Grass Valley, Calif. — After a number of years of The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD broadcasting at Sutton Cinemas in Grass Valley, the performances will not be returning to a Nevada County theater for the September 2026 through May 2027 season.
“The good news is that it’s a super season of much-loved and new operas being broadcast this year. The bad news is that none of our local theaters are able to show them,” said Terry Brown of Music in the Mountains, who had convinced Sierra Theatres to begin showing them originally. “The schedules interfere with showing our other films, and we can’t afford to jeopardize that relationship with the distributor,” said Brian Young of Sutton Cinemas.
When this news was received, Music in the Mountains quickly contacted The Nevada Theatre to see if it would be possible to stream the performances there, but the theater is already renting its space for the dates of the broadcasts. Since the Live at the Met shows are live broadcasts, there are no options for other showing dates. Unfortunately, the distributor of the broadcasts insists that all of the showings be done or none of them.
Music in the Mountains and InConcert Sierra, joint sponsors of the broadcasts, both lament this sad turn of events. Although certainly not as convenient to Nevada County opera lovers, the broadcasts can still be viewed at the Cinemark Century Blue Oaks Theatres in Rocklin. The schedule appears on the Metropolitan website at www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas. Alternatively, The Met also offers a paid stream at home option (The Met: Live at Home) which can be found at www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/the-met-live-at-home/.
Music in the Mountains has been bringing world-class classical music to Nevada County since 1982.