.

From the UP to the Met

Mykkanen’s path to opera stardom started in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula, where his parents were both high school band directors. He and his dad braved the 220-mile round trip to Superior, Wisconsin, for Mykkanen’s voice lessons each week, and that dedication paid off when Mykkanen was accepted to Interlochen Arts Academy. His teachers at Interlochen urged him to apply to New York’s Juilliard School, one of the world’s top conservatories, where Mykkanen ultimately earned three degrees in vocal performance and opera. In 2019, he won the Metropolitan Opera’s national competition, renowned as a launchpad for major international careers. Since then, Mykkanen has performed on stages from London and Lausanne to Munich and Amsterdam – but his roots remain firmly planted in the Northwoods.

“My first year in New York, I was just glad to be in civilization,” he joked in a 2021 interview with Lake Superior Magazine. “But about six weeks in, it hit me: Where are the trees?”

That longing to stay connected to the UP has never left him – and in fact, it helped spark his next act as a creative leader and cultural entrepreneur.

Building the Arts in the Upper Peninsula

In 2020, with performances shut down by the pandemic, Mykkanen returned home and got to work creating something new. That spark became the Emberlight Festival – a vibrant summer arts festival that brings world-class performances to rural Michigan.

“People always talked about wanting to visit this area,” said Mykkanen. “I thought: Let’s create that reason.”

Led by Mykkanen as Artistic Director, Emberlight has already presented more than 140 local events and attracted film submissions from more than 80 countries. The festival features everything from chamber music and Broadway cabaret to Ojibwe basket weaving and outdoor art installations. More than 70% of events have been free to attend, ensuring that the arts are accessible to everyone – and in a county where the median income is $30,000, Mykkanen and his board have raised more than $750,000 to make it all happen.

“Miles represents the best of what it means to be from Michigan,” said Ironwood Mayor Kim Corcoran. “He’s a world-class talent who hasn’t forgotten where he came from – and through Emberlight, he’s giving back to the community that raised him in a truly powerful way.”

What’s Next

Mykkanen will be the cover feature of the glossy magazine Opera Now next month and will be profiled in the September issue of Opera Magazine, both prominent international periodicals in the opera world. After Kavalier & Clay, he sings leading roles with Seattle Opera and Los Angeles Opera, returns to the Met in spring 2026 for another major production, and appears in concert in Chicago, Cleveland, and the Netherlands. But he remains deeply committed to the UP, and to making sure the arts feel like home – whether you’re in Lincoln Center or Gogebic County.

“It isn’t just about the scale of the projects – it’s the humanity in them,” said Mykkanen. "These are stories that speak to people’s real lives, and that emotional through-line is what keeps me grounded. Whether it’s on the nation’s biggest opera stage or in a small-town setting, I always come back to the same goal: to invite people in.”

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Metropolitan Opera • New Production

Composer: Mason Bates
Librettist: Gene Scheer

Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production: Bartlett Sher

Sam Clay: Miles Mykkanen
Joe Kavalier: Andrzej Filończyk
Tracy Bacon: Edward Nelson
Sarah Kavalier: Lauren Snouffer

Sunday, September 21, 2025 @ 6:30pm *Gala
Friday, September 26, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Monday, September 29, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, October 2, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, October 4, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, October 11, 2025 @ 1:00pm

Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, New York

https://www.metopera.org/season/2025-26-season/the-amazing-adventures-of-kavalier--clay/

About Miles Mykkanen
The career of exuberant young Finnish-American tenor Miles Mykkanen was launched with a national win of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2019. He has since impressed with a series of important debuts on the world’s major stages, including the Met, Bayerische Staatsoper, Canadian Opera Company, Dutch National Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Royal Opera House Covent Garden, excelling in roles that require a deft balance of power, lyricism, and dramatic acuity. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, and his compelling blend of charisma and honesty has engaged audiences in cabaret performances at Joe’s Pub, Neue Galerie’s Cabaret at Café Sabarsky, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he curated a live installation of queer anthems. Mykkanen is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and earned his BM, MM, and Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from The Juilliard School. milesmykkanen.com

Press Contact: Beth Stewart
Verismo Communications
Tel: 618.444.3183 | Email: beth@verismopr.com

Beth Stewart