The ranks of American opera leaders suffer from a severe underrepresentation of the BIPOC population. Even though the 2020 U.S. census revealed that 42 percent of all individuals identify as BIPOC — the largest percentage in the country’s modern history — the administrative staffs of American opera companies do not yet reflect this demographic reality: Preliminary research by OPERA America suggests that only about 21% of opera administrators are people of color.

OA’s new Mentorship Program for Opera Leaders of Color seeks to address this imbalance and advance racial equity in the field. Designed by the steering committee of OA’s Racial Justice Opera Network, the program pairs BIPOC professionals with executive-level leaders who can support them in achieving their career goals. The program’s inaugural cohort consists of three mentee/mentor teams. The pairs will come together for remote and in-person mentoring sessions over the next 12 months, including this May in Minneapolis at Opera Conference 2022.

“With this new program, OPERA America reaffirms its pledge to be an agent for change in the determined and sustained effort to achieve racial justice throughout the field,” says Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America. The Mentorship Program for Opera Leaders of Color is the latest addition to a series of OPERA America programs for increasing racial equity in American opera.