Opera Philadelphia has appointed Anthony Roth Costanzo as its new General Director and President.

The Opera Philadelphia Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment which will see Costanzo shape the future of the company, and oversee fundraising and business strategies, audience development, community initiatives, and artistic planning.

He will become the seventh General Director since the company was founded in 1975, succeeding David B. Devan, whose 18-year tenure with the company, including 13 years as General Director, concludes on May 31, 2024.

Costanzo will also continue his singing career, which has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, among others.

In a statement, Stephen K. Klasko, Chair of Opera Philadelphia’s Board of Directors said, “We set the goal of finding a new, creative leader who would be capable of taking Opera Philadelphia to even greater levels of artistic and business success. Of the nearly 40 impressive candidates reviewed, Anthony Roth Costanzo rose to the top and emerged as the ideal leader at this important time in our history. Anthony is a visionary, innovative, and strategic thinker, and an artist of unsurpassed quality. It is unprecedented for an opera singer in the prime of his performing career to take on this type of CEO role at a major opera company. He will set a new paradigm for our industry as a working artist running the business side of an organization.”

Costanzo added, “Opera Philadelphia makes art at the highest level, and this incredible company has been a part of my artistic life for the past 30 years. I distinctly remember standing behind the curtain at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia listening to the audience roar. It was 1996, and I had just finished singing the shepherd boy in Tosca starring Luciano Pavarotti. Before he went in front of the curtain to take his bow, he extended his hand for me to come with him. As I stood beside that lion of opera, looking out at an audience that he had single-handedly introduced to this art form, I knew that I not only wanted to be a part of this tradition, but I also wanted to be part of carrying it forward in an impactful way. Little did I know that I would return to the same stage to star in an opera myself with Opera Philadelphia some twenty-odd years later. But singing in operas has only been part of my journey as an artist. I have found that perhaps the greatest impact I can have comes in what I produce, create, imagine, and what stories I can help find a voice.”