Metropolitan Opera host Margaret Juntwait has died

Margaret Juntwait, the voice of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts heard on Classical Minnesota Public Radio and on other stations nationwide, has died at age 58 due to complications from ovarian cancer.

In an email sent to radio stations, the Metopolitan Opera's Mia Bongiovanni wrote:

For millions of listeners around the world, Margaret was the voice of the Met for the past decade. She was appointed to the post in October 2004, and her first Saturday matinee broadcast was a December 11, 2004 performance of Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani. She went on to host a total of 229 live Saturday broadcasts, as well as 898 live broadcasts on the Met's Sirius XM channel. Her final Sirius broadcast was the new production premiere of Lehár's The Merry Widow on December 31, 2014.

Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb issued this statement: "Margaret Juntwait was the soul of the Met's radio broadcasts. She will be sorely missed by her loving colleagues here at the Met, as well as the countless opera stars who she so deftly interviewed over the years, and by the millions of devoted fans who listened to her mellifluous hosting of our broadcasts three or four times a week, season after season."

According to New York's WQXR, Juntwait was only the third regular announcer of the Met Opera's broadcast series, which began in 1931, and she was the first woman to hold the job.

Juntwait grew up in suburban New Jersey, and she earned a bachelor's degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music in 1980. Her radio career began in 1991 at WNYC, and she took the Met Opera job in December 2004.

WQXR reports that Juntwait is survived by her husband, Jamie Katz, three sons from a previous marriage — Gregory, Bart and Steven Andreacchi — and a stepdaughter, Joanna Katz.

As of this report, Juntwait's funeral plans are still being finalized.

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