Juilliard School

James Levine, music director of the Met and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will be artistic director of the program, the Met announced Wednesday. Brian Zeger, artistic director of Juilliard vocal arts, will serve as executive director.

Levine will conduct a fully-staged or concert opera production per year at Juilliard's 900-seat Sharp Theater with members of the program and the Juilliard Orchestra starting with the 2010-11 season.

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"It immediately sends a signal to the world of opera that the Met's program, which already is one of the best programs, is going to be enhanced," Met general manager Peter Gelb said. "We'll have this opportunity to have our young singers perform in major roles, which is an opportunity they didn't have before."

Levine founded the Met's young artists program in 1980, and it has been emulated by other opera houses. Gelb said he would like to see more singers who perform well in the Met's national council auditions advance to the young artists program.

"I don't think there's enough crossover. One of my goals since I arrived at the Met is to fully integrate all the resources of the Met," Gelb said. "We want to make the young artists program more accessible so we really can get the best artists here."