OPERA America Announces The Retirement Of President/CEO Marc A. Scorca

OPERA America has announced the retirement of Marc A. Scorca from the position of president/CEO. Scorca assumed the executive post of the organization in 1990 and will step down from this position at the end of December 2025 after three and a half decades of dedicated leadership and service to the opera field. 

“Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of my first internship at the Metropolitan Opera. I will be in the middle of my 35th year as president and CEO of OPERA America and the 20th since our relocation from Washington, D.C., to New York,” recounted Scorca. “After careful reflection, I've decided to pass the torch to a new chief executive who will build on the strong foundation we have created together to support opera across the country and around the world.” 

“For many of us in the industry, there simply is no OPERA America without Marc Scorca,” commented Lee Anne Myslewski, chair of the OPERA America Board of Directors and vice president of opera and classical programming at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. “His leadership and service to our ever-changing field has been constant and incredibly transformative. His accomplishments are too many to list, and our gratitude for his initiative and unwavering focus is massive.” 

Myslewski will be joined by former OPERA America Board Chair (2016‒2021) Timothy O'Leary, general director of Washington National Opera, to assemble and lead the transition committee to identify Scorca's successor. The committee will leverage a strategic review of OPERA America conducted this summer by Ryan Krause, professor of strategy and Duncan faculty fellow at Texas Christian University. The review consulted over 60 field professionals in surveys and roundtable conversations to conduct a SWOT analysis of the organization. The review will inform the qualifications needed in the next president/CEO once a search firm is contracted. 

When a successor assumes leadership in January 2026, Scorca will shift into the role of Senior Fellow for one additional year. He will edit his many webinars, lectures, and workshop presentations into resources for the field, annotate OPERA America's Oral History Project collection with extra insights, and remain available to assist his successor through a smooth transition. 

Scorca was hired in 1990 by then OPERA America Chair Ardis Krainik, former general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago. He had previously worked at New York City Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Chicago Opera Theater and brought a combination of experience as a producer and fundraiser, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the art form. Over the past three and a half decades, his impact has been profound. 

Expansion of Membership 

Scorca inherited OPERA America in 1990 with a membership of just 120 opera companies, principally represented by their general directors. He envisioned an organization that would welcome and serve the administrators and trustees of those companies, as well as the artists, publishers, managers, educators, and other professionals vital to the industry. Under his leadership, the membership has expanded to 200 professional opera companies, 350 ensembles, businesses, conservatories, and other affiliated institutions, and 3,000 individuals working in all areas of the field. Moreover, Scorca encouraged the creation of a global discourse about the art form by helping foster the establishment of the Association for Opera in Canada, Opera Europa, and Ópera Latinoamérica as international partners. 

“Marc has been the driving force in bringing the opera community together to promote collaboration, celebrate differences, and foster innovation through new work, new generations of voices, and future professional leaders,” commended Ignacio García-Belenguer Laita, chair of the Opera Europa Board of Directors and general director of the Teatro Real in Madrid. “In 2018, Marc was my partner, along with Opera Europa and a group of great visionaries, to host the first World Opera Forum in Madrid as a milestone meeting of our global industry. Throughout his 35 years at OPERA America, his leadership, professionalism, and kindness have reached opera companies around the world.” 

A Home for Artists & the Industry 

Scorca spearheaded a $14.5 million campaign — the largest in OPERA America's history — to move the organization from Washington, D.C., to New York City and establish the National Opera Center as a nexus for artists, producers, teachers, and other industry professionals. The Opera Center opened in 2012 with 25,000 square feet of custom-built facilities in Midtown Manhattan that welcomes 80,000 annual visitors for rehearsals, performances, auditions, lessons, recordings, and more. In addition to providing a remote home for opera companies to conduct business, it has transformed the service OPERA America provides to artists in the field: a portfolio that spans from subsidized practice rooms to career development programming. Scorca recently negotiated the extension of the Opera Center lease under favorable terms through 2042. 

“Marc has been a tremendous force in the field of opera, using his knowledge and passion to advocate for the art form to both diehard fans and first-timers alike,” shared bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green. “His presence in our industry will be felt by generations to come through their use of the National Opera Center, which will surely be a lasting legacy and testament to his hard work and care for opera.” 

Strategic Grantmaking 

While OPERA America began its role as a grantmaker in the 1980s, Scorca expanded its scope: OPERA America awarded $22.5 million during his tenure to opera companies and artists in support of new work development, audience building, civic impact, and field-wide innovation. In the early 2000s, he established the Opera Fund as a dedicated endowment to make annual grants, and he continued to build relationships with new foundations to establish new grant initiatives. Scorca believed in the power of strategic philanthropy to incentivize opera companies to foster change. Over the last decade, new initiatives in support of women and BIPOC composers and librettists have made significant strides in broadening the voices and the stories told on stages nationwide. 

“As someone who came late in life to this intoxicatingly addictive art form, I am grateful to OPERA America and Marc Scorca for listening, and responding to, the needs of the entire field,” shared composer Laura Kaminsky, who has received several grants from OPERA America and previously served on its Board of Directors. “I came into this world as one of the inaugural recipients of an Opera Grant for Women Composers: Discovery Grant, and then several Commissioning and Repertoire Development Grants. I can only offer a deeply felt thank-you to Marc for his tireless efforts to make all the stars in our galaxy shine.” 

A Welcoming Industry & Art Form 

Scorca has been a champion for making the opera art form and industry more welcoming to all those who wish to participate. He has centered the concept of civic practice to encourage opera companies to strengthen the civic fabric of their communities through authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships. At the core of this work is the importance of engaged listening and continuous learning, both of which Scorca has embraced and espoused in helping the field increase diversity, advance equity, and prioritize inclusion among those working in opera.  

“We are grateful to Marc for demonstrating a willingness to learn and commit to racial justice work in the opera field. Having Marc present and learning with everyone in real time means a lot,” asserted members of the Black Administrators of Opera after a recent symposium in Seattle. “We are also grateful to OPERA America for being committed partners to the Black Administrators of Opera and supporting the symposiums. It means OPERA America values what we are doing and is putting action and resources behind the work.” 

“We would like to thank Marc Scorca for his many years of service to the opera field,” added the co-chairs of OPERA America's Women's Opera Network. “We are grateful for OPERA America's support of initiatives that support women and underrepresented artists. We look forward to the Women's Opera Network continuing to be a part of OPERA America as a strong collaborator within the national opera community.” 

Cultivation of Future Leaders 

Professional development has been a foundational tenet of OPERA America's service throughout the duration of Scorca's tenure. This began with a Fellowship Program for promising leaders in the early 1990s and now includes the esteemed Leadership Intensive, Leadership Launch, New General Director Roundtables, and Mentorship Programs for Women Administrators and Opera Leaders of Color. Approximately 10% of all general directors in the field today are graduates of these programs, and many more turn to Scorca for coaching and advice as a mentor. 

“For 35 years, Marc has been the most extraordinary standard bearer for American opera. He has inflected the careers of so many in the field, guiding, mentoring, connecting, and joining the dots across the world of opera,” reflected Matthew Shilvock, general director of San Francisco Opera and a former OPERA America board member. “I was profoundly fortunate to be a member of the OPERA America Fellowship Program in 2002, which opened the door to the field in a way I could have never imagined possible. Since that time, Marc has been an absolute constant in my career, always available with an unending generosity of spirit and time, and I cherish his friendship.” 

Supporting Strong Governance 

Scorca has made service to opera company trustees a priority of OPERA America, rooted in his experience that the health of opera companies is tied to the effectiveness of their boards. Through specialized forums, a webinar series, onsite consultations, and annual awards, he has lent his expertise to thousands of opera trustees. 

“Marc fell in love with opera at the Metropolitan Opera, but he has never stopped advocating for opera companies of all sizes across North America. Those of us who serve on boards could not be more appreciative of his expertise and diplomacy, and the service that OPERA America continues to offer,” related Frayda B. Lindemann, president emerita of the Metropolitan Opera and OPERA America board chair from 2012 to 2016. “I'm grateful to be one of the many friends he's made while working with opera company trustees.” 

Power of Convening 

Scorca has always cited the power of convening as OPERA America's unique asset: Bringing members of the field together fosters discussion, collaboration, and trust among peers and colleagues. Since presiding over his first conference in Chicago in 1991, Scorca has worked to make conferences more inclusive of company staff, trustees, creators, and other industry professionals. He has led 35 annual conferences, including two landmark National Performing Arts Conventions that brought opera together with symphonies, theater, dance, and chamber and choral music. He also spearheaded two World Opera Forums that united leaders of the global opera community. 

“There are many things that make Marc Scorca so successful as OPERA America's CEO, such as his knowledge of opera (legendary), his fundraising skills (remarkable), and his strategic planning prowess (he's a brilliant strategist, too),” recounted Ann Meier Baker, director of music and opera at the National Endowment for the Arts, who collaborated with Scorca when she previously led Chorus America. “But when we joined forces on the two National Performing Arts Conventions, I realized there was something more: He runs a great meeting! Over the years, I have witnessed again and again the impact Marc has thanks in large measure to his masterful convening skills that have catapulted the opera field ahead in remarkable ways.” 

“There is simply no single person who has done more over the last 35 years than Marc Scorca to support the people and mission of the American opera field,” stated Timothy O'Leary. “Marc's vision, intelligence, integrity, dauntlessness, passion, encyclopedic knowledge, staggering work ethic, and considerable fundraising prowess have helped OPERA America change our field for the better — to make us more connected, more capable, more equitable, more thoughtful, and better resourced. The art form of opera is more meaningful to our communities, and to the greater good, thanks to Marc.” 

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