OPERA America announces Michael J. Bobbitt as New President/CEO

Press Released: 03 Nov 2025

OPERA America announces Michael J. Bobbitt as New President/CEO

Marc A. Scorca named President Emeritus after 35 Years of Leadership

On behalf of the Board of Directors of OPERA America, Board Chair Lee Anne Myslewski is delighted to announce the appointment of Michael J. Bobbitt as OPERA America’s new President and CEO. Bobbitt succeeds Marc A. Scorca, who will conclude his 35-year tenure at the end of 2025. In recognition of his contributions to the organization, Scorca has been named President Emeritus of OPERA America.

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OPERA America People From the CEO

Bobbitt, an accomplished arts executive, producer, and artist, comes to OPERA America from the Mass Cultural Council in Boston, MA, where he served as Executive Director since 2021. After studying trumpet and classical voice, Bobbitt pursued artistic careers in dance and musical theater before shifting to the administrative leadership of two theaters. He continues his artistic pursuits as an award-winning published playwright, director, and choreographer. (See below for a full biography.)

“Serving Mass Cultural Council alongside our dedicated staff, governing council, Legislature, and Administration has been a profound honor, as we together secured historic relief for the sector, increased state investment, advanced landmark equity work, launched a statewide arts prescribing initiative, and mapped the Commonwealth’s cultural assets to better serve every community,” reflected Bobbitt. “While it’s bittersweet to say farewell to my Massachusetts creative family, I’m thrilled to be joining the OPERA America team and to build on Marc Scorca’s extraordinary legacy. I look forward to bringing my experience in public policy, business, and multidisciplinary arts to support the opera field in meeting today’s challenges — so this thrilling, bigger than life art form, and all its players can thrive nationally and internationally.”

Bobbitt will assume leadership of OPERA America on January 1, 2026, with a five-year contract. He was selected after a year-long, national search chaired by OPERA America’s Board Chair Lee Anne Myslewski (Vice President, Opera and Classical Programming, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts) and Past Chair Timothy O’Leary (General Director, Washington National Opera). Bobbitt’s appointment was approved by the full Board of Directors in a special meeting on October 29.

The Board of Directors has named Scorca as OPERA America’s President Emeritus to acknowledge his service to the field and draw on his expertise. In this honorary position, he will be available to the new President/CEO as needed to provide knowledge and relationship continuity. Scorca will also edit his many webinars, lectures, and workshop presentations into resources for the field and annotate OPERA America’s Oral History Project collection with extra insights.

“I extend warm congratulations and every good wish for success to Michael as he leads OPERA America and the field into the future,” said Scorca. “On a personal note, it’s a tremendous honor to be named President Emeritus, for which I am extremely grateful. I look forward to providing assistance through the transition, as needed, and will continue to be a dedicated advocate for opera, opera companies, and the artists who bring the artform to life.”

“Marc Scorca’s incredible 35-year tenure at OPERA America transformed the organization and had a profound impact on the field,” shared Myslewski, who will continue to serve as Board Chair. “Michael Bobbitt is well poised to build on the success of this already-strong, healthy organization. I am excited for the new perspectives and insights that he will bring. Michael is a creative strategist, a relationship builder, an artist, and an advocate: his rich experience and many past successes, along with his innate curiosity and enthusiasm, make him the ideal leader for the next chapter of OPERA America.”

O’Leary, who will continue to serve as a member of the Board, added, “The OPERA America Board is energized about finding such a proven, creative leader to succeed someone who is simply a legend in our field. With the torch passing from Marc Scorca to Michael Bobbitt, OPERA America will go from strength to strength. Michael’s track record for innovation, welcoming in new audiences, developing new sources of support, coalition building, and thinking strategically about the future will help OPERA America achieve a new era of impact for our field.”

Members of the opera field are invited to meet Bobbitt at a variety of events in 2026, including the National Trustee Forum/Week in New York City (March 18–21) and Opera Conference in Wilmington, DE (May 12–15). More information is available at operaamerica.org/NTW and operaamerica.org/Conference, respectively.

Members are also invited to honor Scorca at the OPERA America Salutes dinner on Friday, March 20, in New York. More information is available at operaamerica.org/OASalutes.

Michael J. Bobbitt

Michael J. Bobbitt is a nationally recognized arts executive, producer, and artist whose career bridges public policy, organizational transformation, and creative practice. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council (2021 - present), Massachusetts’ highest-ranking public official for arts and culture, where he led strategy, operations, and cross-sector partnerships for a $29.7B creative economy. During his tenure, the agency secured $60.1M in COVID relief; state appropriations grew from $18.2M to $26.9M; and the arts were explicitly embedded in statewide health, education, and economic policies. He launched the nation’s first statewide arts-in-health social prescribing initiative connecting cultural participation with healthcare and convened a first-of-its-kind statewide summit to begin aligning higher-education arts curricula with business and government competencies. His administration advanced landmark equity work (Racial Equity Plan; d/Deaf & Disability Equity; Native American & Indigenous Equity), radically redesigned grantmaking to lower barriers for first-time and historically excluded applicants, and expanded language, disability, and geographic access across programs. He also led Massachusetts’ first Cultural Asset Inventory; co-chaired the process to name the state’s first Poet Laureate; initiated a redesign of the state’s Cultural Districts program; launched the Tribal Cultural Council program enabling Tribes to regrant directly to their communities; and partnered with MITx to offer a free arts-entrepreneurship course.

Before public service, Bobbitt led two producing theatres. As Producing Artistic Director of New Repertory Theatre (MA) from 2019 - 2021, he repositioned the company around inclusion and community engagement while growing audiences, ticket revenue, contributed income, and Board giving. Earlier, from 2007 - 2019 as Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC (MD), he oversaw major audience growth, quadrupled fundraising, commissioned 50+ new works, earned national media, merged with a theatre academy to strengthen education pipelines, and pioneered sensory-friendly/autism-inclusive performances that became a national model.

An award-nominated published playwright, director, and choreographer, Bobbitt’s creative portfolio includes adaptations and premieres such as Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds (New Victory Theater & national tour), The Stephen Schwartz Project, The Yellow Rose of Texas, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, Caps for Sale (New Victory Theater & national tour), Garfield: The Musical with Cattitude, Jumanji, Make Way for Ducklings, Big the Musical (TYA), and Monster Mash, the Musical. His work has garnered multiple Helen Hayes nominations, including a Charles MacArthur nomination for Outstanding New Play/Musical. Directing and choreography credits span The National Philharmonic, Washington National Opera (with Washington Performing Arts), Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, the Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Center Stage, and others.

Bobbitt’s field leadership includes executive searches, strategic planning, and DEI consulting with organizations nationwide; service on numerous state councils and more than 25 boards, including national service organizations (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, and American Alliance for Theatre & Education); and frequent keynotes at national convenings. He is widely cited for building effective cross-sector alliances—linking arts with health, education, workforce, housing, transportation, and economic development.

Honors include a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa (Dean College), the Boston Business Journal “Power 50,” the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion, and investiture in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.

A trumpet and voice major in college, Bobbitt later studied theatre at CAP21 (NYU Tisch) and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and dance at The Washington Ballet. He holds an MBA (Arts Innovation) and a BA summa cum laude in Interdisciplinary Studies (Art & Social Change), with executive education at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program. His certificates and fellowships span fundraising, finance, DEI, leadership, and public policy. He has taught at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The Catholic University of America, Howard University, George Washington University, and other institutions.