(A day earlier, on April 17, she will also make a personal appearance at the Metropolitan Opera Shop, to greet her fans and sign CDs from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm.)

The annual Guild Luncheon always draws a large and enthusiastic crowd, and offers not only a fine meal, but also spoken, filmed, and even sung tributes to the honoree. This year, Kiri's career-long colleague and friend, Frederica von Stade, will do the vocal honors — the two brought down the house at last season's Met farewell to Joseph Volpe, when they sang a duet from Mozart's CosÐ fan tutte.

In addition to the vocal tribute, Maestro Lorin Maazel will pay Dame Kiri a spoken one, and there will be nostalgic and rare video clips of the soprano in performance, as well as the screening of a new video biography. Among the honored guests in attendance will be a host of singers who have worked with Dame Kiri, as well as admirers from the generations before and after her — from the distaff side alone, Licia Albanese, Martina Arroyo, Stephanie Blythe, Barbara Cook, Mignon Dunn, Barbara Frittoli, Maria Guleghina, Marilyn Horne, Regina Resnik, Beverly Sills, RisêŠ Stevens, Ruth Ann Swenson, and Benita Valente are expected, while Julius Rudel, Harry Bicket, James Morris, Russell Braun, Lawrence Brownlee, and Massimo Giordano are among the men who have signed on to attend.

Tickets to the Luncheon are $250 and $400. For information, please call 1-212-769-7009, or visit the Guild's website, www.metguild.org.