The staging follows the success of the composer Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones on the opening night of this season.

Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first work by a Black composer in the 138-year history of the Metropolitan Opera as the company presented its first staged performance since March 2020 following a gap caused by the coronavirus.

The Met says X will open on Nov. 3, 2023, in a staging by Robert O’Hara that will be conducted by Kazem Abdullah. Will Liverman will star in the title role.

Ahead of her appearance at Ravinia this week, we sat down to talk with Lara Downes about her efforts to broaden the classical canon, her first introduction to Black composers like Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, and why she loves to work with Rachel Barton Pine.

Johnson, the incoming director of the Chicago Phil, reflects that he “can’t stress enough how important it is to champion those voices that haven’t been heard.”